Stop Worshipping Your Leaders: Why God Won’t Share His Glory

What Paul and Barnabas Reveal About Misplaced Praise, Spiritual Governance, and the Real Presence of God

When the crowd confuses the messenger with the message, someone must clarify the distinction.

In every age, effective speech, healing, and clear leadership can provoke strong responses — sometimes misdirected. Crowds gather, interpretations are made, and in many cases, the ones who speak truth are mistaken for the truth itself.

This occurred with Paul and Barnabas in Lystra. After healing a man who had been lame since birth, they found themselves the object of a local religious misunderstanding. The crowd responded not with reverence for God, but with idolatrous celebration. Paul was declared to be Hermes, and Barnabas, Zeus. A priest even arrived with oxen and garlands, preparing to offer sacrifice to them.

Paul and Barnabas responded immediately. They tore their garments — a sign of protest and grief — and stated with clarity:

“We are human beings like you. Turn from these idols to the living God.” (Acts 14:15)

This response reveals a foundational principle of Christian leadership: do not accept the attention that belongs to God. Refuse misplaced glorification. Redirect praise to its proper source.

When Praise Is Misdirected, Idolatry Emerges

People frequently seek something tangible to venerate. Even today, religious leaders, movements, and institutions can become objects of exaggerated admiration or dependence. When the visible signs of success or influence eclipse the invisible source, idolatry begins — quietly, but decisively.

Psalm 115 offers a corrective framework:

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory, because of your mercy and your truth.” (Psalm 115:1)

Hebrew:
לֹא לָנוּ יְהוָה לֹא לָנוּ כִּי לְשִׁמְךָ תֵּן כָּבוֹד
Transliteration: Lo lanu Adonai, lo lanu; ki le-shimkha ten kavod
Phonics: Lo LA-nu a-do-NAI, lo LA-nu; kee le-SHEEM-kha ten ka-VOD

God is glorified not because of institutional strength or human achievement, but because of mercy (chesed, חֶסֶד) and truth (emet, אֱמֶת).

Chesed: covenantal love, steadfast kindness
Emet: fidelity, reliability, truthfulness

Psalm 115 continues by addressing false worship directly:

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. But our God is in heaven; whatever He wills, He does.” (Psalm 115:3–4)

Hebrew (partial):
וֵאלֹהֵינוּ בַּשָּׁמַיִם; כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-חָפֵץ, עָשָׂה
Transliteration: Ve-Eloheinu ba-shamayim; kol asher chafetz asah
Phonics: Veh el-o-HAY-nu ba sha-MA-yim; kol ah-SHER kha-FETZ ah-SAH

The living God is not managed or controlled. He is not the product of human hands or imagination. He acts freely. He provides, sustains, and governs — all without becoming an object for manipulation.

Paul’s Strategy: Refuse the Role, Clarify the Message

Paul and Barnabas provide a model for those in leadership today. When mistaken for divine figures, they did not delay or rationalize. They took visible, public action to reject the error. Their words reframed the event within the theological truth of creation and divine initiative:

“We proclaim to you the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.” (Acts 14:15)

They appealed to the crowd’s experience — not to Jewish law or theological complexity — but to what creation itself reveals. Paul pointed to rain, harvest, and the inner gladness that marks human existence as evidence of the Creator’s ongoing presence.

This approach remains valid. In environments where the Gospel is unfamiliar or distorted, one must begin with what can be known: the signs of goodness, order, and providence already at work.

The Gospel’s Interior Shift: From Spectacle to Indwelling

John 14:21–26 provides an important complement. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time when He will no longer be visible to the world. He says:

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 14:23)

Greek (partial):
πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρ’ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα
Transliteration: Pros auton eleusómetha kai monēn par’ autō poiēsómetha
Phonics: Pros ow-TON eh-lew-SO-me-tha kai mo-NANE par ow-TOH poy-ee-SO-me-tha

Monē (μονή) means a permanent dwelling — a home.

This is not a promise of display or external validation. It is a statement about divine indwelling. The Father and the Son desire to make their home not in temples or systems, but within the obedient heart.

Jesus continues:

“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit… will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (John 14:26)

Greek:
διδάξει ὑμᾶς πάντα καὶ ὑπομνήσει ὑμᾶς
Transliteration: Didáxei hymâs pánta kai hypomnēsei hymâs
Phonics: Dee-THA-xay hoo-MAHS PAN-ta kai hoo-pom-NAY-say hoo-MAHS

The Holy Spirit’s role is not to promote spectacle or reinforce personalities. He preserves and communicates truth. He makes memory fertile and teaches within.

Summary: From Public Elevation to Interior Communion

Across these three readings — Acts, the Psalm, and the Gospel — a coherent vision emerges:

• Acts 14: warns against the temptation to idolize leaders and clarifies the source of true power.
• Psalm 115: denounces the work of human hands when elevated beyond their place.
• John 14: shifts the center of divine action from the crowd to the heart.

This movement challenges both those who lead and those who follow. It invites Christians to think carefully about how spiritual authority is perceived, exercised, and corrected when distorted.

Final Considerations for Today’s Leaders

Anyone in a position of influence — pastoral, educational, or civic — must remain attentive to the risk of becoming the focus rather than the window. Paul and Barnabas did not preserve their image; they preserved the truth. Their leadership was measured by what they refused as much as by what they offered.

Where idolatry grows, indwelling fades. Where humility governs, the Spirit teaches.

This is not a call for withdrawal, but for clarity.

Not for self-erasure, but for theological precision.

God is not distant. He is active.

But He does not compete for attention with His servants. He simply dwells where He is welcomed.

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory.” (Psalm 115:1)