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As an observer of culture, I’ve noticed that one of the more popular pastimes in our culture seems to be celebrity bashing.  It seems that the media and much of the general public love to see famous people fall, be humiliated, or experience disgrace.  From the ever-present tabloid magazines in the supermarket to late night talk shows, celebrity bashing always gets an audience.  And it happens in all walks of life – in pop culture, there’s Britney Spears & K-Fed and the demise of Tom Cruise.  In sports there is the glee that happens when certain teams and individuals fail, like Peyton Manning and the Colts or Mariano Rivera and the Yankees.  And of course, it even happens in the church, as evidenced by the reaction to the fall of Ted Haggard and the number of criticisms leveled at successful megachurch pastors like Rick Warren.  When someone gets too popular in America, you can almost bet that the backlash is just around the corner, and that people will become more and more eager to see them fall.  And sadly, it’s often the very same people who cheered that celebrity on the way to the top who are now sick of them and want to see them fall.

People can be very fickle.  One day they love someone, and the next day they are watching and waiting to see them disgraced and humiliated.  The sad thing is that this isn’t just true of celebrities – I’m sure many of you can testify to a friend who loved you one week and couldn’t stand you the next, or a parent who showed you occasional love mixed with abuse or rejection.  Personally, I learned this as early as sixth grade, where one kid who had been one of my best friends growing up was suddenly slamming my locker and knocking books out of my hand, and another kid I thought was my friend was ridiculing me in front of my peers for no apparent reason.  Unfortunately, I’ve also learned about the fickleness of people in church as well.  Let me share an insider secret with you – a common warning passed around among ministers is that your biggest supporters when you first come to a church are often the ones who will turn on you the fastest when you do something that they don’t like.  And, sadly, I have found this can be true.  People can be fickle – one day they love you, and the next they want to see you disgraced and humiliated.

When you live in a world of fickle people, who might love you one day and want to see you disgraced the next, it can give you quite a complex.  I’ve found that when people criticize you, it can easily give you feelings of rejection and make you feel like you are worthless.  And even when people compliment you or do nice things for you, it can make you cynical, because you wonder what their agenda is and know that they could turn on you by the end of the week.  Have you ever felt that way?  Sure you may praise me today, but as the Shirelles sang, “will you still love me tomorrow?”  It isn’t easy to feel good about yourself, to navigate relationships, or to follow God in a world full of fickle people.