EARLIER, I SUGGESTED that some high-profile pastors have gotten away with incredibly inappropriate behavior precisely because they were high-profile. Many in the flock were willing to look the other way or rationalize away bad behavior because the ministry seemed to be so successful. That’s one of the challenges facing American churches and contemporary ministry in general: the influence of a culture that fawns over its celebrities, even so-called celebrity pastors. Put simply, the church has its rock stars. And to the harm of the sheep and the witness of the church, some of them, unfortunately, are wolves.

Let’s face it. We all want to feel like we’re part of something bigger than ourselves, something amazing that God is doing in the world. There’s nothing wrong with that. And being part of a rapidly growing church, listening to a charismatic leader preach stirring sermons that people are flocking to hear, can scratch that itch. We may even feel proud to say that we are members of a church led by a media celebrity.

But often, we fail to recognize when we’ve begun defining ministry success by standards more appropriate to the marketplace or the corporate world. Bigger is not necessarily better. Glitz and glamor are no substitute for substance. We should look for leaders of unimpeachable character rather than unquestionable charisma.

God doesn’t care about the size of the building or the budget. What matters is obedience to the teaching of Jesus. All Christians, and especially Christian leaders, are to embody what Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount. Listen again to the next to last warning at the end of the sermon:

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matt 7:21-23, NIV)

Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with the activities named. Jesus himself prophesied, in the sense of speaking with the authority of God (and this will come out again in Matthew’s comment about the crowd’s reaction to the sermon). Jesus drove out demons. He performed miracles the likes of which no one had ever seen — especially miraculous healings, which is probably the meaning of “miracles” here. So shouldn’t we be able to trust that those who did similar things in the name of Jesus were therefore doing so in the power of Jesus? Wouldn’t we be right to be impressed?

Not necessarily. Not according to Jesus.

I imagine some of Jesus’ hearers thinking the same thing the disciples blurted out when he told them how difficult it was for the rich to enter the kingdom: “Who then can be saved?” (Matt 19:25). Really? his hearers may have thought in astonishment. People who do stuff like that can be rejected by Jesus, can be judged and found wanting? Then who on earth has a chance of getting into the kingdom?

Maybe Jesus’ words feel a little distant to us, though, like a faint message from a distant land. We don’t officially have prophets, exorcism is something that only happens in movies, and we’ve never seen a miracle of biblical proportions. So let me recast the warning in more contemporary terms. Imagine Jesus saying the following to us: On the day of judgment, many will come to me and say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we preach sermons and lead Bible studies in your name? Didn’t we plant churches and grow them into megachurches, all in your name? Didn’t we give a lot of money in your name? Didn’t we grow ministries with a global reach and millions of followers on social media, all in your name? Didn’t we write bestselling books in your name?” Then I will tell them to their face, “I don’t know you. I’ve never known you. We don’t have a relationship. Get away from me. You may think you’ve done good but you haven’t. You’ve done evil.”

Let that sink in for a bit. Again, it’s not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with any of the things named, and any of them can be wonderful and worthwhile contributions to the kingdom. But none of them are the fruit of which Jesus speaks in the previous warning. In our cultural context, it’s far too easy for us to look for the wrong fruit in each other and in our leaders, to admire and be impressed by the wrong accomplishments. Those who are wise know that even good actions can be corrupted by bad motives. And when people lack the wisdom or insight to know that their own motives are corrupt, their actions can be corrosive to the Christian community.

Jesus seems to be calling out the more spectacular aspects of ministry, not to say that there’s anything wrong with them, but to shake up the values that his hearers have taken for granted. It’s as if to say, Not even people who do such impressive things, things you may not be able to imagine yourself doing, will get into the kingdom. And that, of course, will open an emotional and existential chasm in his hearers: Then what must I do? What can I do?

The answer is simple: heed the words of Jesus in the sermon. Be obedient to his teaching, not through spectacular religious works, but in the ordinary and everyday situations of life and relationships.

ONLY RELATIVELY FEW of the flock will have what others might consider to be impressive ministries, and these can indeed bring glory to the Father. Thankfully, faithfulness to Jesus doesn’t require that kind of public success. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us a different way of bringing light to the world. Where specifically religious activities are concerned, it’s a matter of doing them with God and not others as our audience, so that our ego and pride are kept to the side. Jesus uses charitable giving, prayer, and fasting as examples, but others could be named. Do we do “religious” things for the sake of being religious, or do we do them because we’re seeking God’s kingdom?

But Jesus also teaches that faithfulness is not confined to the religious sphere. Imagine standing before Jesus on the last day. He may not be impressed to hear that we’ve memorized a thousand Bible verses or shared the gospel with a dozen coworkers. Rather, he wants us to live in a way that’s consistent with those Bible verses; he wants us to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in relationship to those coworkers. And he wants us to be able to do these things because we have a deep and abiding relationship with him.

So how are we handling our anger? Do we recognize our covetous desires and do what’s necessary to get them under control? Are we people whose word can be trusted? Are we people with generous hearts? And do we love our enemies? These are the things that matter to Jesus. And if we’re going to have a relationship with him that will endure to the last days, they should matter to us.