Christians admire heroes like anyone else. If they can find a hero (sports, politics, music, etc.) who has a reputation as a radical Christian, they are doubly susceptible to worship him or her and even spend money so that they can associate themselves with him or her. When they do this and listen to their religious teachings, they effectively establish that religious leader as an idol.

There is some weird psychology at work in this relationship that convinces people that they are spiritual if they can have some kind of relationship with someone who has a recognized stature as a spiritual person. It does not need to be a close relationship for this psychology to be effective. It can be as simple as wearing a t-shirt with the hero’s name on it or listening to a famous religious speaker. It is not necessary to have a face-to-face personal relationship. The important thing is that the follower feels some kind of connection with the hero. Wearing that hero’s name on an article of clothing, or owning a football with the hero’s name on it, or going to a religious service or conference led by the hero is adequate to create the connection. These are shallow, nonspiritual ways of thinking that demonstrate how Christians have bought into the ways of the world. Perhaps it is all part of the subtle toxicity of religion.

Looking at the history of Judaism and Christianity, we find idolizing of religious leaders  well established in history. It goes back to Egypt and later when Israel begged to have a king to fight its battle for them. Indeed, religious leaders of Jesus’ days were the ones who earned his rebukes, but hero idolatry is historically common throughout Judaism and Christianity.

Idolatry of religious leaders (i.e. charismatic false prophets) is so common that no one, leaders or followers, would ever think of that they are guilty of idolatry. This is true, in part, because they do not understand the symbolism of the Tree of  Knowledge of Good and Evil. Such gullibility is evidence of religious arrogance when people who claim to be followers of Jesus think that Jesus’ words to the Pharisees could not apply to them. This all confirms how established faith branding is in the world today. Jews and Christians are so convinced of the righteousness of their brands that they cannot imagine that the term “Pharisee” applies to them.

Despite the fact that he is only doing what all other religious leaders do, Tim Tebow appears to be the only one catching the flak these days. Worse yet, criticism of his behavior is coming from outside the Christian community rather than from within it. Instead of gently correcting him for spiritual showboating, his fans praise him for it, That tells us that they do not understand scripture either.