It’s amazing what proximity to a celebrity will do to some people.

My wife and I just took a trip to Nashville, TN.  We were invited to attend the American Association of Christian Counselors’ World Conference.  The AACC is an incredible organization of over 60,000 counselors that has had significant impact on counselors and churches around the world.  Seeing what AACC does was an amazing opportunity.  We were very, very grateful to be able to attend.

One of the elements of this conference is the appearance of several well known speakers and musicians.  This year they had invited people like Chuck Colson, Gary Smalley, Joni Erickson Tada, Amy Grant, Mandisa, NewSong and others.  Karen and I were fortunate enough to be invited to the green room and backstage areas for most of the conference and therefore, got to be around most of the celebrities that came through.

It was very interesting to be around these big names.  It was interesting to watch them as they prepared to speak or sing.  Watching Chuck Colson go over his powerpoint with the tech guys and watching Mandisa practicing with her iPod reminded me that all of them were just ordinary people who happened to have extraordinary jobs.

What was even more interesting was watching the actions of those around them.  It’s amazing what proximity to a celebrity will do to some people.  For full disclosure, there were a couple of these folks I REALLY wanted to meet. But, after watching how some people around them acted, I was not too disappointed I did not get to.

The person I admired the most backstage was, well, let’s just call him Jimmy, because that’s his name, Jimmy Queen.  He spoke to and treated everyone exactly the same; whether it was the most popular person at the event, a staff member, or a custodian at the hotel.  What an example of a person who is grounded and humble.

Then there were some other types too.  You’ve seen it before:

The ones who will be having a perfectly nice conversation with you until a “famous” person walks by and then they walk away as if you never existed just to go sniff after the celebrity.

Then there are the ones who ignore everyone altogether to focus 100% attention to stalking the celebrities.  I don’t want to be crass, but I was amazed that some of these stars were even able to walk around with these sycophants figuratively embedded in certain parts of their anatomy.

The ones that amused me the most were those that almost seemed jealous that there was someone in the room who happened to be more well-known.  Feigning contempt while all the while dying for an excuse to have a conversation.

I think it’s James Chapter 2 that discusses the sin of partiality.  To be totally honest, I have been guilty of this myself.  It’s hard for my selfish heart to resist that temptation but I must.  I have to admit, as much as I wanted to meet a couple of those people, I am sort of glad I didn’t.  I would never want anyone to see me the way I observed those few backstage who just did not get it.  Thank God for Jimmy and those at the AACC who work with him that understand that everyone matters, not just the “important” people.

I hope I always follow that example.