Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Christian celebrities

Another oxymoron fell into my mental pail as I was searching for crawfish in the culture creek—Christian celebrities—and now I know what it is that always irked me when seeing the shelves overloaded with ‘Christian’ books at Borders or Barnes & Noble.

Like ‘jumbo shrimp’ the expression ‘Christian celebrities’ is a phrase describing something with words that don’t belong together, yet there they are, and they do describe something. ‘Shrimp’ is a metaphor for little, ‘Jumbo’ means rather large, but shrimp is also an edible animal and though small, there are bigger ones among the small. So that phrase does, after all, make sense. But what about ‘Christian celebrities’?

Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
Matthew 20:25-28

The obvious point of Christ’s words is a warning against the abuse of authority among His disciples. He is warning us what not to do when we will be ‘on our own’ after His ascension to the Father. We tend to think of this as applying solely to church offices, and it gives us plenty of opportunities for finger pointing and name calling. But it also applies to any abuse of authority, even authority which is not official.

A great deal of what is visible in the evangelical Church world consists of men and women striving to make their mark, to establish themselves, even to promote themselves, as knowledgeable or authoritative on issues ranging from bible interpretation to personal relationships to international politics to women’s liberation. True, ‘a man must earn his daily bread’, so what is wrong with becoming an author of ‘New York Times best selling’ books, especially if you’re doing it all for Christ?

I can only ask this question; I can’t answer it. I can only point to what the writer of Acts reports on the testimony of the holy apostle Paul, ‘All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas’ (Acts 17:21).

Christian celebrities seem to roll out of a majestic and divine theological mill along with their books, videos, music, and television appearances with astonishing regularity, and we, like avid fans of sports events, follow them daily, making their pronouncements, or their announcements, our daily bread. What does it look like when a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, ‘wants to become great among’ us and so becomes our ‘servant’? What was it that won the ancient fathers and mothers of the Church their notoriety? Or, even in modern times, what made a man like C. S. Lewis stand out among his generation? And were any of these ‘Christian celebrities’?

I can’t put it into words any better, but to me, Christian celebrities, though there is such a category of persons, do not really exist. It’s as though our salvation is worn, and won, by our membership in this or that particular church. ‘Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?’ (1 Corinthians 1:12-13).

I know there are such things as popes and patriarchs and archbishops and moderators: all these are offices in the Church, and all have been, can be, and may yet be abused by their holders. This is nothing new. They also are Christian celebrities of a sort, but they can never escape even for a moment Christ’s words of warning, that they must be ‘servants of all’, because we, the flock, never cease pressing on them. But what of these others?

We make Christian celebrities, and some are self-made, but only Christ is worthy of true celebrity, and only those who follow Him can hope to be like Him. ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?’ (Matthew 16:24-26)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you noticed that on all the Christian bestseller books the author's photograph is on the cover; and never an illustration of Christ or the Cross or even a country scene or a bouquet of flowers?

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought who allowed these people to become celebrities in the first place? Like I don't know...God? Or maybe instead of being foolish and condemning these people for using their God given talents and sharing these talents with the world us non famous Christians should be thankful that there are some Christian voices in the media to maybe shine a little bit of light on all the darkness that prevails there.
Apow09

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

A bad witness is a bad witness, wherever and by whomever. But let everyone do their best for the Lord, and accept what He gives them. Being a visible Christian in the public eye is one thing, flaunting yourself before the world as one of its party favors or sex toys is quite another. And as for the book covers, that gives a new twist to the saying 'don't judge a book by its cover.'

Tay said...

I Think what you are saying is very bi-ist. and I also think that if you are a christian, you should never be critisizing other christians wether they are celebrities are not. We are all human and broken. None can be made whole without Christ including yourself. We should never be pointing the finger at what we should or shouldnt be doing because we do not have that authority considering that we are broken. Wether a Christian celebrity is doing something for their own recognition or the sake of God's kingdom is none of our buisness. I think as a whole body of Christ we should be praying and operating in humility acknowledging that these people, regardless of how they represent Christ are still IN the public eye. They've been called to this sphere of society and it is WE who should be encouraging them rather than condemning their behavior. We should be praying for wisdom and humility for them. We should be identifying God's grace in their lives as Paul did with the Corinthians. These people need our support, not our opinions. Because wether we like it or not, they are influencing society as we speak.

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Tay, the only thing you say that makes any sense is that we pray for others, whether or not they are Christians. As for those who are or identify themselves as Christians, the apostle Paul says we are to exercise discernment. He also says that whether people preach Christ for the right or the wrong reasons, he is happy that the name of Christ is getting a hearing. But to support people who are dividing the Body of Christ into factions by their bad teaching and behavior, no, we do not support those persons. As for you, sister, if you have a point to make to another Christian (if you are one), you do not come at that person with such harsh criticism and fierce finger pointing upon first meeting, as you have done in your comment. Calm down, pray, ask the Lord how to approach a person with whom you differ, and then, if He gives you the words, approach respectfully, not making him a target for your scolding, but looking to improve him by your good words and example.

Our support, yes, for the servants of God, but for those who willingly give themselves over to the world system, though they are 'influencing society as we speak', never. Does a man pick grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:16)