Christianity and Celebrity
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:1-3; 9:1-9; 23:6-12
One of my grandsons held his laptop up, “Pawpaw, do you know who this is?” He had a picture of Elvis set as his computer wallpaper. I couldn’t resist the temptation to regale him with the story of how I sat next to Rick Stanley, Elvis’ brother, in a class in Bible college. He tolerated my tale for about two minutes and then promptly changed his wallpaper to Pokémon. I’d say he wasn’t impressed.
A late-night talk show host once had a shtick called “A brush with greatness.” He would have audience members stand up and tell their experiences of close encounters with the rich and famous. I’ve had a few of those myself. Rick Stanley…I sat behind Ray Charles once on a flight (He never saw me)…Bart Starr (I have photographic evidence if you care)…Garth Brooks (I repaired tile in his master bathroom).
Can we all go ahead and acknowledge this obsession is weird. I think that was the underlying message of the “A brush with greatness” segments on late-night tv. These people who are granted status by society due to their fame and fortune, are just flesh and blood people after all. And we do neither them nor ourselves any favors when we deify them. It is no wonder so many celebs become mentally or morally bent. The mantle of divinity is a heavy burden to wear.
Christians, well, we are not innocent here. If and when the famous profess faith we try to cash in. What I mean is, against all evidence to the contrary, we believe their conversion will be the key to the evangelization of the world. “If they are saved,” we reason, “then everyone will see the validity of Jesus!” All the while we are missing that undeniable truth that their followers follow them because they validate their unbelief and worldliness, not because they have some intrinsic magic to them. Therefore, they aren’t going to rush to Jesus because some actor, or politician, or musician does. Nevertheless, it seems when that door cracks open, we go rushing in, all the while telling ourselves it is about Jesus and the gospel and the kingdom, and never about our pride and lust.
Most concerning is how we “followers of Jesus” lose sight of his footprints at this very point. A good old shot of WWJD might do us good here. Luke tells us that Herod had a real interest in meeting Jesus. Word had gotten around his ministry and miracles and people were speculating that Jesus was either Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. Some even suggested he was John the Baptist. Well, Herod had John decapitated and his head served up on a platter for ridicule, so he didn’t think that likely. But his curiosity was aroused, and he wanted Jesus to come to visit him, put on a show, so to speak. (Luke 9:9) Jesus, we assume, knew all this. Yet, he brushed it off without comment and ignored Herod’s interest.
Had Jesus employed leaders of the modern evangelical industrial complex as agents, they would have cleared the calendar, booked a donkey, and headed out to see Herod. Not Jesus. He didn’t entertain the idea of entertaining Herod. Had he had handlers from Zondervan, Baker, or Intervarsity they might have grinched at the loss of potential book sales that came from rejected political connections. Others would have considered it bad stewardship to not take advantage of the possibility of a wider, more influential audience.
Jesus, well, he contented himself with his steady diet of the Samaritans and the sinners, the diseased and the demonized.
Christians too often fall prey to the allure of the Pappy O’ Daniels of this world. We allow a symbiotic relationship to develop – Pappy dances to “Man of Constant Sorrows,” promises not to hurt us, and we commit our votes. In the meantime, Jesus, the gospel, and the kingdom of God become the losers.
Jesus, by the way, did have connections to the palace. The wife of Herod’s household manager, Joanna, was a disciple. Jesus had healed her of either disease or demons (Luke 8:1-3). If Herod was truly interested in knowing the truth about Jesus, he didn’t need Jesus to put on a show for him. All Herod needed to do was look at the transformed life of Joanne and he would see the truth about Jesus.
There would come a day when Jesus and Herod would meet face-to-face. Pilate tried to defer judgment on Jesus to Herod the morning of the crucifixion. Even then Jesus wasn’t cooperating with Herod’s desire for a show (Luke 23:6-12). He stood silent before Herod. Herod did what Herod’s do. He became angry that the Nazarene wouldn’t play the game.
We would be wise, I mean the vast overwhelming majority of believers, to ignore the celebs, the political power brokers, the rich, and the powerful; and give our most concentrated efforts and attention to the unwashed masses of this world. That is not to say the high and mighty can’t be saved. As Jesus told the twelve about that very subject, “with God all things are possible.” That work is a work of God and the few particularly mature vessels through whom he might choose to work. The rest of us need to stick to the fields that are white unto harvest.