Kanye West has undergone a conversion to Christianity, according to his wife, Kim Kardashian. “He had an incredible evolution when he was born again and was saved by Christ,” he said. The conversion culminated in the next album, which will include gospel. songs, as well as hip-hop services, as part of a tour that included New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta.
In other news, Justin Bieber recently spoke about his difficulties with children’s fame, drug-intensive use, and the pain he inflicted on his loved ones, and recognizes several pastors (some associated with Hillsong) for helping him overcome the consequences of some decisions, and asks fans to consider Jesus” “inexhaustible love” for them.
- In recent years.
- There have been numerous examples of celebrities who have shown a link to Christianity.
- From Chris Pratt to Shia LaBeouf.
- Am I now mature enough to see a model dating back decades?When did the Jonas Brothers defend? True Love Waits? And Miley Cyrus was talking about her relationship with Jesus.
- An older generation still talks about? Phase of Jesus?Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan.
Every time a celebrity claims to be Christian, we see reactions among Christians: some run to praise the superstar and largely share the great things that have been said about God’s love and grace; others look at the celebrity cautiously, reacting cynically to the star’s words and actions.
For the first group, it’s as if the conversion of a celebrity conveys a sense of validation for many Christians Isn’t it wonderful?This rich and famous (and super cool) has found Jesus!Very often it seems that behind this reaction lies a complex of inferiority: you see, Christianity is not so boring after all!The result is to raise fame as a great representative of the Christian Faith.
For the second group, it is as if the conversion of a celebrity is nothing more than a pretext to expand its fan base, seek personal enrichment or adopt cultural Christianity that is therapeutic and not doctrinal. Yes, let’s see how long it lasts. In addition, you can talk about other things that say or cause them to show that they do not seriously follow Jesus. The result is to minimize celebrity statements and remain skeptical of their sincerity.
What’s going on below the surface of these common reactions?Sometimes I wonder if our response to celebrity conversions says more about us than about celebrities.
We live in a celebrity culture where fame is synonymous with validation and meaning. When we hear the news of a celebrity conversion, don’t we usually see the lonely individual before God the Almighty?Stripped of all earthly trinkets and worldly success?level like you and me and everyone else. We still see them in their celebrity form, like the avatar created by their promotional machine. And once someone professes faith, we tend to enter into the same worldly appreciation of its meaning.
We may feel a little insecure about our faith in this secular age, and in the hope that a famous person of great importance will make our faith more plausible to others, we celebrate such conversion because it says something about the legitimacy of what we believe. Aren’t we sorry? When a respected celebrity calls us.
The most extreme expression of this perspective leads us to celebrate the vague and spiritual commentary of a celebrity without the conversion of someone from our congregation, even if we have a relationship with the latter and not with the former. As the world says that celebrities “tell more”, we believe that their conversion is also more important.
What happens next? We are very quick to raise celebrities as examples of faith and leadership. This, despite the Apostle Paul’s specific warning not to place someone who is a “recent convert” in official leadership positions. The fruit of repentance takes time. And when we celebrate someone’s profession of faith by trusting in Jesus as Savior and King, we are obliged, through the Word of God, to test people’s confessions through their lives and seek fruit in harmony with repentance.
But because Christians feel like we’re underrepresented in Hollywood, it’s easy to hold on to any celebrity who can become a force for good in this environment. Our career to establish a celebrity as a leader in the faith makes both celebrity and church injustice demand a process of accelerated sanctification on the part of the celebrity (since she is already considered a leader) and lead the church to disappointment when the movie star disappoints.
That’s why, over time, people migrate from the first group to the second, initially excited about the conversion of a celebrity, defend the whole story, only to be disappointed by the movie star’s lack of fruit or a celebrity’s unbiased poses. Then, on the same social media accounts where they celebrated the conversion, they criticize the celebrity for not pasting the customs and theology of Christianity. Since this process is repeated many times, it is not surprising that many Christians react to celebrity conversions not with hope and optimism, but with skeptical sarcasm.
Both reactions say more about us than celebrity. They reveal that we have adopted worldly assumptions about fame and fortune, meaning and meaning, relevance and validation. If your first reaction to a celebrity conversion is jubilant, ask yourself if you react in the same way with someone. he’s interested in Christianity. If your first reaction is to laugh and criticize a celebrity’s statement of faith, ask yourself how it would react if a neighbor did the same profession or commented.
If you notice a difference in both cases, we may inadvertently focus more on fame than conversion.