Crisis of Cool: The danger of celebrity endorsements of Jesus.

In 2011 Tim Tebow burst on to the national stage as an unlikely star in the National Football League. A back-up quarterback playing for the Denver Broncos who after a poor 1-4 start to the season gave him the ball to run with (quite literally). Over the balance of the season, the Tebow-led offence managed to turn their fortunes around even to the point of winning the AFC West title and defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the NFL Playoffs that year.

In 2012 Jeremy Lin burst onto the scene during a particularly dark time of the New York Knicks season and captivated a city and a nation with “Linsanity.” A career minor league player who was on the verge of being released and who was contemplating giving up basketball was given a chance to play for a team who was willing to try anything – and he made the most of his chance. Over the course of the next 26 games he averaged 18.5 points and 7.6 assists per game, and the New York Times called Lin the franchise’s “most popular player in a decade.”

In 2013 the inexplicably popular A&E television series Duck Dynasty stole all the headlines when Robertson family patriarch Phil made some controversial comments about homosexuality and civil rights in an interview with GQ Magazine. The network suspended Phil indefinitely for his comments and the Robertson family retaliated by stating that the show would not continue without his participation. A firestorm of debate exploded on the internet and before too long the network was forced to reverse its decision and Phil Robertson was welcomed back to the show.

What do all three of these people have in common? They are massively popular celebrities who have publicly acknowledged their faith in Christ and who have as a result received the (seemingly) undying and uncritical adulation of a huge portion of the Evangelical Christian culture. They are elevated to the status of role models, praised as examples of Christian virtue, and defended vociferously against any who would call into question their competence, skill, talent or relevance by those who also publicly acknowledge their faith in Christ.

Tebow became an object of immense fascination when his habit of “Tebowing” to give praise to Jesus after scoring started being seen on national TV. Linsanity was entered into by Christians and non-Christians alike but the Evangelical community idolized him long after his star had faded in the general populace of basketball fans. Robertson, was defended by many as though he was Jesus himself (perhaps it’s the beard – religious people are suckers for a man with a good beard) by hordes of people who see him as an icon of Christian pushback against the mainstream media’s infatuation with immorality and filth. These men are just examples, but their names are interchangeable with any important celebrity these days who names Christ as Lord and Saviour, Kirk Cameron, Stephen Colbert, Mark Wahlberg, Bono, Chuck Norris, and the list goes on. This week, with the Super Bowl matchup now decided, the faith of future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, which has been long established but infrequently talked about, is spamming my Facebook feed as if it were the most important thing the world needed to know about today.

There is a whole other tier of Christian celebrity within the confines of church culture. Celebrity pastors, preachers, authors, popes and the like who we venerate and elevate to a place right next to, if not higher than Jesus. But that is an issue for another post – today I want to talk about mainstream Christian celebrity.

It doesn’t matter that Tebow was an underachieving passer whose charisma couldn’t sustain his career and who within 2 seasons was out of football entirely. He’s one of us. It doesn’t matter that the Knicks were suspicious of Lin’s longterm prospects and allowed him to sign with Houston instead, where after a short stint as the face of the franchise settled into his role as a back-up player. And it certainly didn’t matter to most Christians that Robertson, while espousing the traditional position of the church with regards to homosexuality did so in a way that was neither compassionate or tactful, and at the same time made some highly controversial comments about race that most Christians seem to gloss over – because he is one of us. We rally behind people like this because they have done something that we have failed to do, something that by and large the church has failed to do, something that even Jesus hasn’t been able to do in this day and age – make Christianity cool again.

Secretly many of us are nervous to put it out there that we’re sold out for Jesus, we don’t think that the world, our neighbours, co-workers friends or family will understand. We don’t truly believe that this wandering Jewish prophet from 2000 years ago who said some legitimately crazy (not untrue, but crazy) things is someone that will resonate with our culture so we keep our faith quiet and to ourselves. Faith is a private part of our lives and no one has any business knowing about it – that is until someone breaks that mould. Someone, who happens to be a Christian, becomes famous and then because they have come out of the closet (to mix metaphors here) as a Christian we think it’s okay to declare our faith in Jesus too. Except most of what I see online, or hear on TV is not people identifying with Jesus – it would be great if some celebrity’s bravery inspired us to do so, but rather I see people identifying with the celebrity who identifies with Jesus. I can be public about my faith because Tim Tebow says it’s okay, or because Duck Dynasty is the most popular reality show ever. Those cool celebrities make it okay. Jesus becomes cool by association with them.

Let me say that again. Jesus becomes cool by association with the Christian celebrity du jour.

Do you see the problem with this? Jesus becomes reduced to an accessory to celebrity. Like all the women who got the “Rachel” cut in the 90’s when Jennifer Aniston made the style popular on “Friends.” We profess faith because the celebrities do. We talk about Jesus because the celebrities do. We justify our religion by what a celebrity believes. We have inadvertently turned the celebrity into God and Jesus into their prophet.

There are so many problems with this phenomenon that I don’t even know where to start, but the one that jumps out at me as foundational is that we get off on the wrong foot by mistakenly believing that Jesus is concerned with being cool. That Christianity needs to be trendy, and desirable and fashionable. But Jesus wasn’t cool. People who saw him from a distance hated him. The establishment rejected him. No one was buying his jersey to wear. It’s true that people in the gospel found Jesus irresistible, but only some people, and only when they met him. In person Jesus was remarkable, but as a celebrity – well let’s just say Good Friday would look pretty different if Jesus was as cool as today’s Christian celebrities. Jesus never cared about being cool. Cool is being part of a passing fad, what is cool today is not necessarily cool tomorrow, and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.

There is a great clip from the old animated TV show “King of the Hill” in which Bobby Hill goes to youth group and discovers that following Jesus can be cool. He gets wrapped up in the coolness of everything that he actually kind of misses out on the point of all of it (as does his youth pastor ironically). There is a touching (and poignant) scene at the end of the episode where after being at odds with his son, Hank explains why he doesn’t want Jesus to be just another cool fad that Bobby gets into and then falls out of when the cool factor has passed.

When we make Jesus subject to the popularity of whomever is publicly identifying with him we reduce him to a passing fad. When the only person’s faith we talk about is someone else’s we reveal an uncomfortable truth about our own faith. When we reduce our relationship with Christ to just another aspect of fandom, we miss out on the irreducible call of discipleship. Jesus doesn’t want us to be fans of the God worshipped by Tebow, or Lin or Robertson (and I should state at this point that I am in no way calling into question what is probably a very legitimate faith of these men and others mentioned in this blog), he doesn’t even want us to be fans of him – what he really wants is for us to be his disciples. Fandom depends on popularity, on what is cool, or current or trendy – but discipleship is a commitment.

So before you share that next story on Facebook about how amazing it is that someone famous believes in Jesus – think about what you’re saying by doing so. Think about what you’re reducing Jesus to – an accessory to someone else’s celebrity. Perhaps it would be better to say nothing at all, and simply go about the task of following Jesus with how you live your life – or if you have to say something at all – perhaps it might be better to talk about YOUR relationship with Jesus; about your faith and about your witness. That’s a story, that as your Friend I am actually interested in reading about.

Until next time,

Chris

New Year Cheer Supplemental

A couple of Sunday's ago I spoke on the importance of generosity in the Christian life and challenged all of you to get involved in the 12:17 Initiative. If you're looking for that message you can find a link to it here on The Bridge Church website. But during that message I also promised to re-post an old blog article on the practicalities of starting to give to God - and I'm sorry that it's not as prompt as I would have liked, but here it is. I was written originally in 2011 in a different context to a different congregation but I think you can make the necessary contextual leaps to see how it still applies today. It tackles the subject matter from a slightly different angle, but if you listened to the sermon I preached a couple of Sundays ago I'm confident you can see how I'm making the same points in this blog.

This morning in the service we looked at the second part of our three part series on stewardship with an investigation of the parable of the shrewd steward from Luke 16 and a discussion on the question: “What am I doing with God’s stuff?” Stewardship is one of those funny topics that people only have a limited tolerance for – like really spicy foods that are good in small doses but which in large sittings make your digestive tract hurt. For that reason when I planned this series I only allotted myself three weeks in the pulpit to talk about it. By forcing myself to hammer home only the most important points in a short timeframe my hope was to really get down to the essentials and give you the maximum bang for your buck. The upside of that sort of plan is tremendous but the downside is that there is so much more to say than can be said in three sermons!

For that reason I’ve diverted some of the teaching to this blog and for those of you wanting to go deeper into the rabbit hole of radical re-alignment of fiscal priorities to the Gospel mandate I’ve provided a few extra tidbits here for your pondering. I also want to use this podium to re-offer what I invited you to at the end of the service:

***[If you are looking for the post that links to the John Wesley sermon referred to in this morning's message please click here the link is near the end of the post]***

If you are someone who desperately needs to revisit your financial priorities to get out of debt and free yourself up to be the kind of steward God wants you to be – we not only want to help you as a church, but we feel that we have a mandate to help you. Like I say at the beginning of the messages in this series: I am not a certified, qualified, or educated financial planner – but I do know how to create and work a simple budget to start working back toward balance. I may not be able to offer much by way of expertise but what I can offer by way of experience is at your disposal; just give me a call or an email to set up an appointment and we’ll see what we can do. It is my prayer that from within the community of our congregation some other people will arise with not only the passion I have to help people get a handle on their finances but with the skills, training and experience that I lack and will be willing to take this over as an official compassion ministry of the church – but until then I will avail myself to you.

Jesus said in Luke 16:13 that “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” When you’re being crushed by debt in your personal finances you are legally (and morally) obligated to pay back what you owe – in that sense you cannot give to God the first fruits of your labour because someone else already has dibs on that money (at least the minimum payment or interest payment value). Moreover you are handcuffed to a certain lifestyle, a certain job, a certain location and a certain level of commitment by your debt to the point that in many ways you are forced into serving money rather than God. We even talk this way in the secular world – the amount of money you owe is often referred to as the amount of debt you are servicing! God doesn’t want divided allegiances among his children.

So how can you start to take some baby steps toward correcting an allegiance imbalance in your finances? Well here are a few things that I have learned and want to impart to you:

1.       Stop feeling guilty

Sin is sin, and wastefulness is wastefulness but Jesus sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to cover the penalty for your fiscal mismanagement as much as it was for mine. Remember that “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” (Psalm 145:8)

2.       Don’t get hung up on 10%

The tithe as it is most often referred to in church circles the standard is sacrificial giving, which may mean more than a tithe in some cases - in other cases it may mean less than the tithe – the standard is heart transformation not formulaic law observance.  In the second place, the 90% still belongs to God. We are only its stewards and must use it in accordance with God's will. The tithe as a formulaic requirement is a part of the sacrificial worship system of the Old Covenant – it sits right alongside animal sacrifices and burnt offerings as a part of a system that Christ’s work on the cross makes redundant. Moreover the “tithe” was never given in money – it was always an offering of production – edible produce was brought in as a tithe from the harvest and it was always administered by the Levitical priesthood.

In the New Testament – we see plenty of instruction on giving. Both examples and instructions abound on how God’s people should be a people that give all they can both to the work of the Gospel and to alleviate the poverty and suffering of others but the principle of a fixed percentage of income that is mandated is not present. The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 illustrates the point that the income they generated through the sale of their property was theirs to do whatever they wanted with – God wants us to be generous but he wants us to give cheerfully and not out of compulsion. Paul says this succinctly in 2 Corinthians 9:

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

That means that while the standard of sacrificial giving often (and I would argue most often in our society) would comport to an offering of more than 10% there are times when an offering of less than that amount is prudent.

3.       Your basic necessities are important

God instructs us to pray for our “daily bread” and consider how he clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds of the air. He wants you to know that your basic daily needs are important to him, and that it is not wrong or selfish to use what you have earned to take care of these. Needs are not luxuries – paying the heating bill in Saskatchewan in the winter is not a luxury – it’s a life and death situation. Don’t feel bad about paying for the basic necessities of life when your finances are out of control – they are still important.

4.       Your family is important

In 1 Timothy 5:8 when giving instructions on how the church should treat the less fortunate in their fellowship Paul gives the crystal clear mandate: “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” That means your spouse, your children, your parents or any other extended family members that are under your direct or indirect care – any financial plan or budget needs to make these one of your financial priorities. Again, there is a fine line between supporting and spoiling (especially when it comes to children or grandchildren) but to the extent that you have the means God wants your family to be a priority.

5.       Take stock of your situation

The first and most important step of budgeting is finding out where the money goes. How is it that you’re living beyond your means? In some instances it’s as simple as curbing discretionary spending and you’ll have enough for an aggressive debt repayment plan that will get you out of trouble and a budget that will keep you out of trouble. Sometimes you’ll discover that you’re spending way more on luxuries than you thought you were and you’ll need to scale back your consumption. Sometimes it will be one particular thing that’s skewing all the numbers and it’s a simple decision to remove it – sometimes it’s more complicated.

6.       Stop the insanity!

Now that you know where you’re over spending, stop it! Cut up or freeze credit cards. Stop playing the revolving credit game. Vow that your debt has gone this far and no further and take a hard stand with it. There is no sense planning on going forward when you’re still travelling backwards.

7.       Consolidate and conquer

Often talking to a trusted financial advisor or debt specialist will reveal a way for you to consolidate your debt into a simpler and cheaper option that will not only reduce the total amortization on your debt load but will also lower your monthly interest costs. Talk to someone you trust about taking these steps but beware of shady debt consolidation “specialists” out there – it’s an area where people are frequently taken advantage of.

8.       Be prepared to make the difficult decisions

Getting out of bondage to debt often means some fairly serious sacrifices to get your head above water. Some of those decisions should not be taken lightly and professional advice may need to be sought out to avoid making rash and unwise choices. In my story we had to leverage the equity we had built in our home and downsize to correct course and get back on track. For some people it will mean selling a second or third vehicle – or selling a luxury vehicle to drive something more economical. For some that big sacrifice will entail taking a second job for a season to accelerate debt repayment or a spouse that wants to stay at home to go back to work for a season to accomplish the same thing. Sometimes it will mean cutting off television, or getting rid of a cell phone, giving up eating out or cancelling membership in an organisation with monthly or yearly dues. The idea at this time is not to shuffle around debt robbing from Peter to pay Paul as it were but to look to ways to eliminate debt.

9.       Stay accountable

Don’t rely on your own will-power that has so frequently failed you in the past. Find accountability somewhere – from your spouse if the financial mismanagement in one-sided in a marriage; or form outside the home if both spouses have been complicit in the spiral down into debt. Don’t let the taboo of personal finance drive you into secret suffering – be open, honest and accountable with someone who wants to see you overcome this. Also make sure you choose someone for accountability that has the same priorities and financial values that you have – lest you come to a clash of ideologies over repayment strategies.

10.   Involve God all through the process

Even while you weren’t watching the money – God knew where every penny you spent was going. There is nothing in your financial history that is a surprise to him and there is nothing about your situation that you can hide from him. Bathe this entire process in prayer and don’t be ashamed to have other people pray for you too. When God speaks to you about money – listen! When he tells you to do something – do it! If he tells you to do something different than what I’m prescribing here – listen to God and not to me (but I would advise verifying with Scripture what God calls you to do – he will never contradict his Word with a personal leading). Most importantly don’t try to do this in your own strength. Remember that God sends you his Spirit so that you will never be alone – he has empowered and equipped you to do everything that he has called you to do and when he starts something in you he is faithful to see it to completion.

If you have further questions you can always give me a call, set up an appointment to meet, or just drop in during open office hours on Wednesday mornings. I’d love to help you – and in the same way if you know of someone else more equipped than I am to deal with these specific issues then please seek out their advice. I don’t want my ego stroked I want us all to be freed up to fully serve God with our finances. Next week we’re going to be looking at the issue of generosity with a message entitled Jesus doesn’t want your money. I’d love to see you at church to share that story with you!

May God bless you as you strive to serve him, and him only.

Chris