At my college we had a week in Spring that was known as Spiritual Enrichment Week. The distinctives that tried to make this week any different than any other week were slight; there was four required chapels during the week (rather than three), afternoon classes were "cancelled" but students were still required to go to those classes and have prayer sessions with their professors (unless you purposefully or accidentally chose classes run by professors who weren't so interested in mandatory prayer times in which case you got a week of naps after lunch), prayer rooms were available throughout campus, a group of students held a twenty four-seven pray session with the soul purpose of inciting revival (while another group of students spent a good amount of their free time debating what that even meant or would look like), and instead of having a different speaker for each chapel we had one "famous"* preacher come in and preach for the whole week with a single thesis or series he was going to explore.
I'm told in years past that the preachers that came in for Spiritual Enrichment Week were actually big time preachers who had both pedigree and intellect that backed up the term "famous," at least in Christian circles. Our new president had little interest in spending money so he got the best his minimal budget would buy. I don't remember most of these speakers. I only remember one, and I only remember him because of his ability to deeply disturb me with one message.
He wasn't saying anything heretical or downright offensive. If he did I wouldn't have been one of the lone people complaining. He just said a few things that rubbed me the wrong way, things that cater to our unrestrained love of celebrity.
I remember when I was 14 I wanted to be famous. At 15 I grew out of it. Celebrity is a bizarre thing that seems to destroy as easily as it entices. I do understand having a connection with celebrities, particularly talented ones who have earned their spot in the American conscience.** Their art may speak to us and forms in us a connection to the creator or mediator of that art that and we are bonded to them in our hearts and minds as a result. I know people who have bragged about just seeing a celebrity as if it is a major moment in their existence. I've scoffed at these moments but at the same time I don't deny that if I were to meet Mel Brookes, Jon Stewart, Bono, or Johnny cash or Kurt Vonnegut (while they were alive) I would be a little more than excited at the opportunity to talk with them. I'm not above it, even if I wish I were.
So I understand why we do it (buy the magazines, watch the dateline interviews, worry over their marriages and health, etc), but that doesn't justify it. Christians do deal with this in a way that is different than anyone else, simply because we do (or should) think about these things with different motivations. We don't want to set up for ourselves idols, things that we love, admire, or care for more than God Himself. We don't want to attach ourselves to immoral living (does being interested in a person's licentious lifestyle condone it?). And we don't want to be so drawn into the world that we are completely subsumed by it.
Christians deal with this in different ways. Some people in a way that I respect, others... not so much. This particular speaker (who I had never heard of before this event and have never heard of since, so don't think I'm being coy in hiding his identity, I really just don't know who he is) proposed handling it in a way that so frustrated me I considered walking out (an action I have only considered one other time-to be written about in the future-in that kind of setting) on the message.
The series started out nicely enough. The preacher was going to spend the four days discussing with us how we can effectively engage with the culture that surrounded us on every side. The first day he challenged us to consider our entertainment intake and consider how we might lead others in our churches to do the same when we graduated and became church leaders. He proposed having events where students brought in cds to discuss what the music was teaching them. The same could be done with movies. The end goal was admirable: teach people how to be considerate consumers of entertainment and media. A good concept that led to good conversation throughout the day but that in no way prepared me for what we would talk about the next day.
We were all set to process media in a responsibly way, not just ingest it like a Tasmanian devil consuming a carcass (bones and all). But that wasn't enough. He spent the entirety of the second day explaining to us what appeared to be a singular point-we should be praying for celebrities. And not just praying, but fervently praying. He talked about how he had a list of celebrities he was praying for, and he prayed for them every day. If he didn't say it explicitly rules of rhetoric made it clear-we should be doing this too. It began to get very hot in my seat and I squirmed a lot more than I am known to do during a chapel service.
How can anyone discourage prayer? I don't know, and I'm not sure even I can with a good conscience. But his message that we should be praying for celebrities sat very wrong with me. Simply because it Christianizes celebrity obsession. Now you have permission to read US weekly and other celebrity gossip because it assists in your prayer life. It justifies setting celebrities apart as higher beings, demi-gods deserving of our worship and high prayers.
Then he said something that was truly frustrating: "Imagine what Britney Spears could do for the Kingdom if she were Christian!" Just imagine! The mind boggles. If she were a Christian then people would really come to Christ because she'd show people Christ like I never could. I mean sure I'm a Christian and I love the people in my life and I try to show them the character of Christ but I'm just one man. She's Britney Spears! She exists on a higher level. That makes absolutely no sense. Celebrity has nothing to do with one's ability to show others who Christ is. You know what does help? Relationships, spending time with people, letting who Christ is be revealed in your successes and failures. Thinking that a celebrity can do a better job of showing Christ to the world than a regular person completely undermines the power of the Gospel and validates what is wrong with our celebrity obsessed culture-that celebrities are better and/or higher being than we are. They aren't. They are regular people who are blessed (cursed?) with affluence and public notoriety.
I can't tell people not to pray for celebrities. I can encourage them to make sure that their prayers are balanced with prayers for people in their life with whom they interact on a regular basis, you know, normal people. And I can tell them to stop putting a Christian spin on their celebrity obsessions.
What I hope for most is that we set aside this idea that if a celebrity would just become a Christian then, maybe then, people would come to know Christ in an incredible way. Throughout history it has not been celebrities who have led the Church or brought people to faith in who Christ is or what He has done for them. It is regular people who pray for their regular neighbors. People who work their jobs and share Christ through their lives and words are the ones who make an impact on society. Revival, or whatever you call it, comes from normal people who dedicate themselves to serving the Lord and showing Him to others. Celebrities aren't going to do the work for us, they aren't even capable. Its going to be normal people relying on an amazing God who will transform this world- and the individuals in it.
Praying that celebrities will be effected by our faithful work of ministry is one thing, waiting around for celebrities to become catalysts to ministry is something completely different.
When Jon Stewart and I become tennis buddies I will pray for him in earnest. Until then I will concentrate the majority of my prayer time on my friends who I see on a regular basis.
*The term is used loosely here. This is probably better explained as a guy who had at least one book that can be sold after each service.
**I have a harder time with a-celebrities, or non-celebrities, these people who are celebrities simply because they are on television and magazines---celebrities because the media tells us they are celebrities. This makes no sense at all.
