Tag Archive for 'celebrity'

Jets For Jesus

Published on January 19, 2009 in Dark Side of Christian Ministry. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

 

I remember an article in Charisma Magazine over a decade ago in which Jamie Buckingham, God rest his soul, asked the question, “Would Jesus drive a Mercedes?”  Looking at the present crop of Christian leaders gracing our televisions on a weekly basis I think Jamie asked the wrong question.  Maybe his vision was too limited.  Maybe he had too much trust in the goodness in man.  Maybe he just did not live long enough to see where it was really going.

 

The question we should be asking is “Which private jet would Jesus fly?”  I think we should get a new round of bracelets made with the initials WPJWJF.  Suddenly we are covered up with Christian leaders who are spending literally fortunes flying their private jets around the world to share the Gospel with the poor and homeless.

 

I knew of a ministry that bought a jet.  They needed it to get everywhere the work was taking them, including Europe.  A trip to Europe in this jet cost $60,000 when jet fuel was less than $2.00 a gallon.  That was just to get the jet to Europe and back.  It did not include the cost of flying around while you were in Europe.  It did not include the cost of golf outings in Scotland or other important ministry workings.

 

Why can’t we fly commercial like everyone but the rich and famous?  Why can’t we spend our donor’s money better?  Why do we suddenly feel that we are entitled to a better life?  Why is our time so valuable that we cannot waste it being treated like regular human beings?

 

This is part of the celebrity culture that has invaded the Church.  Instead of rightly discerning what Jesus would do we simply gave in to the lifestyle because it made us feel good.

 

If you want to fly in a private jet, then get your money the old fashioned way—earn it.  That is at least a better way than bilking donors out of their hard earned money.

 

Maybe Flip Wilson was right all along—the devil made me do it.

The Jesus I Read About, Or The Jesus I Hear About?

Published on January 14, 2009 in Christianity. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

We live in a culture that makes it hard for us to properly evaluate Jesus. We cannot see his legacy because it is shrowded in too much mystery. Not the mystery of the supernatural, but the mystery of the pop culture we live in. The celebrity of Jesus makes it impossible to look at the modern version and see the ancient reality.

Is Jesus the version we see in the movies? Is he the man in the photo hanging on the wall in Sunday School? Is he the man hanging on the cross around the neck of the priest? Is he the man the preacher is talking about from the pulpit? Does he want me to be rich? Does he really demand that I submit to the rules of man to achieve the goals of God?

So the question that must be answered is where do we look to find Jesus as he existed. There is only one place to find him and that is in the scriptures. Granted, many believe that is not the complete story. It is, however, the only story we have. We must go back to that place and see what Jesus said, what he did, how he valued things and people.

It is no longer enough to take the word of a man or woman standing in a pulpit-it never has been. There is no valid argument that Jesus Christ has not been one of the most influential people to ever live. How else can we understand the great esteem and the great hatred that a large population of the world feel for this one person.

When we look at the life story of Jesus we see a man who did not give in to the political pressure of his day. He was not influenced by the religious leaders of his day. He redfined how we should live our lives. He made it plain that life was not about what we possessed; life was not about what we achieve; life is only about how we treat those around us.

If we were to evaluate the world around us the way Jesus evaluated his world we would quickly realize that few people, even Christians, have any idea who the real Jesus is. He was a man who stood for the weak. He believed that a system that only rewarded the wealthy and popular was not a system of justice al all.

Remember, it was Jesus who rebuked the religious leaders of the day for giving more honor to the rich than to the poor. His point was simple-we should not show favoritism to those who can reward us now, we should stand for the downtrodden and God will reward us one day.

That is the hardest part of believing the real Jesus. One of the reasons he stands alone in history is that he teaches that we should work without concern for a reward in this life. In fact, he goes even further and states that if we are working for rewards here and now we will miss the purposes of God in this life and in the one to come.

Where is that being taught-even in the modern church?

Celebrity, the Great American Deception! Ode to Lindsey Lohan

Published on September 15, 2008 in The Bigger Picture. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

            I have had my fill of celebrities telling me what to believe.  So I have some questions for all the celebrities who want me to believe like they believe.

 

            Why should I listen to someone who is really good at reading lines someone smarter than them had to write?

 

            Why should I listen to someone whose only claim to fame is that they can become someone else on stage or in front of a camera?

 

            Why should I listen to someone who wastes more energy in a 5 star hotel suite in one night than most of us waste in a month?

 

            Why should I listen to a group of people who spend more time holding award shows to build up their self-image so that we will be impressed with them?

 

            Why should I hear about politics from someone who never received an education, even though they can play an educated person in the movies?

 

            Here is clue, if your claim to fame is that you look good on the front of a magazine cover, or you can pretend to be someone you are not, or you won an award from a group of people who do the above, maybe you should close your mouth and spend your money more quietly.

 

            Most of us have never been to Hollywood.  We are watching your movies to forget about the pains of life for a time.  We are not watching you because you are smart, or because we think you have anything of value to share.

 

            Entertain us for a time; then, enjoy your drug infested parties, sleep with whoever shows up.  But stop thinking you have anything of value to add to our lives beyond your art.

 

            Why should I care what celebrities think?

 

It is a simple answer; it seems to me that most celebrities cannot think.  Maybe those of us who wait to see what Hollywood has to say really are the stupid ones.