Hollywood & Worship

   Many people in America, and the world for that matter, are enamored with famous people. Our news reports can’t help but discuss the latest news and gossip of celebrities and their personal lives. It’s woven into the fabric of our modern world. Even our churches and Christian organizations jump for joy when the latest celebrity has some type of Christian experience or conversion. We want to interview them; invite them to our churches; and place them up on billboards in an effort to show the world that Christians have celebrity endorsements too. Now I’m not making light of anyone’s conversion to Christianity. On the contrary, I believe we should rejoice with those in heaven over one on earth who turns to God (Luke 15:7). Our rejoicing though should be the same regardless of the person’s station in life.

   My question however is this: should we be enthused when a famous person sings a Christian song that speaks contrary to their lives? In other words, should Christians buy an album from a celebrity who sings a song that honors God but then sings other songs that contradict God’s standards? Should we worship to a song when we know that the performer isn’t worshipping God? For the moment, let’s forget about listening to songs that we know have no worship value to them. Do we listen to someone who in one song sings about Jesus being in complete control of their lives, but then in their next song speaks about getting so drunk that they marry someone the night before without even knowing it? Where do we draw the line? When do we challenge someone’s claim of following Jesus when their life reflects something contrary to their claim? I’m not condemning anyone. I’m merely pointing out the obvious contradiction in what their singing one day versus the next. We shouldn’t forget that words matter. We who are followers of The Living Word should at least acknowledge that. I’m not trying to attack Hollywood either. I believe they’re doing exactly what they set out to do.  But for the Christian isn’t worship more than a good performance? Even if the song is beautifully arranged, doesn’t the singer need to be connected to the truth that they are singing about? At some point, authenticity needs to be considered.

    As I just mentioned, maybe these singers would tell us it's just a performance. They’re just singing a song. I could then at least appreciate their candor. But then it begs the question, why are they singing it? If it isn't for worship, what’s it for? I would venture to say they are doing it for entertainment, to increase their fan base, to sell more records. Primarily, they are doing it to make more money. Make no mistake, these performers don’t find Jesus magically around Christmas time when they sing O Holy Night. They sing these songs to get paid. They’re not moved by the King of Kings who came down to earth to die in our place. And we need to remember this when we hear their performances.

   Once again, worship is not an issue of talent. I do love it when people sing in key (the alternative has at times hindered people’s worship) and that they maintain the right pitch (Dawg! I just had to throw that in). But this isn’t all that’s needed to worship God correctly. Jesus spoke of people who pretended to be righteous on the outside, but had no conversion experience in their spiritual lives. He said, “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain…’” Matthew 15:8-9a NIV

    If we who follow Christ are not careful, we can become captivated by the entertainment industry and miss our deeper need to worship God in spirit and in truth. I close with the words of A.W. Tozer, The Great Double Cross, 1956:

     “People today are betraying Jesus who have nothing against Jesus, who will  even speak kindly about Jesus... They’ve nothing against Jesus and in a tender moment they sing and speak kindly of Jesus. Their reason for betraying Him is not that they hated Him but that they wanted money… they betray Jesus for popularity and to keep friends and to keep from many enemies.”   

The G.O.S.P.E.L.

A unique way of sharing the Gospel from word poet, Propaganda, compliments of Dare2Share youth ministries. Enjoy...

 

A Lesson from Great-Grandma

    Several weeks ago, we had a couple visit our church for the first time. I greeted them, and we exchanged pleasantries for a few moments before the service began.

   Later that same week, I dropped by their house and paid them a visit. We each spoke of our lives and our backgrounds and what brought us to where we are today. Then the wife mentioned that she grew up in Carrier Mills, IL, a town not too far from where I now live. Not thinking too much into it, I told her that I had a great-grandmother who lived in that same town when I was growing up. She immediately asked me her name. I told her. And with surprise in her voice she said, “She was my Sunday-school teacher when I was a little girl. She lived right across the street from the church, didn’t she?” Visions of her little grey shingle-sided house with the big enclosed front porch that I used to sit and talk with her on sprang back into my mind. I said, “Yes, that was her.”

    Grandma Emma, as we referred to her, used to bring out albums and show us pictures of her as a baby next to a log cabin. She had one picture of her grandfather who fought in the Civil War. She was born in 1893 and lived until 1985. She saw world wars and recessions. She witnessed the automobile’s birth and the beginning of air-travel. I also remembered how she used to have a cookie jar full of peanut butter cookies that she would save for us when we came to visit. They were stale, but I never told her. I was just happy she gave us something sweet.

   What a small world? What’s the chance of running in to someone who was a student of my great-grandmother? I thought to myself for a moment and then stated, “Wait a minute; she used to teach Sunday school?” I never knew that about her. Her son, my grandfather was a minister, but I never knew that about his mother. My parents, to my knowledge, never spoke of her teaching. My heart began to warm as I thought back to what God was doing in my ancestor’s life even before I was born.

   Many people would ‘chalk up’ this encounter as mere happenstance, but I considered it a ‘divine appointment,’ a meeting set up by God to teach someone that God is intricately involved in the lives of His people.

   I always considered that I was a pastor in part because of the choices that my grandpa, her son, had made. But until this moment, I didn’t give much thought that his mom taught him first the things of God. Actually, all of us who follow after Christ have the generations that came before us to thank for their faithfulness to Him.

   After the Israelites received the 10 Commandments, there is a section in Deuteronomy 6 called the Mishnah which charges them and all the other generations afterward to teach their children these laws of God. We are blessed today because someone chose to build in to our lives the love of God.

   I recently found and visited my great-grandparents grave, and I took my sons to witness the event. With God’s guidance, I plan on carrying this legacy that was given to me on to them. Thank you mom, dad, grandparents, great-grandparents, & ancestors further down the line for teaching the truths of God to your children and your children’s children and so on…may we not break our link in the chain!