Oh, to have the good old days back again. It seems like only yesterday when young superstar Miley Cyrus made the cover story of Christianity Today. How thrilling it was to hear someone so famous talk about her relationship with Jesus. “I sing, dance and act for Jesus!… I do everything for Jesus.”[1] Christians across the country were beside themselves that someone so cool recommended Jesus! Golly, with Miley Cyrus on board, now Jesus is sure to catch on with the kids!
Now in a new decade, times they are a-changin’. Since Miley has been wearing black leather and grinding with dudes in clubs, a lot of bewildered Christians have begun to pull back their Miley endorsements. How embarrassing! Just when we had such a lovely and famous role model, she turned 17 and decided to do what most pop stars do at that age. She has begun to market herself as a sex object with a microphone.
Along with Miley’s apparent fall from grace, this question arises: What about Miley’s faith in Jesus? What about all of the kids who thought Jesus was cool because of Miley’s testimony?
That brings us to point number one.
Jesus is not cool or uncool based on human endorsement, no matter how famous that particular human is. As author Os Guinness has quipped, “A Christian celebrity sneezes and the Church catches the cold.”[2] Trying to convert your friends because Mel Gibson or Michael Vick or Miley Cyrus “loves Jesus” is very dangerous. Why? Because people, especially celebrities, fail us. Mel Gibson made a great movie in The Passion of the Christ, but in the years since has been publically exposed for his drunken fits in which he hurls out racial slurs. What do you do with that? Well, you certainly don’t base your faith on Mel Gibson or any other Christian celebrity.
We must tell others about Jesus. It is our duty as Christians to tell this dying world about the glorious salvation and hope that He is. However, let’s not base it on celebrity endorsements. We must base the gospel upon Scripture and upon what Jesus has done. He Himself is our firm foundation.
“Titans from the worlds of politics, sport, music, television and religion stride the Christian stage and screen with an authority born only of their mass appeal. ‘Following the star’ has become the exact opposite of what it was for the three wise men. Today it leads away from Christ, not to him.”[3] -Os Guinness
Stay tuned for the next installment, where we’ll explore a deeper reason for this whole problem: compartmentalism.
