In the World of St. Kanye

Wondering about faith, creativity, and celebrity

 We have been introduced to a new moment in our culture as Kanye West has been very publicly invoking faith in Jesus--not in the clearest terms, but still...

Recent news is that his long promised album, "Jesus is King," did not release as originally promised. That may or may not be a big disappointment to you, and knowing most of my subscribers, you probably weren't even aware that the album was coming. And some of you aren't sure who Kanye West is. Suffice it to say that he has been a one man celebrity and music dynamo, along with his wife, Kim Kardashian West. His music is hugely popular, and his antics are legend. But if you don't know about either of them, that's O.K.--this is Cedarville. I've included a picture for reference.

Anyway, he has been throwing a lot of religious language into his lyrics and posts of late. For all of his career, along with all of his other themes he has had occasional references to Jesus and faith. But recently he has been much more intentional, doing weekly "Sunday Service" musical settings, and openly calling himself a Christian. The most recent one was a remarkable gospel experience with a solid Bible message from a godly pastor (from my old hometown).

Reactions to all of this are pretty predictable. Some are ready to embrace him as the next Christian spokesman to the world, as various other musicians and celebrities have been. Anybody remember that young Christian sensation, Miley Cyrus? Or Katy Perry? Or Bob Dylan's Christian period? Or Jane Fonda's conversion (younger people won't recognize that last name)?

Others, because of the list above, simply dismiss it and assume it can't be real. My natural bent might be in that direction, too.

But, then I remember the story of Chuck Colson, the noted aide to President Nixon who pled guilty and served time in prison after the Watergate scandal. He, too made a public confession of faith before he was sentenced to prison, and many thought it was to get a lighter sentence. But when he came out of prison, he slowly built a ministry to former prisoners, reaching out to old friends who saw the change in him and helped him along in creating Prison Fellowship. By the time of his death, many never knew (other than by his own testimony) about the before picture of his life.

So, with Kanye, I am agnostic but hopeful, and even encouraged by early evidence. Agnostic means "I don't know," and that's really true. Lots of people use Jesus as a marketing tool, and he may be doing so. At the same time, I'm aware that there have been truly Christian influences in his life in the past and even more in the present, and that the music industry has insiders who are solidly committed believers seeking to win people to Christ. I also know that people who have had their share of problems and crises (as Kanye certainly has) are exactly the kind of person that the Lord has chosen in the past to redeem (can I get an Amen on that?). So I can hope--not just for him, but his wife, and those he loves.

And for all of us, we need to realize that our temptation to grab onto a celebrity testimony and say--"there, see, Christianity is great, because my celebrity says so." That is similar to hoping the cool kid in school will like us and that will make us cool, too. It doesn't usually work that way at school, and the credibility of Christianity will never be established by the latest celebrity who embraces it. Let's be careful to only let there be One that we choose as the best example of our faith, and that is the One for whom it is labeled in the first place--our Lord Jesus Christ.