There are no celebrities in God's Kingdom
Forgiveness and redemption, the testimony of a sinner who has renounced their sinful ways and turned to Christ, is always an amazing story. Human beings are, by nature, rebels against the sovereign King of all creation. By our wicked works, we seek to unseat God from His throne and put ourselves in His place. No matter what sins beset us, the central issue is the worship of self. We seek to please ourselves constantly and above all else.
Yet, when the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed and the Holy Spirit humbles the human heart, it is brought repentance and faith. The rebel is redeemed and becomes an adopted son or daughter of the King. We are no longer at war, we are reconciled and made right with a Savior who loves us for all eternity.
No other story can begin to compare.
However, there is something we must be honest about. The stories of the greatest turnarounds, the ones where the vilest human being suddenly becomes the most humble and loving person by God’s grace get our attention a little bit more. This is where the story of the celebrity turning Christian comes into play.
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When a celebrity suddenly professes publicly that they have renounced their wicked lives and turned to Christ, we Christians get really excited. Just like the testimony of the drug-addicted serial adulterer perks those ears up, the celebrity coming to faith is that story that becomes very important to us. That publicly degenerate person that everyone salivated over now becoming “one of us” just satisfies the longing to hear an exciting testimony all the more.
Perhaps more concerning, however, is that we see the high-profile convert as something more than just an exciting testimony to be heard. Not only does the story feel good to hear, we get to do something with it. We get to put that celebrity on display for the entire world to see. The average Joe who gets saved when a friend shares the Gospel with him is not a story the world at large cares about. They do not know who Joe is and could not care less about him. But everyone knows who the celebrity is. They can hear the celebrity’s testimony and we get to promote that person as evidence of God’s grace.
Celebrity Christians become trophies, not of God’s grace, but of our religious camp to be put on display. We get to claim this very important person who once belonged to the world, as one of our own. And, in doing so, we gain a kind of validation — that the Christian faith is important. And so much so, that the most well-known and recognized can become our public faces, our mouthpieces to the world.
This desire to have them speak and be seen for us becomes so important that we forget new Christians are people who need, above all else, godly discipleship to grow in the faith. And that is damaging to the sinner-turned-believer. Sinners saved by grace are certainly indwelt by the Holy Spirit, provided they are genuinely saved. But, they are neither mature nor well instructed. Getting saved does not equal becoming all-knowing. New believers need to be taught the Word, taught how to pray, and taught to discern not only true from false, but true from almost true. New believers can testify to the Gospel and its transforming work in their lives, but they are ill-equipped to become the public voice of the Christian faith.
New believers need the knowledge of the Word and the discipleship of the elders to train them in resisting sin. The new Christian who is thrust into the spotlight is being denied this all-important time of growth and maturity. They are being thrown into the deep end of the pool when they barely even know how to dog paddle. It is selfish people who care more about the celebrity being a public face instead of caring about the growth of their souls.
There is another aspect we far too often overlook when it comes to celebrities as well: false conversion. Jesus’ parable of the soils tells us that not all who claim to follow Christ are truly His. It takes time for the grain to grow and develop fruit. The time can also reveal those who have no depth of soil or those who will be choked out by the weeds. The Christian life is one in which trial and tribulation are our birthright. Such difficulty reveals those false converts who fall away in the heat of the world. Or those who have never truly repented and turned back to their sinful lives when the cares of the world matter far more to them than the Savior they profess.
When we immediately cling to the celebrity Christian rather than desiring them to come under the teaching of sound, biblical churches, we can be guilty of helping promote false brethren to the world. We do not need to demand that celebrities provide incontrovertible proof of their salvation before we give praise to God and welcome them into the church. But we ought not to promote them and platform them as our public voices when the seed has not yet grown and shown the slightest fruit. We should praise Christ for His grace, pray for the newly professed believer, and encourage them to seek genuine discipleship under elders called and equipped by God to lead them.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we want somebody important to get saved. We do not publicly announce the salvation of Jim the accountant down the street, who typically is a nice guy, has a good family, and pays his taxes. Nobody knows who Jim is and his story is kind of boring. We simply do not find it a compelling enough account to blast all over social media. But when an actor, politician, or even a vile seductress professes faith, we jump up and down, share the story, and commence debating with one another about them.
This needs to change. We once again need to care enough about the Gospel to praise God’s name when the most “mundane” of conversion occurs. We must stop expecting the celebrity world to get saved so our professed faith can be validated in the eyes of others. Certainly, pray for those high-profile people to get saved — but desire to see them step out of the limelight so that they may come under genuine discipleship and grow in the faith. Leave aside the spotlight for another time. Give glory to God for His Gospel and pray for those who profess faith, that they would come under genuine discipleship and grow, or, if need be, to be exposed as pretenders to the faith.
Make much of the transforming power of the Gospel. Make much of Christ. And stop worrying about the celebrity Christian. Leave it to God whom He decides to use as His mouthpiece. He is far better equipped to make that calling than we ever will be.
Chris Hohnholz is a retired law enforcement officer, husband, and father living in Fernley, NV. He is one of the hosts of the Voice of Reason Radio podcast and is a member of Community Bible Church in Reno, Nevada.
