Celebrity has nothing to do with Jesus

It may shock some of you to know that I am a People Magazine girl. Yeah, it’s true. If you polled all of my closest friends, they would know this about me. In fact, if you don’t (know it), you probably also don’t know that I prefer jeans to shorts, don’t like to use public bathrooms, and have more issues with my teeth than any human person (is there any other kind?) should ever have in their lifetime. In other words, this knowledge gives you instant and intimate access into the quirky things that make up quirky me. Not that you want the access, but friends, I don’t know any other way to do it than to keep it real and invite you in.

So like it or not, you are now in the club.

You may not believe me, but I really don’t read People Magazine for the celebrity 411. Maybe at one time, but at this point in my life I truly don’t. I have spent my life as a studier of people, and I enjoy studying the stories of the people I read about in People Magazine. Ok, so a lesson in people-watching at the mall can yield the same results. But when riding on an airplane with nothing else to do or sitting in a dentist’s waiting office chair being bored or during a midnight bubble bath, where better to study people than to read People Magazine?

I know, I know. It’s a huge waste of time. A significant waste of money. It has no eternal value whatsoever. I get it. But I can also be honest and admit that sometimes I just need a little brainless activity, ya’ll. And that’s when I reach for my People Magazine.

Maybe it’s a vice. I can probably think of worse ones to have.

But while I sometimes like to read my People Magazine, I also recognize the danger in the celebrity factor that comes with it and other magazines, alike. Many of us put these photographed celebrities up on a highly stacked pedestal, certain that their lives are better in some way…fuller in some way…and happier in every way. We have been told no less than 3 bazillion times that these pictures of insanely skinny, insanely beautiful, and insanely rich celebs have been photo shopped out the wazoo, but still, we in some way continue to believe that they really are exactly how they appear to be. And that’s where the danger comes in.

It’s no secret that Hollywood thinks it’s all about them. It is a bit of a mystery, however, as to why we, too, often believe them.

I wish we stopped there, but we don’t. We take this theory to the Christian community, as well. We do it with Christian musicians, authors and speakers…people with a platform and level of notoriety. We turn our healthy respect for people of the faith into all-out reverence and awe, so much so that we lose sight of who they really are.

…A person.
…With flaws.
…A sinner.
…Rescued by grace.
…Possibly better known, but never better loved than the guy in the prison jumpsuit or the homeless woman living under a dirty bridge.

And when we do that, we lose sight of who He really is.

…I AM.
…Perfect and Holy.
…Blameless and innocent.
…The One and Only.
…Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent…
…God of the Universe.

Because friends, celebrity has nothing at all to do with Jesus.

Celebrity is just…celebrity. Something made up and manufactured. A dream. A myth. Oh, and one more slightly important thing. A lie. Celebrity is just another tactic Satan uses to eat away at our self-esteems and move us away from God. He uses celebrity to get us to revere and elevate people to allow them to become our focus. It doesn’t matter to him whether they live in Hollywood mansions or on stages or in pictures on the back covers of book jackets. He doesn’t care whether it is a friend or an acquaintance or a person you see at church or at a women’s conference or the shopping mall. He just wants you to exalt them in some way…even if only in your mind…so that in so doing it will result in you somehow feeling less important, less loved or less significant. His goal is to get your eyes off of Jesus and onto people, and he will use whatever means necessary to do just that. Including (but not relegated to) taking a beautifully innocent thing like respect and admiration for someone and turning it into full-on worship and adoration for them. I’ve seen it happen over and over again.

Which is why it is so important to keep it real and continue to tell the truth.

One of my best girlfriends has just recently learned to keep it real in a very significant way. As God has been taking her to a deeper level of authenticity in her life, she has opened up more and more about her flaws and fears. On the outside, she has it all together. A beautiful woman. Tall and lean, with legs a mile long. A gorgeous husband and 4 vibrant and healthy children. But on the inside, she struggles like all of us. And when a friend from church shared with her about how much it blessed her that she had opened up about her struggles she said to her, “I am so glad to know you struggle. I had no idea. I really thought you had it all together.” Instead of being flattered at her admiration, my friend was shocked that someone actually thought that about her. But what grieved her heart even more was feeling like in some way that was the message she sent to people. And this interaction convinced her on an even greater level to not waste anymore time pretending to be perfect.

It is something I can appreciate in her. It is something I can relate to. It is really why I wrote my new book and really why I am so passionate about truth telling in the first place.

The truth is, friends, that often we put people on pedestals who don’t even want to be there. We have a different set of standards for the people we consider beautiful, important, or significant. Yet some of the most beautiful, important and significant people in the world have never written a book, keynoted a conference, or graced the pages of a glossy magazine. The truth is that the most beautiful, important and significant Person of all time was rejected, dishonored and misunderstood…when He is the only One who ever was or ever will be perfect enough to be placed up on that highly elevated pedestal.

None of the rest of us even comes close to qualifying.

So friends, on this “Get Real” Monday, please remember that celebrity has nothing at all to do with Jesus. And when you get tempted to buy into Satan’s convincing lie to put someone you respect up onto that dangerously high pedestal, remember the words found in Deuteronomy 32:4… “He is the rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

Not even Hollywood can compete with that.

Lisa