My social media feed has exploded with posts about the conversion of Kanye West. I must admit that I had no clue as to who is this person. So, I have no emotional investiture in this story outside of a sinner coming to Christ. However, I’ve noticed that whatever position people take on this, they are passionate. Some are highly critical of Kanye’s conversion, others are highly critical of those who are critical. So please allow me to present a dispassionate view.
The first celebrity conversion on record is that of Saul of Tarsus. Saul gained power and notoriety as a violent opponent of the apostolic church. He was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith. After the execution of Stephen, Saul “began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison” (Act 8:3; cf. 9:1-2). On his way to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus encountered Jesus of Nazareth and was converted (Acts 9:1ff). Saul’s conversion was met with initial skepticism, with good cause. The first person to encounter Saul after his “come to Jesus” moment was Ananias, a leader of the church at Damascus. When the Lord spoke to Ananias about Saul, Ananias cautiously prayed, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints…” (Acts 9:13). Saul had to work through the doubts of his new brothers and sisters. It took some time, but “Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 9:22). Eventually, Saul of Tarsus became known as the Apostle Paul, who gave his life for the Faith.
Frankly, it serves the church well to practice discernment. Several years ago in Myanmar, I witnessed a pastor and church elders escort a new convert out of their church. They had discovered that he was an imposter, a government agent sent to spy on their activities. As a pastor I have met many false-converts – men and women who sought to use religious conversion as a “get out of jail free” card. The truth is that the heart of humans is duplicitous and many people use religious faith for their personal advantage.
Celebrities have three things in abundance that can become highly toxic – money, power, and notoriety. It was Jesus, not a Pharisee, who declared, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23). When a rich man of some notoriety sought to follow Jesus, Jesus demanded, “sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22). This rich man walked away. There is a reason that Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) warned Timothy to exercise caution when recognizing people for ministry: “…not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6). Being skeptical of the conversion of the rich and powerful is not the act of a Pharisee, but the act of Christian discernment.
It is possible for the rich, powerful, and famous to have an authentic conversion experience. Zaccheus is a case in point (Luke 19:1ff). Zaccheus’ response to Jesus was “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much” (Luke 19:8). Encountering Jesus in faithfulness provokes profound transformation. Yes, I’m discerning, maybe even skeptical, when the rich, powerful and famous proclaim the faith. But, I’m also hopeful. I’m willing to give them time to work out their salvation.
Finally, it would behoove Christians who are intoxicated by the celebrity culture to remember the words of an early preacher: Jesus is “much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:4). Angel worship was serious challenge to early Christians. In our age, celebrities are god-like. We should be careful not to fall into the idolatry of celebrity worship.
