When Celebrities Go Christian

It all started about a year ago. My eyes caught a story on my Facebook feed that I couldn’t quite believe. Avril Lavigne had released a worship song!

You remember Avril, right? She was a popular Canadian rock star who sang about boys, girls, and teenage angst. I honestly hadn’t realized that she was still making music, and I didn’t know how to react to someone like her putting out a Christian worship song.

You see, the arts were very divided for me growing up. There was the “good” Christian music and the “bad” secular music. And if you didn’t find the music in a Christian bookstore, then it was most likely secular - the kind of art that sucks you in, corrupts your faith and morals, and gives you a desire for sin.

Over the past few years, I’ve allowed my boxes of “secular” and “Christian” to be split wide open. A well known quote, that’s been attributed to Augustine, says that “all truth is God’s truth.” In a similar vein, I’ve wondered if all beauty is God’s beauty. That is to say, just because we don’t label something as “Christian” doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. And if God’s the one who invented and radiates beauty, then all the beauty we encounter in life is of God. But I know the boxes of “secular” and “Christian” art still exist, especially among conservative Christians.

Avril’s music was definitely of the secular ilk. She had the punk-girl persona that young teen boys were infatuated by. But there she was, showing up a decade after her peak popularity with a story of conversion. Surprisingly, she’s not the only one in the last year who seems to be following this trend. Justin Bieber shared videos of himself leading worship in a church, Chance the Rapper shared how God was working to fix his marriage in his new album “The Big Day,” and finally, just this past week, Kanye West released his much anticipated album entitled “Jesus is King.”

So what do we make of Kanye, Chance, Justin, or Avril switching boxes? Their musical themes used to be full of money, sex, power, and partying. And now they are singing about God’s love, forgiveness, commitment, and not living for the culture. Should we be skeptical or embrace their change of faith?

Full disclosure - I really like some of this new music. In fact, I’ve probably listened to “Jesus is King” 5 times already. But regardless of what I think of their art, let me provide 3 thoughts for for us to think about for when celebrities go Christian.

1) Watch what celebrity Christians claim
There’s always a story behind these changes, and it seems like almost every converted Christian artist is very willing to share theirs. I think it’s helpful for us to remember that at the core of any conversion experience is someone’s own heart and relationship with God. No matter what the news says, we will never truly know what their story is. The truth is between them and God. As much as celebrities are always in the spotlight, we need to allow them the dignity of time and space to grow in their relationship with God in the same way any of us would.

At the same time, celebrities need to realize the immense influence they have on the public. The fact that they call themselves Christian doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be critical of their claims. I find it alarming that the change of heart is seldom followed by a change of lifestyle. Instead, what we often see is a prosperity understanding of the gospel where immense wealth and popularity are seen as gifts from God.

Celebrities need to understand that their continued glorification of wealth and prosperity isn’t in line with the values of the global Church. Following Jesus isn’t about making a name or brand for ourselves, but it might actually mean the opposite. We also need to realize that Christian artists aren’t de facto theologians. If that’s our only connection to spirituality, it will be a shallow one indeed.

2) Don’t claim celebrity Christians
It’s funny how quick we are to claim celebrities for our own sides. As soon as someone of notoriety declares that they are Christian, we see them as being on our side for whatever we’re fighting against, be it political, cultural, or ethical. Less than a week after “Jesus is King” was release, I started seeing edited interview clips of Kanye claiming support for the pro-life movement.

It’s not that celebrities don’t have their own opinions or issues that they fight for, but we as Christians shouldn’t feel as though we have a right to claim these artists for our own. Someone famous becoming Christian isn’t proof for Christianity or our side of a debate. A celebrity’s opinion is no more important than that of the people we are actually in relationship with.

3) Don’t let celebrity Christians claim you
Humans have always had problems with idolatry. We want something to follow, someone to tell us what’s true and what to do. We get enamoured by powerful people and emulate those we deem worth following. We see this all the time in North America. Celebrities have so much influence on what people buy, how they look, and what they believe.

Christians aren’t immune to idolizing people. Sometimes we do it more faithfully than secular society. Just think of all the churches and organizations that were built around one person, and the times those institutions collapsed when those celebrities messed up. We need to be careful where our allegiance lies.

As Christians, we’re never called to point anyone to ourselves. John the Baptist said it best when he told his disciples that “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Whenever celebrities set themselves up to be higher than mere humans, they also set us up to idolize and worship them because of their impressive talent, power, fame, or story.

So where does that leave us? Let’s allow celebrities to be who they are, not claiming them for ourselves and not allowing them to claim us. Just because they’re famous doesn’t mean they should be put on a pedestal. Not everything they do and say should be emulated. They are people who have something to offer, just like everyone else. All of our lives, our work, and our art should lead people to Jesus. Not ourselves, but closer and closer to God. May we allow beautiful art to do that and may we continue on the journey of life with our eyes set on Christ.