Kanye
News has broken recently that Kanye, the ultra-successful hip-hop artist, has professed faith in Jesus Christ. With this profession has emerged a new album with the non-subtle title “Jesus is King,” some interviews where Kanye has discussed his conversion and opinions, and, naturally, a viral discussion on social media.
I don’t know Kanye personally. I have not followed his career with any sort of attention. What I’ve heard of his testimony sounds wonderful, and I rejoice in his public profession of faith. It is great to see and hear the earnest phrase “Jesus is King” get so much public attention.
I do not know if Kanye’s salvation is “real.” This is not some sort of scornful doubt targeted specifically at Kanye, since I cannot know the spiritual truth of the salvation of any person except myself. No one can. People in my own family have recognized that a profession of faith they made earlier in life was not genuine and subsequently been truly born again. I cannot evaluate the spiritual position or growth of a man I have never met, and it is not my role to disciple him.
However, that does not stop other people from trying to do so.
Critics
The “weak man” fallacy is a relative of the straw man argument (a fuller explanation burdened with an instance of extreme vulgar language here). It goes something like this: One finds a small example of some repugnant viewpoint, usually argued poorly and by someone with little or no following, and blows it up to tar a much larger group of people.
This is a common tactic today, one seen most often when a journalist or social media commentator on the left finds one or two twitter accounts with less than 100 followers complaining about some pop culture event or casting decision. They write an article about it and the tweets of the article go viral, reinforcing a “narrative” that Christians are terrible, or that America is an evil country, and thousands of people latch on to this as a way of demonstrating their own virtue. All because a couple of people nobody pays attention to made a complaint that almost no one else was making.
Well, Christians can do this, too. In the wake of the Kanye profession, there has been a torrent of social media posts attacking critics of Kanye’s conversion. A statement attacking an “other” is issued, usually using vague language about “people who…” and such things, demonstrating the superior righteousness of the person who posts the anti-critic criticism.
What is interesting is the relative scarcity of people actually criticizing or questioning Kanye’s conversion. There are a few, but I have yet to see anyone prominent on social media actually question the veracity of Kanye’s profession. Even the notoriously critical anti-everything watchdog site Pulpit and Pen says, “There are snippets of a man that has experienced grace and that has been born again. He evidences from his testimony that he has repented and is completely dedicated to serving Christ from now on.”
So what we have here is a very diminutive and irrelevant minority that attack Kanye’s profession of faith, and a much larger range of people making a point of attacking the attackers.
In some cases this is simply social media reflex: We have been programmed by Twitter and Facebook to join in the chorus of people that denounce whatever outrage-of-the-week has gone viral. In other cases there is a deliberate effort to attack what one perceives to be one’s enemies while elevating oneself in the process. In each instance the ideal level of feedback is provided: dozens or even hundreds of likes by people eager to agree and/or jump on the outrage bandwagon, with one or two poorly written dissents that serve the purpose of validating the original statement.
This is far from the only instance of this occurring, but it is noticeable and prominent. There are too many Christians eager to find “weak men” and attack them to establish their own righteousness.
The Christian Credibility Complex
There is a larger number of people who seem optimistic that Kanye’s conversion is genuine, but that are “cautious” about it. Some people (though fewer and with less vehemence) have criticized the caution approach, but I assert that caution for most Christians is reasonable.
Here’s why: We are not talking about Kanye’s pastor or any church Kanye is going to. When someone trusts Christ as savior, they should be welcomed as brothers and encouraged. Even if a church has a membership class, that should be seen as part of the discipleship process for a new believer, not an obstacle that denies full fellowship. The pastor Kanye is seeking counsel from is not saying “I’m not sure, Kanye.” He is, as he should, taking the profession on good faith and investing truth.
What we are talking about is the more nebulous field of influence, particularly with regard to celebrities. For decades, American Evangelical Christianity has grasped for any opportunity it has found to gain it credibility in secular culture. A celebrity or athlete professes Christianity? They are plastered on the cover of magazines and short video clips of them saying the word “God” go viral on Facebook. A Christian movie gets released in actual theaters? Everyone talks about it (though financial results suggest that few actually go unless their church goes as a group). A Christian artist releases a music video directed by a “real” music video director? Look at us, we can make rock music too!
I would suggest that the well-meaning portion of this impulse to elevate Christianity in pop culture comes from a desire to “validate” the faith amongst the world. I certainly saw this as I grew up in an Evangelical environment, from countless efforts to make CCM appear to be “just as good” as secular music to Christian magazines with various “Christian” celebrities on the cover to all things in between. The argument appears to be this: “See? We can have fun and still be Christian. Actor so-and-so or athlete so-and-so believes in Jesus, so you can to. It’s ok to be a Christian.”
The unfortunate down side to all this has been that much of what has been elevated by “Christian Pop Culture” has proven to be a failure. Celebrities turn out to be flawed humans, and the music turns out to be unimportant, and the movies turn out to be just not that good.
As a boy growing up in Michigan, I was a huge Barry Sanders fan. Even today, nobody in the history of football has ever played quite like he did. Still, decades later, I see a highlight video of his runs and I can’t look away. My dad and I went to a Lions game every year together to watch him, and seeing him run on Sundays after church together was always a highlight.
Best of all, he professed to be a Christian. My parents subscribed me the Christian teen magazine “Breakaway,” and Barry was on the cover of one of the issues. The article talked about his faith and it talked about his endorsement of abstinence. Not only was Barry a singularly brilliant athlete, but he was humble and he had faith and he “did the right thing,” too. I could not ask for a better hero.
So when, a couple of years later, it was revealed a that Barry had fathered a child out of wedlock with a woman he never married, and when he was quoted as saying that his views on morality had “evolved,” it was no small thing to me. It is difficult for me to describe how devastated I was, what an effect that had on me personally, and how that influence could affect me at a time in my life (later middle teen years) when I had to wrestle with such issues personally for the first time.
I learned a hard, hard lesson. In some ways I’ve never looked at athletes or celebrities the same way again.
I understand the impulse to want unsaved people to see people of influence turn to Christ, but it is misguided. The idea that a celebrity or a piece of art gives credibility to Jesus Christ is simply false. Jesus Christ does not need to be believed on by celebrities, and he does not need secularly credible art made in His name. He is credible because he is Jesus Christ. He is credible because the Word of God is true. Remember the warning of Abraham that Jesus cited in Luke 16:31: And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
I understand that some people are eager to hear Kanye say things that are biblical (and, frankly, political) that they agree with. “Hey, lost world, Kanye is one of you, and he is saying this stuff! Now, finally, people will believe!” The hope that many will hear his witness and turn to Christ is natural. If this does indeed occur, I will rejoice. But remember, most people who didn’t believe before still won’t believe now. “Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
The desire to be cautious about his influence is necessary. Not in a local church that he may (should) join and serve in, but in the wider world. If God is in this, that will be apparent in time. If not, well, we’ve seen that story before. This is not a matter of judging Kanye’s sincerity, his spiritual position, or his growth. This is a matter of churches and families taking care to guard themselves, that they do not permit an influence that turns out to be negative.
Notes from the North 