In a recent Breakpoint broadcast titled “Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Pop Stars”, John Stonestreet talked about the dangers of being a celebrity. He talks about young stars who publicly confessed their Christian faith when they were younger–Miley Cyrus, Jessica Simpson, and Justin Bieber among others– but the bigger the celebrity status grew, they all have–apparently, since we don’t know their hearts–stumbled from the faith under the bright lights of stardom.

Now, I don’t proclaim to be able to understand the constant pressure that they are under, and I can’t fathom the scrutiny they always face, but I do know this–being a pop star and being a faithful Christian appears to be extremely difficult.

I can think of sports figures like Mariano Rivera and Tim Tebow that have been able to stay true to their faith while being under the public eye, but I have a harder time finding a pop star in this category. Is it because as Stonestreet says, “…there’s a world of difference between being a celebrity and being an artist. The celebrity draws attention to himself, the artist to his work. The celebrity thinks success is being famous. The artist knows success is being faithful. The celebrity chooses style over substance. The artist knows looking good is never as important as being good. While artists can glorify God, celebrities, almost by definition, probably won’t. Because more often than not, there’s only room for one star in their firmament.”

That is a bold statement, but one that needs to be said to my generation and the generations younger than me. For some reason–maybe our own narcissism–many people under 40 want to be famous more than they want to be good or virtuous. And they are willing to do about anything to get famous! Just think about some of the most popular videos on YouTube. It seems there isn’t a limit on what some people will do to become a celebrity.

As Christians, we need to encourage and model for the younger generations the benefits of a moral life. Think of those younger folks in your sphere of influence. What can you do to encourage them to live a good life–and thus avoiding so many of the pitfalls that often cause us to stumble–and to be an artist at whatever they choose to pursue? An artist that is more interested in building good works than in building their celebrity.

More to come…
Jeremy