My Thoughts on Kanye West Being Christian
If you’ve been keeping up with the
Kardashians or following the pop culture news, you probably have heard about Kanye
West’s recent confirmation as a converted Christian. Yes, Kanye West. THE
Kanye West, a celebrity who has caused many controversies throughout his career
and is often criticized for his misogynistic lyrics and provocative remarks. As
unpredictable as he has always been, he has been leading pop-up churches and mega
worship sessions, called “Sunday Service” across the US, and recently released
an album entitled Jesus
is King.
Following his declaration, he has since
faced both backlash and support from the public, Christians, and the Christian
hip hop community. My thoughts about his recent conversion are mixed. How
do we respond to this? Is he a true Christian? Did he really experience a
spiritual transformation despite the way he was living his life? Is this all
just a publicity stunt or an image-correcting scheme?
My Initial Response
I would be lying if I said I was optimistic
when I first read the news about him being born-again. My very first impression
was of skepticism and judgment, which I am not proud of. I remember thinking
“Yeah, right!”, which was sad as how much it said about me: disbelief in how
God CAN work in anyone’s life regardless of how “unworthy” they might seem to
us.
I was (and still am) struggling to make
sense of the possible goodness (or maybe even greatness!) and potential harm that
could come out of this transformation. I can see how someone as famous as Kanye
can positively shape our culture if his testimony rings true. But if not, I worry
about people misunderstanding Christianity, thinking that you can be a
Christian while living a life displeasing to God (more of this excellently
elaborated by The
Gospel Coalition). This has always been my initial thought towards celebrities
with a huge platform, like Kanye West, Justin Bieber,
and Selena
Gomez; all of whom have previously declared
their faith in Jesus.
How My Thoughts Shifted
Thankfully, the Holy Spirit prompted me to
reflect on my own flaws and judgmental attitude because I was judging them like
I was better than them. I was reminded that there are no big and little sins in
God’s eyes. Any kind of iniquity separates us from God (Isaiah
59:2).
I was also reminded of the story of how
Paul came to know Christ. Formerly the greatest persecutor of Christians, Paul
was probably the last person others suspected to pioneer missions in the
history of the early church. He proceeded to become one of the most influential
figures in the Bible. This reminder shifted my sight back to God, the One who
is not limited to any circumstances and can work in anyone’s life no matter how
broken, sinful and horrible they seem. God is omnipotent and it is not at all
impossible for Him to change Kanye’s life.
After these realizations, I was rebuked
that instead of praying for God to work in and through Kanye, I was mostly
skeptical. This is not to say that we shouldn’t be cautious and concerned, or
blindly celebrate him as a new Christian role model. I understand there are
questions regarding the nature of his Sunday Service. If his testimony is
genuine, we would be able to tell by the fruits it will yield, which is to be
followed with massive changes in how he lives his life (Matthew
12:33). However, we are not called to judge and look down on someone who is
pursuing God, or anyone really (Matthew
7:1-6).
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that we can never know
whether one is truly saved by God, and it is not our place to judge others. We
also might never know if this is all a marketing tactic or if he has truly
encountered God and is truly following Jesus. All we know is that the
Scriptures are full of stories of those who lived sinful lives or made mistakes
(the apostle Paul, King David, the thief on the cross and so on) but received
God’s abounding grace and were utterly transformed to spread the message of
salvation to the world. So, let’s be prayerful and hopeful, instead of
skeptical and judgmental, and rejoice that people are hearing the Gospel
through Kanye’s testimony and album (Philippians
1:18).
About the Author
0 comments