Jun
25
2009
Michael Jackson (1958-2009)
He is dead at the age of 50. He had everything the world offered–but no Jesus.
I remember once looking at the liner notes from an album of his, and he quoted the final lines from William Ernest Henley’s famous poem, Invictus:
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Those are not the words you want written on your tombstone.
It is hard to think of a sadder public figure in recent years. A black man who never found his identity as one created in God’s image, and who never experienced the identity of being conformed to the image of Christ. Black and white, male and female, rich and bankrupt, genius and punchline, private and public, innocent and deceptive–everything seemed to be jumbled up.
The one thing that comes to mind about Jackson is how bad he was at hiding his brokenness. Even while living in a literal fantasy land, it was obvious to everyone that this was a person–enormously gifted–desperately seeking a mask to cover, in futility, who he was.
May God use even this to increase our compassion and ministry to the lost, broken, and confused.
Update: Andrew Sullivan weighs in:
There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age – and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.
But he had no compass to find one; no real friends to support and advise him; and money and fame imprisoned him in the delusions of narcissism and self-indulgence. Of course, he bears responsibility for his bizarre life. But the damage done to him by his own family and then by all those motivated more by money and power than by faith and love was irreparable in the end. He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell.
I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.
I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours’ and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.
63 Comments
While it's certainly true that Jackson was always a deeply troubled person, it would probably be appropriate to at least mention something in passing of part of his good legacy, and not strictly the dark side.
Reading this post was awkwardly like watching someone dance on his grave.
Justin,
Are you going to lambast Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett as well?
Besides, what inside information do you have about his last days here on the planet?
Tasteless post.
Now that you have kicked a dead man! That you do not know. Tell them what they must do to be saved.
And that Jesus will save them!
Guys,
Thanks for the feedback. I'm sorry you thought it was in poor taste. I do acknowledge his gifts and genius–and yet I find his life inescapably sad, and I hope my post reflects that to others.
Justin
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." ( John 13:34-35)
I don't think it was tasteless…what are you going to say about this man? JT seemed to be pretty accurate about him and the post came across to me as being compassionate toward to a man who was obviously lost.
Who knows what God did toward the end?
Also, I don't recall Ed and Farrah living the same kind of life as Michael, but maybe I'm too young to remember.
excellent post – the news of his death was indeed sobering as his life was unenviable and sad. he was talented but most of his existence on this earth was marked by pain and suffering and running from who he was. we are in a broken world that needs jesus and all too often i (we) forget that…
Thanks, Justin, for elevating Biblical priorities above Hollywood proprieties.
Justin,
Good article. You made some good assessments of his life. He was definitely before our eyes to see the good, the bad and the ugly.
But I would recommend taking off the video. It just seems to be a little too much for today’s event.
I do appreciate how you ended the post….that our hearts should break even more for the lost, broken and confused, because we all at one time were there ourselves, but for the grace of God!
Good suggestion, Keith. I took it off.
Thank you.
JT
Michael Jackson likely was not saved.
However, Michael Jackson is still a human being, made in the imago dei. And as humans, we are to image God and carry out the cultural mandate, and be "mini-creators" just like the Creator himself.
Michael Jackson, as a human being in God's image, reflected the common grace of God. He was brilliantly creative, and literally shaped music itself—that wonderful facet of creation that God has given us. He was also a philanthropist, giving hundreds of millions of dollars to those in need.
Nobody reflects the depravity of earthly wealth than Michael Jackson, I agree. But by the same token, he left a positive legacy as well. And that positive legacy is a testimony to the common grace of God just the same.
So I appreciate your assessment–I really, sincerely do. But as Keith mentioned, this post has elements to it that are slightly unbalanced. It would seem appropriate to not only mention his reflection of depravity, but also the positive legacy he left.
In a recent TV special about Farah Fawcett, I got the sence that she had faith in the Lord. There was peace in her voice and countinance.
It's true we don't know what micheal thought about the afterlife before he passed. Rest assured God knew His plan for Micheal. The world will know we love God by our works.
How is Justin's piece unbalanced? In terms of Biblical theology and ethics, how does giving to charity compensate for being (in all likelihood) a pedophile? In the scales of divine justice, is that really a counterbalance?
@theologyandculture – well said. His life reflected suffering…
What's the relevance of Jn 13:34-35 in this setting? In context, that has reference the love between one Christian and another. How is that applicable to Michael Jackson?
And in what respect was Justin's piece unloving or hateful?
Secular pundits are going to comment on Jackson's life and death. Why shouldn't a Christian like Justin take the occasion to offer a Christian perspective and corrective?
As i grew up loving Michael Jackson, and praise God for using him in moving the face of music…
With MJ and Farrah on the front pages, I am noticing God's provision on cnn.com noticing that Jon and Kate are being taken out of the Lime-light. Hopefully this can aid and pointing them away from media and more towards Christ
Excellent, sensitive thoughts, Justin. Thank you.
Jackson was an individual equally remarkable for his giftedness, and his brokenness. To see a parade of his pictures over the years is to see the chronicle of a man who did not take his pain and sin to the Cross, and instead of experiencing God's regenerating grace, attempted his own handmade makeover. It was sad, and it was painful.
I hate seeing someone die who gave no indication of being ready to face God. I prayed for Michael Jackson; I am sorry to see him die.
Being a musician myself, the depth of MJ's unusual giftedness does not escape me. However, I believe that JT is not obligated to temper his post by mentioning MJ's legacy; every other media outlet will do that. When we compare this life to eternity, many things we value are not as impressive. I wonder if MJ himself is more concerned about his legacy right now…
theologyandculture,
Just for the record….the only thing that I suggested for Justin to consider was removing the video.
Nothing about the content of his article is unbalanced, inaccurate or unfair!
He made an assessment of this man’s very public life that was on point.
Great point, Enzo.
JT, have you ever posted anything that didn't spark debate?
I don't think Justin's post was at all offensive or unkind. Facts are facts. I feel sorry that Michael spent his entire life trying to fill a void with so many useless things and, most likely, died an empty and broken man with Jesus. That is the saddest thing to me.
He was so incredibly gifted and talented and has left us a huge collection of amazing work. No one can doubt that. But no amount of fame or platinum records met his deepest need. It seemed that the bigger he got and the more records he sold the more desperate his search for a Savior he became. It's sad that, it appears, he didn't find a Savior in Jesus Christ.
A couple people here made comments along the lines of, "The secular reporters will talk about the good side, it's good to also talk about this bad side."
I agree that we need balance. I am just suggesting that rather than go to the opposite extreme of the secular media, and report only the damnation of his eternal soul, we should be balanced. We should not bring balance by being a counterweight, we should just be balanced, period.
There is a theological nuance that is lacking here. I am not a particular Michael Jackson fan. I don't own any of his music, albums, singles, or otherwise.
However, I am deeply aware of the theological principle of Genesis 1:28:
"And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'".
This is called by theologians the "Great Commission of the Old Testament," or the "Cultural Mandate."
All human beings are made in the image of God, whether saved or not. And as image-bearers, humans are to exercise the same creativity of the Creator: fill the earth with culture, art, architecture, music, etc. This is also the theological principle of "common grace."
While Michael Jackson likely was not saved, he still reflected the image of God. And he still reflected the spark of creativity that God has mandated us with, and he did indeed contribute greatly in the realm of music.
Someone made the point that being a philanthropist doesn't make up for being a pedophile. This is true. However, all sins are equal in God's eyes, and we all are guilty without the grace of God. And we still, as fallen humans, are used by God for greater things, despite our fallenness.
And Michael Jackson, despite being likely unsaved, still was used by the common grace of God to bless many humanitarian efforts in the world.
All I am saying is that we, as Christians, should have balance. Not be counterweights to the opposite extreme, but balance.
As you can see from the other first commenters, I am not the only one that detected an unbalanced negative light to this post.
Theological nuance: that's what I am proposing.
After posting my last comment, I see Justin's update from Andrew Sullivan. What he wrote is much more in tune with what I am proposing.
I went back and re-read Justin's post, just to reevaluate myself in light of everyone else's comments.
I could only count two positive words for Jackson in this post: "genius," and "gifted." Two words. And on the other side, we have comments such as "Those ar not the words you want written on your tombstone." Ouch!
Like I said, I am only suggesting balance. My entire blog is dedicated to theological critiques of culture and the depraved world we live in, so I am only all too aware of Michael Jackson's depraved life.
I am only suggesting balance. This post struck me–and other reader–as a bit unbalanced.
What an eloquent contrast, Justin.
You well put Jackson against the background of the truth he so desperately needed to know, the want of which so scarred his life.
Then there is Andrew Sullivan, a man enslaved to his own lostness, unable to offer anything but sorrow without grounded, truthful hope. He can eloquently describe some of the edges of the dilemma that held Jackson and still holds him, but he has no reality, no hope that enters within the veil, to hold out.
It is too late to pray any longer for Jackson; but I appreciate the reminder to pray for Sullivan.
theologyandculture,
Your concerns show a compassionate heart, worthy of emulation (I mean it).
However, I believe that my purpose here is more theologically nuanced than just wanting to "talk about this bad side". It's not about balance, it's about the horrifying likelihood that MJ is facing God's justified wrath and that all of his accomplishments availed him nothing in light of eternity!
I enjoy MJ, The Beatles, SRV, Randy Rhoads, Mozart, Tito Puente, and the legacy of many other musicians who are not likely to be "present with the Lord" right now. However, when the new heavens and the new earth come, everything we considered so "influential" will be made nothing when compared to the Ultimate Influence.
The rich man only wanted to be relieved of his torment. Right now, the paralytic is more grateful about having been told "your sins are forgiven" than "rise". I don't think it's excessive to remind everyone of eternal consequences while we have their attention.
JT…
Despite the comments left by some… your post was insightful, compassionate, and heart wrenching. Folks commenting in the media are quick to say "he is finally in heaven watching us from above", or something to that effect.
Lord only knows what he did in his final hours. Repentance, trusting in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, are now things we can hope happened, but he is gone and the time for evangelizing is also gone.
May God grant access to those Christians in that arena to proclaim our Lord and not be ashamed of the Gospel.
Justin,
IMO, good post but bad timing. This sort of critical reflection on the man, his character, and his reflection of (or impact on) culture is better a few days or weeks after the fact.
But I appreciate the conversation here.
JT simply offered a Christ-centered assessment on a Christ-less life. The entire tone of JT's post was compassionate–even to the point of urging believers to demonstrate a greater love for those who live in hopelessness.
Jesus is all about taking our pain, suffering, and agony. It is not "unbalanced" to point out the tragedy of holding onto misery instead of finding freedom in the Cross.
Sadly, too many Christians' definition of "nice" looks less like Jesus and more like some plastic-smile banality.
Jesus wept over the citizens of an unbelieving Jerusalem. He didn't spend time "balancing" his comments by mentioning the city's nice qualities. Of course they had good qualities! But that wasn't Jesus' point, nor was it JT's. The point is that they didn't have Christ (nor did Jackson, if the revealed portion of his life is our guide)—and no amount of positive commenting can "balance" that tragedy.
JT –
I grew up with Michael Jackon's music, and think both you and Andrew Sullivan captured the massive, tragic contradictions of his life so very well.
It is now to late for him, but not for many others in the music business, and the people who do know the Lord who work with them out of the public eye. May God grant many others boldness to speak, and those who hear, ears that hear and believe.
Sometimes (oftentimes?) we need a sobering perspective. Thanks Justin.
Darren: "IMO, good post but bad timing. This sort of critical reflection on the man, his character, and his reflection of (or impact on) culture is better a few days or weeks after the fact."
Bingo.
Let me begin by saying that this is an incredible dialog…one that needs to be had among Christians.
Justin, I appreciate your post a great deal. I do not find it to be in poor taste nor its timing bad. I am grieved to watch the news at times like this. I pains me to hear the world reflect, "He is in a better place…finally he is at peace." When faced when the finality of death, the world makes gods for itself and creates its own reality. It is precisely in times such as these that we must be faithful to (lovingly) present the world around us with the truth of the Gospel.
@Darren – I fear that in a few days or weeks many will have lost the sobering perspective they have in this moment. What do you think?
@theologyandculture – I agree, MJ had incredible God-given talent – he was musical genius. He was made in the image of God. Does this not make the story all the more tragic, that he rejected the very God who game him these talents?
Once again, great discussion.
Regarding the timing – do we think that Jackson's close friends and family are going to visit JT's blog and be wounded by the content? I mean it's a great blog and all…..but no need to overreact.
It was a good commentary on the emptiness of the culture of greed, excess, and narcissism. I saw (I think) Germaine saying tonight for Michael to "Go with Allah." Tragic.
DJP said, To see a parade of his pictures over the years is to see the chronicle of a man who did not take his pain and sin to the Cross, and instead of experiencing God's regenerating grace, attempted his own handmade makeover.
Exactly.
I think JT is dead on. MJ had amazing gifts, and did some good things. But unless something we don't know happened toward the end of his life, from an eternal perspective there's nothing to celebrate.
We can talk all day about his cultural contribution, but at the end of the day this was a very sad, broken, tragic life. Everything else is just window dressing.
JMH
JT, good post.
As Christians, we should not feel obligated to praise or honor Michael Jackson, or point out "his good legacy." We should feel obligated, however, to hold out the good news of Jesus Christ as the only true alternative to the painful emptiness Sullivan so eloquently described.
I am also reminded that much of the world's entertainment is deadly because it is trivial and it clouds or dulls our senses to what is truly valuable. Nothing compares to the immeasurable glories of Christ.
The banality of most pop entertainment, e.g. the addictive melodies with lyrics that trivialize life, deadens our spiritual nerve endings so that we are no longer sensitive to the eternally significant things of God.
theologyandculture said, "A couple people here made comments along the lines of, "The secular reporters will talk about the good side, it's good to also talk about this bad side." I agree that we need balance."
I respectfully disagree. We don't need balance. We need the truth. Truth in love.
theologyandculture said, "All human beings are made in the image of God, whether saved or not. And as image-bearers, humans are to exercise the same creativity of the Creator: fill the earth with culture, art, architecture, music, etc."
Simply for the sake of filling the earth with culture, art, and music? No. There was a specific purpose in mind. Humans are to exercise those creative gifts for the glory of God the creator… I fail to see how Michael Jackson used his creative talents to glorify God.
theologyandculture said, "And Michael Jackson, despite being likely unsaved, still was used by the common grace of God to bless many humanitarian efforts in the world."
The deification of Michael Jackson that happened instantaneously upon his death is sad, but not surprising. If these humanitarian efforts aren't done in the name of Jesus for the glory of almighty God then they are not "blessed" by God or His "common grace".
Are Muslim humanitarian efforts of feeding the hungry in Africa (for the glory of Allah) a blessing? How is Almighty God glorified in that? How do people come to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior through that?
Temporal humanitarian efforts absent the eternal spiritual truth are deceptions.
the king of pop met the real KING today. hope he was ready.
I have not posted in the past and yet on this particlar issue feel compelled to comment for what it is worth.
Michael Jackson and family are or were associated with Jehovahs Witnesses (described as inactive or former in some circles). In order to get Jacksons perspective you can read a brief article posted on http://www.beliefnet.com. I was also associated years past with the WTBTS. If Michael believed the false strands indicated by the article and held to any it until death the wrath of God remains upon him (John 3:31-36). The constant collision of his private and public life obviously point to the confusion of mind and heart.
Unless we have some reliable inside insight into the final days, hours of their (Jackson, Fawcett, McMahon) earthly conscious lives we must defer to righteousness of God in the unknown (Deut. 29:29 in context concerning wrath and blessing).
In keeping with the comments I do agree with JT assessment and also rightly acknowledge the issue of dignity in the imago Dei. Although distorted, marred and disfigured the reality of God derived creativity and beauty are evident and also in reality operate as a witness.
Sadly many in the high profile categories in life have been exposed to much the world has to offer and have made a horrific exchange (Matt. 16:24-27). But in keeping perspective many who have not (our neighbors, family friends) have made same exchange. The dilemma exists for all. The priority of the eternal versus temporal helps us to see reality (1 Pet. 1:24-25)and take opportunity where it exists for us as believers.
This issue will be a prominant topic of conversation for several weeks due to the celebrity status of those who have died. Let's pray for the family's and use it as a talking point with everyone in our relational sphere in order to operate as a conduit of Gods grace. We need to deliver our help packaged in truth and love focused only their only real hope our Savior.
Our time with hot button issues is often short and we need to pressed by conscience to be ambassadors living under self control, respect, and righteous lives and speech (1 Pet. 2:11-17).
I have appreciated everyones input into the discussion.
Blessings to all. Press on as the fields of harvest may be potentially more primed at some points in time than others (John 4:35).
Confront sinful resistance with truth, present hope in Christ, speak and demonstrate love.
JAM
Thanks, JT, for the insightful and sensitive post. I find it fascinating how important we feel that it is to lift up peoples' names (or at least make them look less bad) upon their death.
I think WJM brought up a good point: what does it mean to do something GOOD? In Mark 10:18, Jesus says, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." Therefore I'd say anything that brings glory to God has had a good influence. And since God is the only good, ONLY something that lifts up God's name is good. With that in mind, did MJ influence our culture in any good ways?
Certainly God's grace abounds on this earth, constantly restraining us from some of the evil we desire to do, so none of us are as bad as we would be without that, but can we really say that MJ contributed anything of value to eternity (or that any of us on our own contributed something of value to eternity)? No– the only reason WE can lift up His name is because He has enabled us to by His grace! So why lift up MJ's name? I think it's great that JT finds an opportunity in MJ's death to proclaim Christ and to exhort us Christians to exhibit a love for the lost that glorifies Christ – and if God works through MJ's death to bring someone to faith in Jesus or to encourage a Christian that the time to glorify Christ on this earth is short (and therefore do something about it), then we have something to rejoice about! In response to another point, that this isn't the right time to talk about this sort of stuff: since the time is short, there's no good reason to wait to bring up such an important issue! We must act to redeem the time and glorify Christ TODAY however He enables us!
On another note, the lines you quoted from the Invictus poem on Jackson's album liner were also the last words of Timothy McVeigh, as he chose to read them out before his execution. Two very different men, but a shared misunderstanding. If only Jackson had been transformed by knowing that Christ was "the master of his fate, the captain of his soul". Before I knew the Lord, Invictus was also a favourite poem of mine. We need to pray more for people like Jackson… who prays for celebrities?
How did I go the whole day without even hearing about this? I guess you're my main source of news, JT. Good post. That's why I come here for me news. :)
I believe what has frustrated me the most during this day is the responses such as, "Adios creepo!", and "Um, does anyone remember that he was a pervert?"
Someone like Michael Jackson is an easy target. It's easy to point at him, a man who was publicly put on trial for the things he'd allegedly done, and say, "Wow well thank God I'm not like that!", or "Look how digusting that man is!" It's easy to make a target out of this man while our vile sins remain hidden from the eyes of this world. It's easy to call him a "creep" when our sins go undetected by human eyes, and yet he wore his deeds on his deteriorating face.
We need Christ's mercy as much as any "sick pervert", for we are no different than he. While Michael's sins were exploited and brought forth on live television, so many of ours remain hidden under the floorboards, as we grieve the Holy Spirit all the more.
thanks, JT. I appreciate this post. and thank you for posting Sullivan's thoughts.
The last line really hit me:
"I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours' and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out."
I agree with Andrew Sullivan on this: Michael Jackson was a musical genius. Jackson was the king of pop and I loved some of his music also.
I was really shocked to hear of his death. What a travesty. I also concur with everything JT has said. I couldn't have said it better myself. I would just add one more thing and that is the command that Jesus gave us and that is pray for more laborers for the harvest. When we pray for more laborers, through that, the Lord uses us to evangelize. Most of us won't evangelize Hollywood, but we'll evangelize our neighbors and co-workers.
I'm sorry that anyone dies without knowing the Lord.
Excellent and accurate post: a genius who was very broken and dark. One cannot speak truthfully of the man without mentioning both his amazing gifts and also his wounds, and his sinfulness. Seems strange that quite a few here only want to recall the good, as if the strange had not been on constant, carnival-like display whenever he was in the public eye. If we only want to remember what was wonderful, we're not remembering the actual person. The same is true of the rest of us — each of us is a mixture of good and bad, just like MJ.
Justin does us a service by actually saying what nobody in the media says — the reality of how he stood in light of God's Word (to whatever extent we can know such a thing). How important it is that Michael Jackson's public, visible life be assessed biblically/theologically, not just with saccharine Hallmark words.
I just cant belive he died..what a loss! he was the greatest performer of all times and he was only 50!
Wow Justin!
The watch bloggers are out this morning!
I thought your post was honest, thoughtful, and sheds some great Gospel perspective on the topic.
Well done!
I'm praying for God to use Michael's death to glorify Himself, and possibly save some from the same tragedies that Michael suffered.
Oddly enough, when I was young I used to listen to Thriller over and over while waiting to get my hair cut at the barber. Used to take like an hour to two to get a seat. Six songs and then flip the tape. And repeat. God used MJ to grow my love for music. Now being a fairly proficient musician, I appreciate MJ's genius.
I do mourn his loss and shudder to think that he is meeting Jesus with an unregenerate soul. The Enemy used the JWs to distort his family's view of Jesus (from what I understand) and now he'll know the truth. That is the most painful part for me. I pray that the Lord would give his family new hearts to love the real Jesus. I hope you guys might pray the same.
Justin,
I thought this post was balanced, fair, and written in the right spirit. By no means was it an attack on Jackson – just a raw look at why having an eternal perspective is so crucial.
The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this on the news last night was pity. An irony of the situation is that as a member of the Jehovah Witnesses cult, Jackson didn't even believe in the existence of hell. Many people don't. Besides Jackson and Fawcett, about 200,000 other people died yesterday (and will pass today). How many have "peace" that has no biblical basis? How many have no idea what awaits them on the other side of the grave, and have rejected the Christ of the Bible?
That's where the real tragedy is. Jackson was just a very small part of it. If anyone had an opportunity to investigate the claims of the true Gospel, (as opposed to the twisting of Scripture in the New World Translation), it was him. His brokenness was indeed painful to see; one doesn't even want to contemplate his eternal state.
While Jackson's death will cause many to grieve, his was not the only death yesterday, and his was not the only wounded, broken soul who passed into eternity.
I wonder how many on here defending this post would have read it to his family/friends when it was posted.
There is something to be said for timing and taste. I thought this post was both poor in taste and timing.
Of course we evangelicals have everything figured out so we know exactly what has happened to the man…
Adrian,
Nicely put. It is an irony that we talk of the distance created by television and the entertainment industry, and critique the shallowness of the people who make the entertainments, yet, we can write at a distance and talk at a distance about these same people. We use the medium and tactics we supposedly so abhor.
It is no wonder people hate the American church (and we call it being persecuted). We just will not shut up when the moment calls for silence, regardless of whose death we are discussing.
If you believe it is in "poor taste" to bring the truth of Jesus' love (and the tragedy of the absence of Christ) to bear on this situation, then you and I have very different views on Christianity.
What you guys are really saying is that it is OK to saying anything about Jackson, as long as Jesus Christ is not brought into the discussion.
Seriously, JT's post was seasoned with love, and he bent over backwards to show grace and compassion.
You wish to rejoice in the man's life. Fair enough. But many of us deeply grieve what was perhaps the death of an unredeemed man.
Your failure (or at least unwillingess) to feel and share this same grief doesn't highlight our insensitivity, but rather your own.
Look at the words of Jesus. Far from "being silent" over the spiritual darkness of Jerusalem, he openly and publically lamented. We should learn from his example. Demonstrating the love of Jesus also means a willingness to speak like Jesus—openly, honestly, and with compassionate truthfulness.
After a recent funeral sermon I got a similar reaction from several Christians in attendance. The woman had been a self-professed atheist, as was most of the family. The family was marked by addiction, jail, and abuse. My sermon was direct—a life without Christ ends in condemnation.
The non-believers, especially the family, didn't object to the message. In fact, they expected a Christian pastor to give a Christian message. They were truly thankful, and many doors of conversation were opened.
The only ones who objected were the "Christians" who chided me about insensitivity. They said the funeral was a time for expression of grief and for me to provide comfort, instead of scaring people with the fear of hell (actually, I never even used the word "hell", though the concept was there).
I guess I'm just old school in my belief that being a Christ-follower is the only comfort there is—and that the most loving act is to declare His truth…..whether directly, or via a blog.
Thank you, Justin, for putting this media-hyped event in the proper (biblical) perspective. All I can think about is how this sad child-man gained the whole word, and lost his eternal soul. So very sad.
I posted a link to your blog entry on mine. Hope you don't mind.
A Musician by Grace
Josh,
People die everyday outside of Christ. This is not profound nor is it deep wisdom to recognize that. But, why is this case so very special?
What I am saying is this: go talk to them before they die. Jesus was talking about a city full of living people, He was not preaching at coffins.
As DJP and other said, "It is too late to pray any longer for Jackson." However, he has three children who need our prayers. Goodness knows what their lives have been like and what they now face.
@Topher – I'm not sure who you're arguing against since none of your refutations address anything that has been said by Josh or anyone else. At best you're preachin' to the choir. At worst you're setting up more strawmen than an Oklahoma Corn Farmer.
Let's just agree that all that die unregenerate are set to face Christ's judgement. Thus, let's proclaim the gospel ever more vigorously to those around us so that Jesus will be glorified by their redemption rather than their damnation.
Topher,
"He was not preaching at coffins"
Neither was JT placing a note on Jackson's grave. The people reading his post were very much alive, and he brought the truth of Christ to bear on this situation.
I seriously cannot imagine how a fellow christian could object to talking about Jesus in a moment like this.
Even Paul commended false apostles who preached Christ, knowing full well it was done with false motives. How then can we object to a sincere believer bringing Christ's truth to bear on such a sad situation.
Topher, you should rejoice that Jesus' name was magnified today in JT's post. Dude, your Savior was being talked about….be happy, not angry!
So basically…Michael Jackson was lost because he wasn't a Christian? How stupid are you? Seriously.
He didn't believe that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.
Actually…I'm the idiot…that makes PERFECT SENSE! Burn your stupid holly bibble and check out a book full of actual science and fact from your local library. There is no God. When you begin to die there is a chemical release that can cause hallucinations…including feelings of bright lights and tunnels! You can read more about FACT in SCIENCE BOOKS! Amazing, isn't it!?
Excellent post. Very thoughtful and helpful.
God certainly graced MJ with talent like few others.
Logan…um…are you sure you aren't experiencing some sort a chemical release of some sort right now?
Joey
@Joey
Since when does using logic and reasoning equal drug use? Christians always assume the non-believers with "that book learnin'" are dregs of society. To answer your question…no. I'd get kicked out of the USAF if I did drugs. Actually, I may have been on a chemical release. As I read this blog, my brain began a steady release of dopamine after realizing how smart I really am compared to all of you. So…thanks!
¨That culture is ours' and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.¨
That was fantasic written Justin Taylor.
For the rest..you bible bashers think so highly of yourself and feel sorry for people that dont know the ¨Lord¨..how patronising,arrogant and sad.
@ Logan,
Sorry, my comment was a joke, I didn't intend for you to take it literally.
Unfortunately I didn't see any "logic and reasoning" in your first post. I saw you make a caricature of the Christian faith, and then mock the caricature. That's not an argument its an appeal to sentiment and a straw man argument which are both logical fallacies. If you are going to tout a "logical" position vs what you consider irrational faith…then you should consider arguing logically.
Joey