Christian Celebrity... Oxymoron?

I have been disturbed today and I can't seem to shake it. Actually, this feeling has been lingering for a while now and I'm just now beginning to formulate it into words.

First off I think I have to start by saying... I'm a celebrity news junkie. I truly need a 12-step program for my fascination with most things "celebrity". I liken it to the same rubber-neck reaction when driving past a car accident on the highway... you just can't not look!

So it is with my addiction to People.com, ETonline, Reality Blurred website and various message boards and fan sites for all my favorite shows. Friends come to me for entertainment news because they know I'm "in the know". I wish I weren't that interested, but I am. I hate that about myself but for now it is my vice but I think I want to be healed of this once and for all.

Which brings me to the subject of my title above. In my "quest for knowledge", I was surfing around today and saw that Kate Gosselin is "thinking about" ended her marriage to her "Jon and Kate Plus 8", hubby, Jon Gosselin after rumors have been racing around the media outlets of an "alleged" affair that Jon denies. I have only watched this show a couple times and couldn't get into it because Kate perpetually sounded to me like somone with a bad case of PMS. I felt for Jon having to hear her nag and complain all the live long day. Granted, from what I hear he is a bit of a lazy so & so ~ perhaps her nagging is a little justified... not to mention the small army of children she is parenting! Anyhoo... that's not my point.

My point I guess is this. Jon and Kate profess to be Christians and have made that part of their life public. I am in no way wanting to judge them because we all know how difficult it is in this world to live out our faith every day to the glory of God. What I am struggling with deals more with the whole concept of believers seeking out "celebrity", proclaiming their faith and beliefs to the world and then doing the exact opposite things that the Bible professes. I'm not just picking on Jon and Kate here. There are so many others I think of: Kathie Lee Gifford, Hunter Tylo of "The Bold and Beautiful", Clay Aiken, the entire Simpson family (Jessica, Ashley, Joe...) to name a few. Brittany Spears I think once proclaimed to be Christian, didn't she? I know there are others but my mind can't think of them right now.

As I was watching American Idol tonight I started thinking about Danny Gokey and what this new found fame will do to his testimony. Will he fall the way of the others who pursue fame more than faith? Or will he take the road of Mandissa, from Season 5, whose singing career is focused on glorifying God as she tours often with Bible teacher and speaker, Beth Moore.

At least twice the Bible warns us that "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matt 6:24 & Luke 16:13) I'm not even a celebrity and I struggle with this. I can't imagine having people fawning all over me, throwing big chunks of moola at me. That can really mess you up I would think!

All this to say my heart is heavy lately. I feel like our Christian values and devotion to God is going to "hell in a hand basket". We are so far from what God's design was for His children and I'm not sure if it's conviction or what, but I can tell that I need to get more focused on praying for these "celebrities" and checking my own passions and pursuits to make sure I don't fall into the same sorts of traps (albeit on much lesser and much less public scale).

On a positive side of all this though... I found the site of Carrie Underwood's new boyfriend, hockey player Mike Fisher. Here is a "celebrity" that is "not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ" (Rom 1:16) and shares his testimony on his website and even with the Hockey Night in Canada, host during an interview. Yay Mike! Let's hope the enemy doesn't get a hold of him too!