I spent yesterday hanging around with a bunch of teenagers kayaking on the Youghiogheny River. It was a lot of fun! After our kayak trip, we invaded a local pizza place for some really delicious pizza. While we waited for our pizza, the TV blared news about the "earth-shattering events" of the day at the funeral of the King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Now I'm cool but I'm not hip to Michael Jackson. I don't own a single one of his Cd's nor do I aspire to. I've seen passing glimpses over the years of Michael in some of his "over the top" performances. I've heard more than I wanted about his bizarre lifestyle. I remember the picture of his dangling his infant son Prince Michael II over a balcony in Berlin and other even more unspeakable bizarre acts and accusations that swirled around Michael Jackson during his life.
Yesterday I watched Michael's daughter Paris struggle to talk about her father through her tears while her Jackson aunts and uncles stood in a circle around her. What I heard and saw moved me to tears in my heart - not because of Michael's death - but rather because of his life and what it says about the world we live in.
Michael Jackson is the epitome of tragic living! Some say he had it all: he had the world by the tail. Millions worshipped at the altar that was Michael Jackson. I never knelt at that altar but I do mourn from my heart because of who Michael was and the picture of our culture he presents. In that one frail abused body - remanufactured over the years with life-altering surgeries and other treatments - is a living parable of what our American culture worships.
If he did have it all, then why was he so desperately unhappy? What led him to always push the edge of bizarre behavior to one more atrocious act after another? What really went on in his mind and heart? What really happened on his Neverland Ranch in those "secret rooms"? Why was he the boy who never wanted to grow up like his idol Peter Pan?
Michael Jackson had fame. He had celebrity and notoriety. He had money and glitz beyond description. He had adoring crowds screaming at his every gyration.
His life was a long story of abuse beginning in his own childhood. Apparently his own father "dangled his son Michael" from a dangerous height just because he could as he pushed Michael to be a super star - the King of Pop. Accusations of drug and sexual addictions, pedophilia and all kinds of bizarre behavior followed Michael Jackson around wherever he went and even when he tried to hide - under his umbrella or on his Neverland Ranch.
One op-ed piece in the New York Times by Bob Herbert (July 3, 2009) describes Herbert's mid-1980's meeting with Michael Jackson "as one of the creepier experiences of my life." Later in the same article Herbert writes that Michael "weirded me out."
Herbert continues: "... what I wish I had thought more about in those long-ago days of Michael-mania was the era of extreme immaturity and grotesque irresponsibility that was already well under way in America. The craziness played out on a shockingly broad front and Jackson's life, among many others, would prove to be a shining and ultimately tragic example. ... All kinds of restraints were coming off. It was almost as if the adults had gone into hiding. ... In many ways we descended as a society into a fantasyland, trying to leave the limits and consequences and obligations of the real world behind. ... Jackson was the perfect star for the era, the embodiment of fantasy gone wild. He tried to carve himself up into another person, but, of course, there was the same Michael Jackson underneath -- talented but psychologically disabled to the point where he was a danger to himself and others.
Reality is unforgiving. There is no escape. Behind the Jackson facade was the horror of child abuse. Court records and reams of well-documented media accounts contain a stream of serious allegations of child sex abuse and other inappropriate behavior with very young boys. Jackson, a multimillionaire megastar, was excused as an eccentric. Small children were delivered into his company, to spend the night in his bed, often by their parents.
One case of alleged pedophilia against Jackson, the details of which would make your hair stand on end, was settled for a reported $25 million. He beat another case in court.
The Michael-mania that has erupted since Jackson's death - not just an appreciation of his music, but a giddy celebration of his life - is yet another spasm of the culture opting for fantasy over reality. We don't want to look under the rock that was Jackson's real life. As with so many other things, we don't want to know." (Bob Herbert, New York Times, July 3, 2009)
There is a huge teaching moment in the tragic story of Michael Jackson's life and death. It is call for serious Christians - especially parents - to stop and ponder some life lessons we can learn from Michael. Perhaps the greatest success of Michael Jackson's tragic life would be if men and women, teens and children whose hearts belong to Jesus could see this tragedy as a call to reevaluate what we value, what success really looks like from God's perspective and what we need to change in our own hearts.
The glitz, the "success" and fortune all came to a crashing meteoric burn when the King of Pop lost his life for whatever reason (to be determined at some future date related to various tests by forensic pathologists). The bottom line is that Michael the man is dead. He will never prance across another stage. He will never perform another bizzare act or be accused of some audacious activity.
In both life and death Michael screams for thoughtful people everywhere to take a serious look at what "success" should look like in our world. For Christians, the search for what God thinks "success" looks like might begin with the ancient prophet Micah: "Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
If we summon the moral courage to turn over the rock of who and what Michael really was, we will find some horrors but we may also discover what is real and true by way of comparison. That would be a very good thing from a very tragic life!
Showing posts with label Michael Jackson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Jackson. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Heroes
We are so silly - to the point of stupidity - about who we mark as "heroes" in our culture: From a LONG list, these few stand out just in this week's news: Michael Jackson and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford - both "heroes" of a sort.
Michael Jackson blurred the lines between insanity and genius with his music, his plastic surgeries and his lifestyle. Like Peter Pan, Jackson's own personal hero, he wanted to be the boy who never grew up.
In the arena of politics, Mark Sanford is only the latest in a long line of political figures who stepped off the straight, narrow path of morality, ethics and family values. He crossed the line from "genius" to the insanity of stupidity. Family man with a beautiful wife and four handsome sons, Sanford chose the insane path of infidelity over commitment and faithfulness.
There are other heroes. One of note is Oprah, one of the wealthiest women in the world. Her daily television program is watched religiously by millions. She is a living icon who has shaped culture in her own image. The "Oprah cult" is alive and seems well. She is a blazing star in this day and time.
The list of heroes - both real and fictional - goes on. Literature and life give us these heroes. They are larger than life. They do extraordinary things. They face danger, adversity and challenges with courage and self-sacrifice for some greater good. Our culture worships these heroes and models them.
The meaning of "hero" is rooted in the ideas of protector, defender and guardian. All too often the heroes in history, in literature and in real time here and now eventually evidence flaws that damage both themselves and others who have worshipped at their feet.
Particularly pop heroes (or heroines) shape culture with their music, beauty or brillance. The sad truth is that often these individuals betray the public trust by their actions. Brittany Spears, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton and a long list of others have blazed in glory and then crashed and burned.
The truth and problem is that we are all flawed no matter how we try to hide behind brillance and glitz. It started in the Garden of Eden when a man and a woman were seduced by wanting to be like God. They ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They passed on to all their posterity the pain of brokenness. Satan, once the most powerful and beautiful of all the angels, fell from the height of heaven because he wanted to be like and even more important than God Himself (Isaiah 14:12 - 14). There is something so seductive about beauty, prestige and power.
The stuff of heroes - both for the hero and his following - is sitting on a high pedestal surrounded by throngs of "worshippers." The true hero (or heroine) is the one who perseveres to the end protecting honor and integrity, defending right and good and guarding truth.
The only One who has ever lived and persevered as Protector, Defender and Guardian without flaw or failure is Jesus, the Son of God! He alone is worthy of our worship! He lived the perfect life so he could change our hearts and our culture forever.
Other heroes are flawed and broken no matter how they dress up with glitz and glitter. Jesus made no pretense. Jesus led no army. Jesus had no beauty that distinguished Him from other men (Isaiah 53:3). An endless stream of heroes have marched across the pages of literature and life, but only Jesus is the Hero Who never fails!
Jesus never wrote a best seller. He never was elected to political office. Actually He did none of the things that constitute a hero by our culture's standards. But His life validates Him as Hero more than any entertainer or politician or military genius. He never made a life-changing scientific discovery, but He created the world and all that is in it. He was born in obscurity but lives today as the King of Kings. He calls people from every time, tribe and tongue to follow His example of love. He modeled forgiveness when He called from His cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." He alone of all who have ever lived and carried the label "hero" is truly worthy of the name!
Michael Jackson blurred the lines between insanity and genius with his music, his plastic surgeries and his lifestyle. Like Peter Pan, Jackson's own personal hero, he wanted to be the boy who never grew up.
In the arena of politics, Mark Sanford is only the latest in a long line of political figures who stepped off the straight, narrow path of morality, ethics and family values. He crossed the line from "genius" to the insanity of stupidity. Family man with a beautiful wife and four handsome sons, Sanford chose the insane path of infidelity over commitment and faithfulness.
There are other heroes. One of note is Oprah, one of the wealthiest women in the world. Her daily television program is watched religiously by millions. She is a living icon who has shaped culture in her own image. The "Oprah cult" is alive and seems well. She is a blazing star in this day and time.
The list of heroes - both real and fictional - goes on. Literature and life give us these heroes. They are larger than life. They do extraordinary things. They face danger, adversity and challenges with courage and self-sacrifice for some greater good. Our culture worships these heroes and models them.
The meaning of "hero" is rooted in the ideas of protector, defender and guardian. All too often the heroes in history, in literature and in real time here and now eventually evidence flaws that damage both themselves and others who have worshipped at their feet.
Particularly pop heroes (or heroines) shape culture with their music, beauty or brillance. The sad truth is that often these individuals betray the public trust by their actions. Brittany Spears, Madonna, Elvis Presley, Bill Clinton and a long list of others have blazed in glory and then crashed and burned.
The truth and problem is that we are all flawed no matter how we try to hide behind brillance and glitz. It started in the Garden of Eden when a man and a woman were seduced by wanting to be like God. They ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They passed on to all their posterity the pain of brokenness. Satan, once the most powerful and beautiful of all the angels, fell from the height of heaven because he wanted to be like and even more important than God Himself (Isaiah 14:12 - 14). There is something so seductive about beauty, prestige and power.
The stuff of heroes - both for the hero and his following - is sitting on a high pedestal surrounded by throngs of "worshippers." The true hero (or heroine) is the one who perseveres to the end protecting honor and integrity, defending right and good and guarding truth.
The only One who has ever lived and persevered as Protector, Defender and Guardian without flaw or failure is Jesus, the Son of God! He alone is worthy of our worship! He lived the perfect life so he could change our hearts and our culture forever.
Other heroes are flawed and broken no matter how they dress up with glitz and glitter. Jesus made no pretense. Jesus led no army. Jesus had no beauty that distinguished Him from other men (Isaiah 53:3). An endless stream of heroes have marched across the pages of literature and life, but only Jesus is the Hero Who never fails!
Jesus never wrote a best seller. He never was elected to political office. Actually He did none of the things that constitute a hero by our culture's standards. But His life validates Him as Hero more than any entertainer or politician or military genius. He never made a life-changing scientific discovery, but He created the world and all that is in it. He was born in obscurity but lives today as the King of Kings. He calls people from every time, tribe and tongue to follow His example of love. He modeled forgiveness when He called from His cross, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." He alone of all who have ever lived and carried the label "hero" is truly worthy of the name!
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