A Bad Few Weeks for Christians in the Entertainment Industry

Jon & Kate Gosselin, Mel Gibson and Carrie Prejean--all one in Christ and stirring the tabloids (and many non-Christians) with their hypocrisy.

Why are the masses calling for their crucifixion? Hypocrisy.

Jon & Kate are making front covers with allegations that their marriage is on the rocks. The couple who parent eight children on a television show on TLC, have Scripture around their house, in their lessons and in their tell-all books. They make regular appearances at mega-churches to speak on parenting. And they had a re-marriage ceremony to show their kids that Mommy and Daddy wanted to make a commitment in front of them to prove that real love is based on commitment. But rumor has it that Dad is having an affair with a 23-year old teacher and Mom is having an affair with her bodyguard who accompanies her on her book tours. Not only that, but they are staying in the marriage (with affairs allowed on the side) not for the kids, but for the money that the tv show brings in.

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson decided to divorce his wife of many years and stepped out quickly with a new girlfriend. The tabloids now claim that what encouraged his wife to file for divorce was that the new woman was three months pregnant with his child! Gasp! All this from they guy who gave us The Passion of the Christ. It was only a few years ago that Evangelicals were eating up all of the hype about the film and putting Gibson at iconic status.

And then there is the other friend of my blog, Carrie Prejean. She made controversial remarks at a beauty pageant and became the poster child for the Evangelical stance on marriage. Ironically, within a week or so of recieving a standing ovation at the Christian Dove Awards, photos of her as a 17-year old posing topless in see-through lacy pink underwear surfaced the web. She didn't deny the photos and say that they were not in the taste of "Christian values" but argued that such photos come with the modeling gig.

Now I'm not here to judge their character. I will also say that I will agree with those who would argue that these events in these proclaimed Christians lives are evidence of hypocrisy. I will not argue their salvation status (something I used to easily turn to when these issues got murky). But what I will say is this: hypocrisy is part of what it means to be a Christian. We fall short, grace covers us. Our actions and our lives will never be greater than the grace that we have been given. I would love to embolden those who say that they share my Christianity to hold tightly to the cross by first admitting wrong. Perhaps they aren't in a place right now where they can freely admit that they are in sin, but this does not change the status and quality of the love that God has for them. If anything, they are in a place to fall more deeply into the grace of God if only they will be bold enough to admit, let go and let themselves fall into Him. We owe others, God and ourselves the truth. We are sinners. We are hypocrites. We are unable to live as God would have us live. We need Jesus.

**This is not a post to condone sin, but to encourage us to live by grace