Jamin Bradley

Christians have a strange interest in celebrities who are Christians. We love to point them out to the people around us as though we’ve struck a home run for Jesus: “Bet you didn’t know that actor is a Christian. See? We can be cool and relevant.” Indeed, Relevant is the name of an entire Christian magazine that worked hard to ensure every issue had an interview with a Christian celebrity. (I like Relevant, I’m just recognizing the dynamic.)

We can fall into a weird space with Christian celebrities. As a recent example, Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in The Chosen, was interviewed on the Jimmy Fallon show last week, and the comments from Christians are exactly what you’d expect:

• Thank you Jimmy Fallon for having him on your show and for not being against the promotion because it’s faith-based…
• …Praise the Lord that Jesus and Jonathan is getting publicity they he deserves and isn’t being hidden and hated on like the culture has made so common
• I can’t believe it. Hollywood is really promoting a GREAT show about Jesus Christ and the Gospel…
• The chosen has become toobig for Hollywood to ignore. Praise god!!
• Not even the evils of Hollywood will be able to hold this show down…
• I like Jimmy Fallon but rarely watch the Tonight show because of the pretentious Hollywood crowd that stop by only to sell their shows, movies etc, However Love the Chosen and Jonathan Rume who made it a hit…

This kind of dynamic has a number of flawed components to it:

1. We demonize the people we’re trying to reach when we consider them evil. If you have any actual insight to offer them, they will rightly stop listening to you when you demonize them.
2. We assume the world can’t enjoy The Chosen because it’s about Jesus. That’s not true. Anyone could enjoy this show, because it’s really, really good. Hollywood didn’t take notice of Christian media sooner because it was really, really bad.
3. When you praise an actor for being good and Christian, you’re actually playing into the idea that this is an anomaly.
4. The belief that Hollywood does nothing but hate Christians is very misguided. First off, many secular movies are filled with good Christian themes and actors. Secondly, much of the so-called “hate” we experience is more of us being called to account when we screw up. We are sometimes depicted as hateful because we sometimes act that way.

There’s nothing wrong with celebrating a celebrity and pointing out they’re Christian. However, some odd dynamics come with Christian celebrity obsession, which we should be aware of. Including the full support of someone just because they are (or because they say they are) a Christian.