How Should Christians Think About Celebrity Conversions?

It's been 500 years since the Protestant Reformation. Dialogue between Catholics and Protestants has improved, but it's still not where it should be. Every day, debates rage online.

Scroll through the comments and you'll find misrepresentations, straw man arguments, and recycled sound bites. That's why we wrote What Still Divides Us, a short book that uncovers four key questions that still separate Protestants and Catholics today. How are we saved? How does God speak?

Who runs the church? How should we worship? We don't need to ignore our differences. We need to understand them, especially if we want real conversations, not just arguments.

Get your free copy of What Still Divides Us now, while supplies last, at solamedia.org slash offers. One of the things Christians get really excited about is when someone with a big platform, someone who's really well known, a celebrity, declares their faith in Christ. And of course, that is something that we should be excited about as followers of Jesus. The Bible says that anytime a sinner repents, whether they're rich or poor, the angels in heaven are celebrating.

So that's something that we should celebrate. But I wonder if we as followers of Jesus don't sometimes put too much stock in these individuals and in their conversion stories. It's something truly that we should celebrate anytime someone comes to faith in Christ. But one of my concerns is a lot of times people, believers will look to these new converts who have a big platform as guides, as teachers, as people that we should be listening to about the faith, when in reality, someone who has just come to faith in Christ needs to spend time sitting at the feet of Jesus. And one of the things that I love about Jesus in the Gospels is that he isn't just focused on the rich and the famous. It's fascinating to me, right? It's not like he's out there trying to convert the most powerful person in the city.

No, he's reaching out to the people that no one else even notices. There's this wonderful story in Luke's Gospel, in Luke chapter 14. It's always been so convicting to me as a Christian and as a pastor. It's the parable of the great banquet in Luke chapter 14, beginning in verse 12.

Now let me just give you some of the context here. Jesus goes over to eat at a Pharisee's house. And actually not just any Pharisee, but this guy's a ruler of the Pharisees, Luke chapter 14, verse one.

So there's all these people there who are well-known, who have a reputation, a standing in society. And in verse 12, Jesus tells a parable that actually probably would have been pretty offensive to his host. He said also to the man who had invited him, when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But Jesus said to him, a man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, come, for everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them.

Please have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these things to his master. And the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, go out quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor and the crippled and blind and lame. And the servant said, sir, what you commanded has been done and still there's room. And the master said to the servant, go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.

You think about how crazy Jesus' words must have sounded there. I mean, he's a guest in the home of this prominent Pharisee, this ruler of the Pharisees. This guy has probably invited all of his rich friends and neighbors, people who have clout in society, in that society. And Jesus, this guest says, hey, when you throw a party, when you have a banquet, don't just focus on your friends and neighbors and the rich and the people who are going to be able to pay you back and the people who are going to help you advance in society as well.

It looks really good to have this guest over. No, Jesus says, invite the poor, the blind, the lame, the people who are overlooked by you, by society. And one of my concerns is that Christians, as we focus on or we get so excited about these celebrity conversions, in a way, I think that we often don't get excited about the conversion of the person down the street. We think that this person who has come to faith in Jesus Christ is going to give a level of cultural clout to the Christian faith. This is going to add something to me, to us as the church.

This is going to make us look better. Maybe, maybe not. A lot of times, just the opposite happens. You have this sort of rollercoaster ride as this person either truly comes to faith and is just sort of learning the ropes of what Christianity is all about, or maybe they have this experience that lasts for a little while, and then they go in the opposite direction and actually end up giving just a bad name to Christians. So we shouldn't put our hope in that and glory in these people who we think are going to help platform us and help give us more clout in society instead. I think it's good for us, as Paul said to the Romans, to associate with the lowly, to be quick to pursue the people that actually are overlooked in our neighborhood, in our culture, in our society, the weak, the people who it seems like, that individual can't or won't contribute anything to me, to my life, to my popularity. Jesus is interested in that person, too, and would that we as the church showed the same interest in that person who the good shepherd is pursuing with the gospel of grace. Again, when you throw a banquet, when you throw a feast, when you think about the people that you want to attract, don't just focus on the rich and the powerful, the famous, the people that you think are going to give you added clout.

Invite the poor, the lame, the naked. And isn't that precisely what the Lord Jesus did for us? You think of what Paul said to the Corinthians. Not many of you, when God called you, were of noble birth. Not many of you were powerful, were wise, were, you know, the higher echelon of society, but God has chosen that which is foolish in the world. God has chosen that which is weak in the world to shame that which is strong so that no flesh might glory or boast in his sight. The beautiful thing about the gospel is it can reach the most powerful people, but it also reaches down to the weakest and to the most needy among us. And so we praise God for whoever it reaches and pray that it continues to reach all people.

Weakness isn't a flaw. It's where hope begins. In A Place for Weakness, Michael Horton shows how the cross and resurrection of Christ don't just explain suffering, they overcome it. This isn't a book about clichés or quick fixes. It's about real hope for real pain. Hope that quiets guilt, silences doubt, and outlasts every storm. Whether you're grieving or walking with someone else through their grief, A Place for Weakness shows how the doing, dying, and rising of Christ silences the thunder of the law and gives eternal hope in the face of life's hardest questions. Grab your copy today for a donation of any amount at solomedia.org slash offers. That's solomedia.org forward slash offers.