My son has made a very accurate and excellent assessment of the Michael Jackson memorial on his blog. Read it below.
Michael Jackson and Jesus are "about even"
Wow. In the few minutes I caught of the Michael Jackson memorial, I could not help but notice several things:
1. In our post-modern culture words apparently no longer have meaning, but are spoken for effect. The highly emotional words that appeared to move many were often empty words, contradictory words, or untrue words. That didn't seem to bother anybody.
2. The kind of glory that was being given to the "King of Pop" should only be given to the "King of Kings". To say that Michael Jackson will be remembered and loved forever is probably a bit of a stretch. To say that his life touched every person on earth is just plain false. To say that he will be with us to bring us joy forever is going too far and saying something that is only true of Jesus.
3. The climactic musical finale was a two-song combination: We are the World & Heal the World. These songs were accompanied by images of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other world religions coming together to say that we are all one. The lyrics talked about how we are all a part of God's family. If the theology of that song was true, we should call back every missionary from the mission field immediately - they are wasting their time.
This isn't meant to disrespect MJ (though, didn't MJ used to refer to Michael Jordan? And have we completely forgotten how a young boy was able to stand in court and give an accurate descriptions of splotches on MJ's private parts? Does that not matter now because his music "touched" a lot of people? I think the mass media and the millions paying adulation to Jackson today would do well to remember that other part of his life before lifting him up as a great american hero. [BTW, on the subject of idolatry, this book may be worth your consideration.)
But the point of this post was just to remind ourselves of culture's perspective of truth. Truth simply doesn't exist. Or if it does, it doesn't matter. Words no longer have substance. Its the effect - the way they make us feel - that matters. Hasn't our President proven that again and again already?
As Christians, we certainly know better. Our souls rest on the hope that such ideas are not true. We are resting our very eternities on the belief that words do mean something. If gospel words do not turn out to be true, we are the biggest bunch of fools ever. And of course, that's exactly what some think of us.
Of course, even more than the memorial service, I think this brief CNN video sums up well the state of our culture at this time:
"Amen" to Justin's comments. I want to add that the media's infatuation with and coverage of Michael Jackson's death and funeral is a sad commentary on how far America has sunk into idolatry. Americans give more glory to the emotionally troubled and morally tarnished "king of pop" than we do to the King of kings.
