How People React in Response to Fallen Christian Heroes

The following are different categories I see for how people react to Christian heroes and/or celebrities who fall.  The categories are found online in discussion forums and in response / comments columns under videos and articles. 

THE INTERNET AS AN AVENUE TO OPEN UP A DIFFERENT SIDE OF SELF

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”

2 Corinthians 10:10

INTRODUCTIONS

Two Sides of the Same Person 

For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.”

2 Corinthians 10:10

 

The Corinthians accused Paul the Apostle of being 2 different people - one in his letters and another in person.  I think many of us are guilty of this problem.  It's easier to be bold and assertive in print than in person.  Paul knew that in his case, his accusers had a valid point, but he warned the Corinthians that he was just as capable of being forceful in person if needed to be.  Even though he was somewhat timid in person and bold in his writings, he was aware of the difference and preferred to keep it that way because he didn't want to be hard on the Corinthians in person.

This difference in writing vs. physical presence is clearly evident on the internet.  In fact, on the internet, the difference may become huge.  Even quiet, meek, and mild people can be brutal and scary with comments they make on the web, which is especially seen when well known Christians, politicians, celebrities, and heroes get caught in scandals.

In this blog, I will focus on scandals, both Christian and Non-Christian, of those who fall and get a lot of talk on the internet for their scandals. I will be focusing on the trash talk and discussions rather than the scandals.  But first I need to say something about modern media.

What's Wrong with the Media?

The media loves to find and expose the dirty sides of people, not because the media is some kind of evil entity feeding us unsuspecting and innocent victims, rather the media loves to find the dirt about people because we the audience want to see it, hear about it, and talk about it with others in and out of work.  Really, the media and its readers live in one big cycle.  Dirt sells because people want it, so the media digs it up and exposes it and gives it to the people so that we can have all the dirt we want.

I am reminded of a scene I saw in a most horrible movie about the life of Howard Stern.  The radio network wanted him off the air because he was rebellious, crude, immoral, and offensive.  They tried to tame him, but he wouldn't be tamed.  They couldn't let him go because of contracts, but eventually they caved in, celebrated in his success, and wanted to keep him because they found out their ratings were climbing so much.  When they researched what kind of audience Howard had, they found that listeners either loved or hated him.  The interesting thing is that the people who hated him listened just as much as the ones who loved him.  For the radio station, it didn't matter if people hated him, just as long as they turned their radio stations on to Howard Stern.

Getting viewers for better advertisement dollars is what the media seeks.  The media doesn't care about what we say we want or what we say we want; it cares about what we will be drawn to, and what we really watch (whether we are drawn in by our own disgust or admiration).  Media gives us what we will listen to or watch on a regular basis.  So it doesn't matter if you say, "That was so horrible," if you get hooked into what the media gave you.  Above I wrote how horrible the Howard Stern movie was.  I didn't like it, and felt yucky watching it.  But I watched it.

Some of the most popular videos on YouTube have such titles as "The Most..." The Best..." because it pulls in audiences that want the biggest, the scariest, the most extreme in any subject.  The media looks for extremes because extremes are what will pull us in.   We may say that the media is low down and disgusting, but it is giving a nation what they want.  We say we want it nicer, but nicer doesn't always sell.  Exposing famous people's faults sells big.

REACTIONS AND COMMENT

The Haters

For whatever reason, many of us love to hate.  We love to hate - not everyone, or anything - but we love to hate certain people, groups of people, or certain things.

We may love to hate famous people who act foolishly, over the top, or immorally like Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber; or we may love to hate sports figures like Tom Brady and Lance Armstrong; or politicians like President Obama or George W. Bush.  I know I have had my share of people I loved to hate on.  It's so easy to hate on someone and talk trash about someone I have never met. 

Some people who are easy to hate in the U.S. are the rich and the famous.  I don't have all the reasons why this is so, but when the dirt comes out on the rich and famous (even the most loved such as Bill Cosby), haters come out in droves.
 
There are two types of dirt digging that are most appealing to people.  The first is dirt found in huge contrasts - such as when Ted Haggard, who preached against homosexuality and drugs, was discovered visiting a homosexual prostitute, having sex with him while getting high on meth.  

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, many Christians portray themselves publicly as righteous and godly while hiding their faults and failures.  When Christians have positions of authority and have publicly spoken against the very practices in which they indulged, their portrayals provide the perfect starting point for those who love to tear down the mighty, the powerful, the popular, and those who stand apart morally or socially. 

Secondly, there are exposes on people who have already found a place of hate in our hearts.  When people we despise get exposed to some immoral or nasty behavior, something inside us gloats.  President Clinton's sexual affair with Monica Lewinski was absolutely delicious to those who hated him. 


IS IT PERSECUTION WHEN A CHRISTIAN IS INVOLVED?

When the mighty fall, and when the righteous sin, there will be a lot of hate and trash talk.  When Christian preachers and celebrities fail morally, it is not persecution for Christ.  The haters will spew out their comments and trash talk because they get to gloat that someone too good to be true fell in a most shameful way.  They see the ultimate contrast as well as a confirmation that the person (or type of person) they despised all along deserved to be hated all along.

Peter, who walked with Jesus, separated persecution for Christ from things we do to screw up our lives, "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil (1 Peter 3:17)."   Peter also talked to the workers (servants) of his day telling them that suffering for doing wrong brings no credit:  "For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it?  But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God (1 Peter 2:20)."

Those who sin and get flack for it have no right in crying, "Persecution!"  The Bible is clear on this.  Those who fall into a scandal should not be surprised with the backlash the face. The best they can do is weather the storm of negativity.


This is not to say that it is okay to write nasty things in comment sections.  The ancient world never dealt with comment sections and most people didn't read or write.  The closest thing they had was people barking out their opinions about leaders and rulers, and on this subject the Bible is clear.  Both Jude and Peter warned their followers to avoid talking trash about the rulers of this world (Jude 1:10 and 2 Peter 2:12) claiming that when we trash talk our leaders we are talking big about things we don't understand.

The Doubters

When a Christian leader or icon falls into some scandal, there will be a group of protectors who get mad at the haters.  Some of this group may understand the fallen hero because they too have fallen (in a less public manner), but some just hate seeing some special someone under attack from the media.

When women began to come out saying that Bill Cosby was taking advantage of them, a coworker told me his opinion that mean spirited women were attacking a good man to get money.  My coworker immediately sided with the person he knew and admired.  When parents of a High School football player exposed horrible practices done at football retreat, the community turned against the whistle blowers, even though they were exposing repeated sexual perversions done by the team with new players.  People rally around those they gave grown to love or respect; even when the ones we respect turn out to have a dark side to them.

These people like my coworker may eventually give in and realized that their hero has feet of clay, but because their hero is someone they think they know well, some will still bind themselves to the fallen person and support him or her.  Others will feel betrayed and angry for being duped.  The second group can become vocal haters.

We Are All Sinners

To protect the honor and reputation of the fallen, many of the supporters and people who mean well will use verses and sentences such as, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,"  "No one is perfect,"  "We are all human,"  and so on.  In the Corinthian church there was a man who lived with and was having sex with his father's wife.  When Paul wrote to the church he did not try to protect this man from trash talk, neither did he excuse his behavior.  Paul told the church to have nothing more to do with him until he repented and left the twisted relationship.  If the Corinthians were anything like churches today, there would be a group of people in the Corinthian church who would disagree with Paul and say that the man just needed should be forgiven and should not be pushed out of the church for his failings. After all, we all sin and isn't the Gospel about forgiveness? 

The Bible insists on discipline in the Christian community, but on the flip side, there may hypocrisy in those who are quick to cast stones at the guilty.  Ted Haggard and Jimmy Swaggart were vicious with others who sinned.  Swaggart exposed another competing pastor in his city for adultery which caused that preacher to lose his congregation.  Swaggart also railed out against pornography while indulging in it.  Haggard visited male prostitutes in private while fighting publicly against homosexuality.

All Sin Is Equal in God's Sight

Because the holiness of God is so underrated by our community, when these people fall, there is an abundance of followers who quickly pass off or downgrade the importance of the behaviors of their beloved leaders by claiming the silly and unbiblical notion that all sin is the same in God's eyes, not knowing that the New Testament differentiates sin unto death and sin not unto death as well forgivable sin and unforgivable sin. They also neglect to see that the Old Testament requires different measures of sacrifice and different restitution for different sins.  They also fail to see that Jesus called for people to make restitution to others before coming to visit God at the altar, and there is no way that restitution would be the same for every sin.

Even nature tells us that all sin is not equal.  If all sin were equal, then we should freely let the pedophiles lead children's Sunday School without judging them - after all, God has forgiven them.  If all sin were equal, then we should allow convicted rapists (just out of prison) take our teen aged daughters on Christian field trips - after all, they became Christian in prison and turned their lives around.  These people are forgiven and should be allowed in our churches, but they will and should pay a price for their misdeeds for the rest of their lives in many cases; we need to protect our churches and children from some forgiven people - and those forgiven people should be the first to insist, "Do not put me in a place where I am tempted."  If they have truly turned around and become Christian, then they will want to flee temptation as much as anyone around them wanting them to.

I will agree that even the smallest sin severs our relationship with God and must be taken to the cross, but all sin is not equal.