Yeezus to Jesus?

If we have come into a saving knowledge of Christ, we have been brought into God's redemption
story, and He desires for us, and makes it possible for us, to reflect His glory. 2nd Timothy 1 states:
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...

Someone might say there are a lot of unlikely candidates for salvation out there - the celebrity who has lived a life that does not reflect God, the drug dealer whose heart and mind is full of corruption, the corporate head who is driven by money, the prisoner who is full of anger and hate, the terrorist who is intent on taking the lives of others in the name of his or her religion.  But, in a moment, the presence of Jesus can enter a person's life, remove the sinful heart, and give that person a new heart - that's the incredible work of redemption, and no one is beyond the hand of God bringing salvation.

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We know that God is at work throughout the earth, executing His plan to raise up disciples, people who profess faith in Christ, so that they may come to know Him and to help others to know Him, as
well. The Old Testament book of Zephaniah says:
17 The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
18 "I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden.
19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, And gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame In every land where they were put to shame.

Is there anyone beyond the long arm of the Lord to save?  I think that there may be a tendency to pigeonhole people, and think that perhaps there is no way such and such a person can be saved by Jesus.  And, if someone famous does claim to have found God or accepted Christ, we may treat that person with skepticism and think that it likely isn't true.

The wife of a famous rap/hip-hop artist went on The View the other day and said that, as Faithwire puts it, "... her husband’s worship service exploits were...developed out of a relentless pursuit for God."  You see, her husband has been staging "services," invitation-only, which includes some high-profile people.  She went on to say, "...he has had an amazing evolution of being born again and being saved by Christ.”

The wife is Kim Kardashian-West, speaking of her husband, Kanye West, who took his Sunday service to an actual service in Atlanta recently.  Even the Atlanta Journal-Constitution took note:

During Sunday’s worship, West and the choirs provided their own wording twists to R&B favorites to be gospel-centered.

He turned Ginuwine's "So Anxious" into a gospel song, as well as "Father Stretch my Hands."

The choirs also performed “How Excellent.”

A solemn West took the mic to share some of his faith walk, saying being closer to Jesus Christ also brought him closer to his family.

West said, “I’ve seen him work miracles in my life..." The report also notes that "He also said he’s seen everything the devil can do to lead one astray."

That's quite a departure from an artist who recorded an album called, Yeezus, a few years ago, including a track called, I Am a God.  But almost a decade before that, he recorded a song called, Jesus Walks.  So, Kanye, in a sense, has blazed his own religious trail, and perhaps has discovered the one true Savior, Jesus Christ.  A CNN article from 2013 declared that Kanye had a "God complex...;" one could say he perhaps had put himself on the same level as God.

So, how should we regard these seemingly bold declarations of faith in Christ from Kanye - or any other high-profile individual?  I came across some good perspective on Twitter from Bob Lepine, the co-host of FamilyLife Today, heard weekdays at noon on Faith Radio.  He recounted about how he heard about Glen Campbell's conversion and sought out an interview.  Bob wrote:

...I was disappointed I didn’t get the interview, but I was impressed by how the church was handling this...

In the years that followed, there were well publicized lapses in Glen’s life. There were charges of domestic violence and arrests for substance abuse. I confess my cynicism led me to conclude Glen’s profession of faith wasn’t real...

He went on to tweet out:

I’ve often thought about the wisdom of those who were protecting Glen during the early days of his walk with Christ. Those who understood that in spite of his fame, he was not ready to be put in a position to have to publicly answer a lot of questions about faith...

Those people did Glen a favor. And they did me a favor too. They gave the story and the new birth some time to develop before they sent the new convert out to face the lions.

Lepine adds:

What made me think about all this today is reports I’ve seen on Twitter regarding Kanye West. I hope we can all be careful and prayerful with whatever we hear. Expect fits and starts. Believe the best. Give grace...

A few random but related thoughts: The Kingdom of God doesn’t need celebrity converts to advance. And there is joy in the presence of the angels any time anyone repents...

So if you hear anything today about Kanye, make it your first impulse to pray for him, not to retweet the news. Let’s give him a second, okay?

You've probably been there - heard the story of someone, whether a celebrity, neighbor, or family member, coming to Christ.  And, then you see or hear that person is not quite living up to godly standards.  We know there is a tendency to put a person who makes a profession on a pedestal, expecting him or her to say all the right things - we can't expect a person who is a baby Christian to say or do the right things, and we shouldn't put them in a position to be a high-profile spokesperson for the gospel.

But, there are radical conversions, where God does a profound work in their life - and it's important that the body of Christ take the steps to disciple that person so that when they are called upon to tell their story, that they are a credible witness for Him.

Bob Lepine says, "Believe the best...let God take care of the rest," and to "Give grace." I think skepticism is perfectly OK, and as someone who is in a gatekeeper position in Christian media, discernment is something that should be exercised.  But, we can also recognize that God is able to save anyone.  No one is beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit to touch and change a person.  So, we can rejoice, as the angels do, when a sinner repents!  We can know that the Lord has begun a good work and is faithful to complete it.  But, we should also reflect on a person's status in the spiritual growth process and not set a new Christian up to fail in his or her public pronouncements.

We can, as Bob encourages us, pray for a bold and accurate witness from converts, high-profile and otherwise.  We can also strive to make sure that our witness is bold, accurate, and full of love and truth.

But, I think that main takeaway is that we do not know for sure how God is working in a person's heart.  And, we know that He can do amazing things - He is the one who is mighty to save, and He can bring a person out of the depths of sin and despair to the heights of new life in Christ.  He is our Savior, our Deliverer, our Mighty God, who desires to bring all into a saving knowledge of Himself.