It has been 5 days now since the sad and untimely death of arguably the world’s most famous human being. For decades the name Michael Jackson came with a sense of magic and showmanship, having the power to drive people into a frenzy. The news papers and television channels are still reporting new and more saddening stories daily, as planet Earth mourns the death of this iconic figure.

It had long been reported of Jackson’s eccentric and at times worrying behaviour. The tabloid press always had a field day with Jackson. It was the sun who first labeled him “wacko Jacko”, getting great mileage from the infamous incidents involving  not only his own children, but also the allegations of abuse levied against him by the children of others. No one can forget the pictures of the billionaire dangling his new born baby from the window of his hotel room in Berlin, or the two separate charges of sexual abuse brought against him by children he had in his care. In fact it was his general attitude towards children that seemed to be the most revealing aspect of his identity, as it was always so heavily reported that he himself never had a childhood. From the age of 5 Michael was a performer and a recording artist, never experiencing the joy of being a child. He was pushed onto the stage by his father and told to sing and dance, and because he never knew the love of his father, he became addicted to the short lived pleasures that the public attention brought him. His identity was rooted in performance and the temporary acceptance brought about by his obvious talents.

It would be easy to read this and have sympathy for the man, but perhaps the truth I am suggesting rests a little closer to home. It has been suggested by Paul A Walsh (our fearless leader) that there are in fact 3 very definite stages to the christian life, as laid out by the writer of John’s first epistle. They are the child, teenage and father phases. John writes of the child phase:

¹²I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.

To fully understand the truth of who we are in Christ we must have the foundation of our identity rooted in these two basic truths. We must fully understand that our salvation fully rests upon the work of Christ, not on any work based performance. Our sins have been paid for and washed away. We are not expected to perform for an abusive uncaring father! We are not expected to sing for our supper! However this is not the commonly held belief of those who seem to be running the show. The message of the “church” is that we like Michael have a part to perform. Does it not seem to be the case that we are rushed onto the stage of Christendom, pushed into the lime light where our talents and gifts can be prostituted for the advancement of the institution we know now as “church”? Only to find that the performance will lead us down paths which ultimately bring us to a place of fruitless despair. Oh we may be perceived as super stars and adored by the Christian fan-base-mentalists, but we remain empty and desperate to know a lasting sense of acceptance, being driven into sin to fulfill the longing of our hearts. What ever happened to Todd Bentley anyway?

Secondly, we must know the Father. We must understand who this God is, and believe that we can trust in Him. We must look upon Him as He looks upon us, through eyes of agape love. We must understand that He is not expecting us to perform for Him, that He is not waiting to beat us with a stick if we step out of time with the beat. In fact we must understand that He is not standing back stage evaluating our performance, but instead is our dance partner, gently leading us to the beautiful music of creation.

My prayer is that in death Michael Jackson has come to know the shalom which he was denied in life, and that each one of us who has come into the knowledge of our salvation, having freely recieved the gift of God’s grace woud explore and enjoy the childhood offered to us. That we would come to know the full majesty of the Father, and trusting in Him, that we would give up the performance of the Christian life, choosing instead to allow the light of the life of Christ to shine forth from each one of us, something which in the words of Jackson himself will truly “heal the world” …..agape <><

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 3:38 pm by James Sparrow and is filed under General. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.