Constantine & Kanye

We just got back from Italy. It was amazing to walk through the streets of the three old cities we visited and see all the centuries of cultural influence that had shaped them.

We started in Rome. I've been there before, but this time I learned a lot more about Roman history than I did when I was last there. One thing that particularly surprised me was some of the history of the Colosseum. Forgive me if you already knew all of this, I really didn't.

The part most Christians are familiar with is that the Colosseum was used to host these intensive "games" where people and animals were killing each other for sport. It was so interesting to have a Roman tour guide who said "it's really, sad they were not like we are in valuing life." Roman culture was all about strength and power and so the games made sense to them.

Here's what I didn't really understand about the Colosseum. It was gorgeous. It wasn't rustic at all. It was adorned with the finest marble in the area and highly decorated. Elaborate is a word our tour guide, Luigi, used again and again.

When Constantine took over and Christianity became a state instituted religion, the popes essentially opened up the Colosseum and the areas surrounding it as a state run quarry. People could come and essentially pay to loot the structure for fine materials. They transitioned the building to be used as an oversized barn and kept cattle there.

The Colosseum went from a symbol of power, prestige, and oppression to a pillaging ground, thanks to the powers of Rome turning to Jesus.

Seems great right?

Well here's what is great, the Romans stopped killing each other for sport. That's great for sure. Lots more Romans heard about Jesus and Christians were celebrated instead of persecuted. That's also great.

But here's what I'm not convinced is so great, and it's something we still idolize and aim for today. It's something we put our faith in, that we think will bring us peace. It's something that has tarnished the message of Jesus for centuries.

Jesus in the seat of cultural power.

Last fun fact about the Colosseum, they think that most of the marble from it went to Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. A literal physical shift of power and prestige built around something else.

We want to put Jesus on the physical thrones of our broken world. Touring elaborate church after church in Italy shows that this has been a human desire for centuries upon centuries.

Walking through these structures this time with a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what his earthly ministry was like, made these churches - which are gorgeous works of art - leave a bad taste in my mouth.

As I took in the gold adorned frescos, the towering marble sculptures, the elaborately painted Jesus figures plastered in every chapel, it hit me hard - we missed the point of Jesus' ministry completely.

Romans killed Christians in the Colosseum, not because they were aiming for a powerful political overthrow, but because they were poor, immigrants who were banning together to provide for the poor among them. They were undermining the political systems that kept the lowest class people oppressed in Rome. And Romans needed class systems because they only valued power and they devalued human life by killing the poor and weak in jest. The Christians were running around bringing life-giving value to all humans, so Romans tried to crush that anti-Roman message to maintain power.

And then the power shifted in Rome and so did our faith.

Suddenly when Constantine accepted the Christian faith, Jesus could be on the political throne, visibly in the seat of power. As Jesus’ message got conflated with structure systems and an alignment of power the Gospel got watered down and started becoming oppressive. Patrons could pay to have their likeness painted near Christ affirming their holiness and power. All while the poor and majority were back to the way things always were before Jesus - forgotten, devalued, and exploited. Faith became a pay-to-play power game institutionally and the evidence of this shift starts in Rome and continues to where we are today.

Kanye West, our favorite rapper to hate on, has recently found Jesus. And he's excited. Last week he released a new album called Jesus Is King and Christians are all over the map in response to his new declaration of faith. While the responses are all widely varied - from folks feeling as if he's simply exploiting a new music market to others claiming he can help start a revival - all the responses are rooted in our broken human desire to see Jesus in seats of cultural power.

Some of us collectively sigh in relief when someone with so much influence finds Jesus. We think "Thank you Lord, they can do so much more than I ever could," or "Thanks to this position of influence, my job as a Christ-follower will be easier, people will just come to me." We praise Jesus for the power he's found in our culture and figuratively lean back.

Or on the other side, we tense up and think "What if he says something different from what I believe. What if he falls, he'll take all of Christianity down with him!" We fight hard to poke holes in the legitimacy of this powerful faith and hope that no one gives him any credit because it will be too hard to come back from when he fails.

Kanye isn’t the only time we react this way, we do it with any seat of cultural power from Presidents to school principals. But both types of responses are rooted in misplaced faith. We have more faith in the power of Jesus when the powers of our world hold it. And that's exactly the opposite of what Jesus taught through his ministry.

When you read the Gospels you'll see Jesus' disciples missing the point again and again. Like us, they are always waiting for Jesus to step up and take the seat of earthly power that he could have had, that we want him to have. Again and again Jesus redirects his disciples from power to people. He points to the broken, the poor, the sick and tells them flat out "this is why I've come, so that ALL can know the love of my Father." Jesus worked to flip the power systems of our world on its head, because in the Kingdom of Heaven, there are no hierarchies beyond God.

Church, we miss the point when we put so much value on the conversion of a celebrity. Should we celebrate them coming to know Jesus? Heck-to-the-yes. Should we celebrate the conversion of a no-name, no economical value, so little influence that they are not even on social media person? Yep, just as much as we celebrate the other. Is the conversion of a powerful person going to bring more momentum to the movement of Christ in our culture than the latter person? We don't know and we won't know. We don't have to know.

Our faith is in Christ alone and his ability to work in the world.

The thing I'm pretty confident about is Jesus' desire to work in each and every person. He won't find a cultural or political seat of power to reside in and work solely from that space. Jesus wants a personal relationship with each of us, he wants to lead each one of us to do his work. And through the unique contributions that each one of us are wired to give our world coming together in Christ, we can affect Kingdom change in our world collectively. Sure, Kanye may participate, but he is not the cornerstone, he's not even a part of our faith foundation. He's simply a piece of the church-body at work, (hopefully) doing the work that God has uniquely designed him to do. Same for you and me.

So church, whatever Kanye does for Jesus, doesn't need to affect what you do for Jesus. Because what Jesus calls you do to will only work in accordance with his plan for his other kids. Each of us who are walking in-step with the plans of our Creator will bring about perfect peace and will reveal love. And the people who walk out of step with Jesus? Well, in the end Christ overcomes. So step unaffected and joyfully. Celebrate the conversion of a new person, but don't idolize the idea that Jesus has finally broken through to a platform that he deserves. He's perfectly ok working through manger births, donkey rides, humiliating deaths, and quiet resurrections.