As Justin Bieber celebrates his 22nd birthday today, we take a look back at the warning he issued to his fans in a recent interview with a UK newspaper.
It's just a few years ago that the 22-year-old "Sorry" singer was being almost constantly criticised in the press for his bad behaviour. And fans who had invested in him felt disappointed to say the least. Young people who has followed Bieber's career from the beginning were shocked by the pop star's transgressions. His fans known has "Beliebers", a moniker that bears uncanny resemblance to the word believers, weren't accustomed to him "acting out" and many struggled to understand the change in his behaviour. Of course, over the years Bieber's done a lot of growing up and his actions and some of the themes in his new music attests to that.
In response to the adoration of his fans, Bieber told the Mirror: "I would really suggest to people, 'Don't put your faith in me'. Because I'm gonna disappoint you every time...Yeah. It's scary. But I want them to know that I'm not going to be able to solve their problems... I'm not that higher power."
It's not just "Beliebers" that are guilty of putting celebrities on pedestals, it's a practice that is magnified and fuelled by the media. As the most recent wave of the feminist movement was gaining traction, everyone from pop singer Taylor Swift to Divergent actress Shailene Woodley became subject to questions in interviews about their allegiance to the feminist cause. When they chose not speak on the matter or declared that they didn't consider themselves to be feminists the backlash from those who felt they were superior was unavoidable. When it comes to celebrities that identify as Christian or speak out about their faith, we can fall into the same trap.
Although the flashy cars, expensive clothes and excesses of cash can make it seem as if we're world's apart from our favourite famous faces, when it comes down to it they're just like us and just like us they make mistakes. The only difference is when they do mess up they're often take place on the world stage. On one hand, their behaviour can lead to us feeling let down and on the other hand it can give rise to a superiority complex. We can feel that we're better than a particular star because we'd never do x or y.
Another danger of putting such high expectations on celebrities is that we can fall into idolising them as opposed to worshipping God. You might not agree with Bieber on a whole host of things but you'd be hard pressed to argue against him when he says, "I just want people to know humans aren't meant to be worshipped. We're just not. So when a human is being worshipped, this is dangerous."
We often make the mistake of automatically elevating celebrities to the position of role models, not just for ourselves but, in the case of parents, for our children too. And when they do things that we wouldn't aspire to we can slip into judging their choices and conduct. Yes, Christians in the limelight, no matter what their profession, have a platform to be ambassadors for Christ but so do we every day. And this is something that we can forget when we look to them for a lifestyle guidance instead of looking to Jesus' example.
