The backlash over Justin Bieber's decision to cancel his Purpose tour meet-and-greets because of the draining effect that they were having on his emotional health highlights the ridiculous amount of pressure we place on celebrities and the superhuman status we attribute to them. If an ordinary morsel had expressed the same thoughts Bieber did, the popular reaction would have been empathetic - how many of us have ever had to meet and greet a complete stranger after a hard day's work at the office, and not just once?
But instead, the majority of the media responses made observations about the amount of money the meet and greets cost fans and mocked the Sorry singer for his honesty.
From an outsider's perspective, it's not always clear why celebrities have issues with the things they do in their circumstances. The references made to the $2000 price tag that accompanies a staged meeting with Bieber in the context of this story reveals that many of us still mistakenly equate fame and success with health and happiness. The following quote from Jim Carey is an insight into how this belief is misguided: "I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer."
This culture of celebrity criticism is something that we witness on a regular basis in the Christian community. Whenever a public figure makes the slightest declaration of faith or mentions a connection to Christianity, we can see it as a time to celebrate and immediately put them on a pedestal but only, it seems, to tear them down again when they're interpretation or demonstration of the Christian faith doesn't match up with our own.
Justin Bieber hasn't just been the target of criticism about his music, relationships and behaviour, he's also been called out by Christians because of the way he practises his faith. And he's not the only one. Candace Cameron Bure has spoken out about the pressure she feels from Christians on multiple occasions, as has actress Meagan Good and singer Marcus Mumford.
The reason our emotional responses to the actions of Christian celebrities are so extreme is because they have a considerable platform with which to interact, influence and inspire millions of people. It's natural for Christians to want people to get the right impression about their faith, especially if they're hearing about what it means from someone in a position of power and trust.
However, we ordinary Christians also have the power to impact the lives of everyone we meet too. It's not only the rich and famous!
And it's worth thinking about how our moaning about the 'revealing outfits' worn by Candace Cameron Bure and Meagan Good or our constant critiquing of any number of Christians in the public eye reflects on us and our faith. Despite their fancy lifestyles and apparently enviable status, famous people are just like us. They struggle with faith like we do and they don't always make the right decisions. But the big difference is that, although they may have many luxuries that we can't afford, the one they don't have is the luxury of figuring out faith in relative privacy, making their mistakes away from the public lense. Celebrities have to work it all out in public.
We can be under the impression that the pressure we put on stars isn't felt by them but when they speak out about it it's impossible to maintain that we're unaware of its impact. A much more constructive way to approach these issues is from a standpoint of understanding and compassion. There's a possibility that we can relate to at least one of the struggles that Christian celebrities experience and when they open up about it, instead of immediately expressing our disappointment at how they've wasted an opportunity to be an example, we could pray for them and show others that just because you make mistakes, it doesn't mean that you'll be disowned.
