Jesus Would Tell Kim Kardashian 'Make Me Famous,' Says Ed Young
Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, focused the second sermon of his "What Would Jesus Say To…" series on celebrity Kim Kardashian, and suggested that Christ would ask the reality television star to use her fame to glorify God.
"Kim Kardashian is an interesting personality," Pastor Young said in his sermon. "She has 17 million followers on Twitter. One of the most googled people in the world. She grew up in Beverly Hills with a silver spoon in her mouth."
As Kardashian has admitted, the media first began paying her close attention when she started dating Nick Lachey, former singer from boy band 98 Degrees, in 2006.
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In 2007, a homemade sex tape between her and rapper Ray J was leaked on the Internet, she posed nude for Playboy, and began starring in the reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" along with her two sisters. In Aug. 2011, she married NBA star Kris Humphries, only to file for divorce 72 days later - and now she is expecting a baby with rapper/producer Kanye West, while still legally married to Humphries.
"If you have never heard of Kim Kardashian, then you have likely lived the last several years in a cave in Nepal," the Texas pastor said, sharing with his congregation a quote he had heard to show just how popular the reality show star has become in America. He expressed that now more than ever, culture embraces people who are famous for being famous, or people popular because they are popular.
Pastor Young offered: "What would Jesus say to Kim Kardashian? 'Make me famous. If you're really going to be well-known, you have to make me known.' Jesus knows our strengths and weaknesses, our problems, our sins. He knows us. So if we allow Him to know us well, then we can make Him well-known."
The preacher pointed to a study of school children aged 9-11 years old who have said that the most important thing they are aiming for is to become famous - while 10 years ago, fame was barely 15th on that list resulting from the study.
"Think about the enemy. Think about the devil. Before the earth was created, he was right there beside God, giving Him glory, giving Him fame. When the devil then decided to try and usurp Him, and from there he was kicked out of heaven and took a third of the angels with him. It was about popularity. He didn't like the fact that God was getting it, while he wasn't. So in our fallenness, we have a certain freakiness about fame. We want to have followers, we want to have fame, we want to be part of the popular crowd," added Young.
The Fellowship Church pastor argued, however, that living one's life trying to please the popular crowd is a formula for frustration.
As for what else he believes Jesus would say to Kardashian, Young claimed that Christ would say: "Your past doesn't determine your future."
The minister went back to the reality show star's sex tape, and read out loud what Kardashian herself has said about the incident.
"It definitely puts (me) in a category that I would wish upon no one. Your reputation is all that you have, and if people prejudge you over something you did, then that kind of sticks with you a long time," Kardashian said of the tape.
Pastor Young told his congregation, however, that everyone can connect with Kardashian on this point.
"We all have reputations. We all have things we are ashamed of. We all have skeletons in our closet. One of the biggest lies that the enemy levels is the one about our past. Remember, he wasn't getting the fame, he wasn't getting the props, he got kicked out of heaven, and now he is the father of lies," Pastor Young offered.
"Kim Kardashain will not be converted until Kim Kardashin is convicted. When I was converted, I was convicted of my sin. When your path crosses with someone who shared with you Jesus, you have a choice to make: You either come clean, or you don't. You either take a step to follow Christ, or you don't."
At the close of his sermon, the megachurch leader then urged people to make themselves vulnerable before Christ, and insisted that one's past doesn't determine one's future.
The full 30-minute sermon, the second of a five-part series, is available on the Fellowship Church website. Other celebrities Young will focus on as the sermons progress include LeBron James, Ellen DeGeneres, Lance Armstrong and others.
Pastor Young, explained in an interview with CP previewing the series that the idea behind his sermons will not be about bashing celebrities, but about analyzing what lessons people can take from their lives.
