The Kanye Complex

I've always wondered how we (Christians) can be so closed minded to the works of God. The same God we recognize from bringing people back from the dead. The same God who blessed a centenarian couple (Abraham and Sarah) to have children well after they turned 100. The same God who transformed a man who killed Christians into a leader of churches to come.

So God can save us. He can deliver us. Even send His Son to die for our sins and transformation. But we can't wrap our minds around how a man who lived a very public, controversial, secular life can change and lead Sunday Service?

Before you skip all of this and go straight to sending me hate-mail (there's a nice little feedback button somewhere on this site), let's get one thing straight. This is not an endorsement of Kanye West, as an artist. But I do relate with missing "the Old Kanye." I am also not speaking on his political beliefs in this message. What I am challenging is the response I have seen from fellow Believers. Why do we box people up in who they are in our minds, instead of what God can do in theirs?

If you can open your hearts to the scriptural comparisons, I think we can all see just how God works through the evolution of Kanye West.

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Man.. We love Paul, don't we? Our man, Paul. He was the big brother who wrote us letters from prison. As a matter of fact, Paul went to prison a lot!!! But that's okay. Because he was PAUL. The one we love. He encouraged us. His letters still carry a bulk of Christianity, because (next to Jesus) Paul was the next best example of belief despite persecution. He showed us what to do and how to keep pushing when to do when you are under pressure. We all want to be Paul; someone God trusts soo much that he was allowed to build church after church and continue the movement of Christ after his death and resurrection.

We love Paul.

But we don't talk about Saul too often. Let's not talk about Saul! Who Paul used to be.

You see, Saul was the man Paul was transformed from. He killed Christians. Acts 9:1 starts off telling us how savage Saul was before Christ. "Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord's followers." Saul asked for permission from the synagogues to arrest anyone who believed, men and women. Saul had no discrimination in his disgust. If we fast forward (which is honestly just four or five versus later in Acts), Saul comes face to face with Jesus. The rest of this story is literally history, and the foundation of our faith.

But let's analyse this. Saul, who was looking to kill those who were following Jesus, was found by Christ and transformed. This in so many ways is the story of every Christian. If anything, it's almost the blueprint of any Believer. Now, true... Not many of us were found in Saul's original state. I'd hope. But even if you were not this far down the spiral of being anti-faith.. We still had a point of being very secular to not wanting anything to do with who we once were. As a matter of fact, even though a lot of us not follow Christ and believe He died for our sins. Or even if you aren't sure you believe that part, but you do believe in God, we aren't even as good as Saul (now Paul) became. Paul took his faith and seriously kept going in the direction of his purpose. Where we go back and forth, following God then backsliding against Him. But we all (most of us) believe Paul is who Paul is because of God.

So how can we love Paul, and question a man like Kanye? Mind you... This text is about Kanye because he's probably the most controversial conversion/transformation in recent text. A man who openly lived a secular life, was (literally) questioned about his sanity, and is now more-judged for his new life than he ever was for his old one. Why do we have sooo much against this man for going in the direction all Christians are supposed to pray and cheer for? I honestly think, it's because we don't want to acknowledge Kanye is us.

He's the part of us we don't live outloud, but stress in our spirit about every day and night. Kanye is the personification of where our fear and our purpose conflict in our hearts.

There's another man in the Bible who can be seen in Kanye's story.

When we read Mark, Chapter Five, it starts with a man possessed by an evil spirit. Actually, he was possessed by "many." No one was strong enough to keep him in one place. People tried to shackle him and keep him bound, but any time they did he would break free and roam about. The man would wander day and night. He walked among burial grounds and hills, yelling, and cutting himself. Until he met Jesus.

If we stop and look at just verses 3-5 of Mark 5, we can see a lot of Kanye in this story. I'm not saying Kanye is or was possessed, but I do believe he carried a lot of thoughts that haunted him. "He wandered among the burial caves and in the hills." - Mark 5:5a. For anyone who doesn't know about the personal life of Kanye West, he lost his mother in 2007. You don't have to be a fan of Mr. West to empathize with the devastation one must feel when their primary provider, number one fan, their mother passes away. I've been a fan of Kanye's music for years... What he went through was not silent, and he's carried her, that pain, and the healing from it in his art ever since. As a person, Kanye changed after that as well. I'm not going to document every benchmark of change, but let's get back to the correlation of the man in Mark 5. The man who wandered in burial caves and Kanye carrying the death of his mother; these two things are comparable.

Then the man could not be bound. I giggle at this thought, because (as someone who followed the career of Kanye West), he has never been a person you could pigeonhole or put a filter on. What Kanye thought, he said. How he felt, you knew it. (Just ask George W. Bush). :) Kanye as an artist and a person is hard to categorize, outside of being a Hip-Hop artist. This side of his character became more and more controversial as the years went by. His reputation attracted more and more attention as, in recent years, many started to think he was "crazy." Things Kanye said just didn't make sense to a lot of people. Those he loved were often just as lost. Then, somewhere in the middle of 2019, Kanye starts having Sunday Service.

People were confused. They were skeptical. Most of all, not many seemed too in favor.

Myself included.

Could you blame us?

If I can speak for myself; Kanye lost my support as a fan - not because of how his music evolved, nor because of who he married (I could binge watch "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" on any given day) - but personally he aligned himself with some things I couldn't agree with. So when Kanye West, seemingly, woke-up one day with his mind stayed on Jesus, I was offended. As a Christian, all I could focus on was how Kanye wasn't doing what I wanted him to do. He wasn't supporting people I wanted him to support. In my mind, wearing a red ball cap with white letters and a dropping a gospel album didn't mix.

Then something happened. I noticed someone, some people actually, who I look up to in the Church hanging around Kanye West. These were pastors and their families, who encouraged me to get to where I am in Christ. Re-presenting churches I supported with my own finances. They... THEM... My people... were hanging out with Kanye West. Not just chilling for a photo op, but doing Church with him. My spirit dropped to my stomach.

As I read the comments of other Christians under their posts. The judgement. The horrible accusations of their walk. The "how could you," "do you know who you're walking with," people who denounced their support and what these awesome people of faith were doing, all because they took a picture with Kanye West. I felt convicted.

If someone I knew and respected, churches I trust with my finances, people I go to for encouragement on my faith walk; if these people were willing to put themselves out there for Kanye West, it wasn't about Kanye, it was for God.

When Jesus cast all the demons from the man in Mark (5:13), everyone heard about it and came to see what happened. When the townsmen and women arrived, they saw the man clothed and sane. They weren't thankful to God for what He had done. They weren't lining up to the man to learn about how he felt. They were afraid. In fact, they asked Jesus to leave!

I felt this in my spirit; we are seeing a man freed by God right now. And instead of seeing this as an act of God, we've minimized it in comparisons to the facts of the man. We are a church who lives to go into our everyday lives, bringing God with us, that we may impact the lives of those around us. We are sent to influence those who have influence, so those who are watching them are watching God. This movement is happening in front of us, and we are judging it because God isn't using who we want Him to use?!

This past Sunday, Kanye West held one of his Sunday Services at Joel Olsteen's Lakewood Church. I had to check myself on this one. This was the same church people tweeted and posted to social media about when floods hit Houston, because it (they allege) wouldn't open it's doors to those in need. Thinking about that information, I had an attitude in my spirit again. But God checked me. This is now the church who opens it doors to a man who made a living creating secular music. They opened their doors to a man who just dropped ONE gospel album. This church is using their platform, because they understand the power that happens when we let God move.

This is the perfect opportunity for the Church to act on faith and not fact. Fact will rationalize that a man who made a living on secular music, cannot possibly/genuinely use his platform for anything positive. Fact will cause us to question; if a someone doesn't live like me how can they believe like me.

But FAITH..... Woooooooo.

Faith will tell you God is using a man who made a living on secular music, to transform the lives of those who currently follow him. Faith tells us that God can use any gift for the furthering of His kingdom. Faith will tell you, regardless of someone's current political views, God's view does not change.

We have to not be so pompous in our own testimony. We are all still very much closer to being Saul than Paul. But we get so enraptured in who we want to be, that we distance ourselves from who we were; maybe who we still are. I noticed not once in Mark 5 did Jesus question the man about his political views, or what kind of life he was living. As a matter of fact, we don't even get to know the man's name. But we know he was freed from what was binding him.

Why do we look at the story of a man like Kanye West and not rejoice? How can we not be happy about someone who says he, "will no longer make secular music" and all of his albums going forward will be for the glory of God?! Are we that tied to the facts of Kanye West that we allow it to eclipse what God can do? If we truly feel God can't change Kanye, that means we really think God can't change us. I think we can all look back at our spiritual progress and know the answer is truly the opposite. Knowing God has changed us, He will continue to mold us, that He will never give up on us; Kanye West's evolution should be a story to all of us about the hope we have in God.

As no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), I personally believe God did not choose Kanye because he's Kanye. I do feel in my heart He selected a man who would get our attention.