Celebrity culture

My internet home page is the BBC News site, which of course means that's the first thing I see when I open Internet Explorer. You may be impressed by that (or maybe not). But I have to confess that (having scanned the headlines this morning - which of course included quite a bit about Haiti), I first went to a story about the BAFTA nominations. After a bit of looking around there, the next stop was a piece on the National TV awards, just to check that Gavin & Stacey had won for Best Comedy (it did), and to see whether James Corden had performed his rap (not sure - more research needed).

Does this make me a bad person? I hope not. It maybe reflects the fact that some stories (the situation in Haiti being a prime example) are sometimes too big to process - or at least, we need to prepare ourselves to deal with them.

But I guess it also reflects our culture, with its obsession with 'celebrity' - a culture where people will do anything (it seems) 'to get on the telly'. Now, I don't buy into all that - but it's very hard not to be influenced at some level.

Jesus knew all about the pressures of celebrity - just read Mark 3:20-35 for a picture of a celebrity drawing adoration and experiencing the backlash which comes with fame. Maybe we don't think of Jesus in this way - perhaps we assume that he loved the big crowds and saw them as a sign of success. But the following passage in Mark 4 makes it clear that he wasn't taken in by all the hype. And he wasn't interested in counting heads or even 'building a ministry' - he was looking for those few who were prepared to take what he said seriously, those who would hang around after the crowds had gone, wanting to know more. It's people like this who are part of what Tom Sine calls 'The mustard seed conspiracy' of the kingdom of God.

People like you and me?