I was introduced to the Jonas Brothers. And I LOVED them. I loved their faces, their singing voice, the fact that they were professing Christians. I just loved everything about these 3 guys from small-town, New Jersey. I wanted to meet them, wanted to marry one of them (preferably Nick!).
Boys bands are one of those things that come and go. The Jonas Brothers weren't what they were 3-5 years ago. They are no longer really singing together and the oldest, Kevin, has gotten married. Nick and Joe both went on to make their solo albums and do their own thing.
But when they were really famous, I really, really, capital REALLY liked them. I'll take it so far as to call it an obsession. I had hundreds of their pictures on my computer taking up space, I watched their YouTube videos over and over, and I even went to see them in concert. (Not gonna lie, even to this day I think that's pretty cool).
The thing that I didn't realize then, though, was that an obsession with a boy-band, an actor, ANY person who isn't Christ, is wrong. It's idolatry. We're putting someone up on a pedestal that shouldn't be on one! We're only going to be let down because these people are NOT perfect.
I have been let down by the Jonas Brothers many a time. When they could've professed their faith, or explained better why they wore purity rings, they backed off and shirked around the questioning. I'm not going to judge them and say that they're not Christians because I don't know what's in their hearts. But I do know that I have been let down by them many, many times.
"Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." 1 John 5:21
Putting our "faith" in people - or wasting our time on them - is only taking time away from the one thing that we should be truly focusing our time on - God. Looking up to people for advice, though, isn't always a bad thing! Don't get me wrong. But if we do it all the time - focus our time and energy on people of this world, we're not getting fed by Christ.
Since my obsession with the Jonas Brothers, I have grown a lot in my life. Not only have I learned my lesson on obsessing over people, but I've also grown a lot closer to God. My time spent loving the Jonas Brothers was time away from spending with God.
I didn't have time for God because I only had time to look up Jonas Brothers pictures, watch their videos, listen to their music.
I didn't have time to read the Bible because I was reading articles about these guys.
I didn't want to spend time with God, because I wanted to spend time with them.
"Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them." Jonah 2:8
Not going to even deny it - it was probably one of the dumbest times in my life. It was the time when I had more times for a boy band than God. I realize now that I was so far away from God at that point that I didn't even pray or read my Bible or listen to Christian contemporary music.
I just didn't have the time.
We NEED to make time for God. So stop adding those pictures to your computer. Stop watching those videos. Stop listening to that music for a while. Take time to pray, open your heart to God and spend time with Him.
I know that you'll feel less hungry for love and faith than you have before. God is the only thing we need and we NEED to spend time with Him.
As Christians, we need to learn that obsessing over anything but the Lord and his plan for our lives, is dumb. Plus, we're just going to continue to be let down by the people we are putting up on a pedestal. We will only be disappointed by them.
I don't know - maybe it's a lesson that all teenagers have to learn - to hold someone on a pedestal and slowly watch them fall. Maybe it's God's way of showing us that they're human and are going to make mistakes.
My advice to you is: if you're a Christian, prove it. Don't just say it because quite honestly, talk is cheap. Show people through your actions that you're a Christian. It's the only way for people who don't know you to find this out.
Like Blimey Cow would say, "If I spend a day with you and don't know that you're a Christian, you're doing it wrong."
So I urge you, spend time with Jesus. Get to know HIM a little better and get to know these celebrities a little less. God will never let you down. Everyone else will.
~Ashley
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