roman guevara

RISE UP
Inspirational Readings for Personal Growth

by

ROMAN GUEVARA

“Christian Celebrities, Celebrity Christians”

Scripture:

Matthew 22:21b
Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

We have a fascination for celebrities.

In almost every culture, country, community, field, profession, and segment of any  society, there exist an elite. The few, the beautiful, the famous, the powerful of us all.

We are fascinated by them. We admire them. And to some extent, we want to be “them”.

We watch them on TV. We go to their movies. We buy magazines that feature them.  And if they sing, we get their albums. If they write, we grab a copy of their books.

And sometimes, they get us to buy other stuff. Clothes, bags, mineral water, all kinds of pills, hamburger, cellphones, and yes, even cars. It doesnt really matter if we want or need them, we just buy them, because, our favourite celebs have endorsed them. And we do this gladly, with a cheerful heart, because they are our favourites. They are, our celebrity. And we are their fans.

Yes, we live in a world that glorifies, and magnifies, celebs.

But what happens when celebrities become christian?

What happens to the celebrity now that he is a christian?

What happens to the christian, who is fascinated with the celebrity, who is now a christian?

This might sound to simple, but celebs, yung mga artista, singer, musician, dancer, models, basketball players, businessmen, and even politicians, tulad din sila ng marami sa atin nung naging christian.

Ang ilan sa kanila may mabigat na problema sa buhay, and at that moment, God rescued them. Brought them someone, a christian, to pray for them, counsel them, do them bible study, and later they went to the nearest christian church.

While others may not have a major crisis in life happening, but friends of theirs, who are now christians, have been patiently sharing to them about Christ and the joys of being a christian, secretly praying that this celebrity friend would join them in one bible study or worship service. And one day, pinagbigyan nung celebrity. Umatend once. Nagustuhan naman kahit paano. Bumalik balik. And eventually, hindi na umalis. Naging christian na din.

That is, kung hahayaan sila ng mga non-celebrity attendees nung church na napuntahan nila, na magworship at mag grow sa kanilang faith, na…………… walang umaabala.

I remember a story about the late Charito Solis, the actress.  Nung naging christian raw ito, madalas naaanyayahan sa mga christian events. The story goes like this, minsan, habang umaatend siya ng isang christian event, she was seated and was praying very intensely. Until, may mga “fans”, mga christians din, attending the same christian event, tinapik ang Charito Solis, at humihingi ng autograph. Never mind if she was praying. Her christian fans needed an autograph!

Wala naman sigurong masama na humingi ng autograph sa mga paborito nating celebrity. Lalo na pag naging christian na sila. Marahil, sa ilan sa atin, nag increase pa nga ang ating paghanga, kasi, nakakilala na sila sa Panginoon, at binubuhos pa nila ang kanilang buhay at kasikatan sa paglilingkod ke God.

Kaso nga lang, ilagay naman natin sa lugar, at hanapin natin ang magandang timing para sila ay hingan ng autograph o dinaman kaya ng picture.

Halimbawa worship service, praise and worship, nakikinig sila ng message, umaatend ng christian conference, gathering or event. Let’s leave them alone. Let’s hold our horses and our screams. Im sure many of them, just want to worship God and attend the event like all of us.

At depende kung gano na sila katagal sa limelight, at kung gano sila kasikat at that moment na nagabot kayo, kung papano nila hina handle ang crowd na nakapalibot sa kanila.

Siyempre kung matagal na sa limelight, sanay na sanay na yan sa ating nagkakagulo sa kanila. They know how to enter and exit. Even worship services and christian events.

Yung popularity naman, siyempre, meron ngayun, bukas wala na. Malakas dati, sikat ngayon, and then darating ang time, alaala na lang.

How do we treat them? How do we deal with them? What’s the right behavior when we are near them? around them? or even when we are introduced to them?

And how about when we are introducing them? Ano ba ang tamang introduction sa kanila?

Me ilan din naman akong celebrity encounters.

Tulad ng mga youth ko dati o family friends sa church na ngayon ay celebrity na. Tulad ni Sam Concepcion, teen actor/singer. Anak ng mga co-workers ko dati sa isang christian organization. I saw him grew up in the church. And now, his a big star. Si Joshua Desiderio ng Freestyle Band. For many years, he played for me pag me worship concerts ako at youth conferences. Their band revived the song “Half Crazy” at nakilala siya sa pagkanta nito. Another youth ko dati, Frank Garcia, model/actor. Lubos na nakilala ng publiko dahil sa grupong Powerboys. Later nagartista at madalas na model sa mga commercials.

My brother is a good friend of ate Dulce, one of the best singers this country has ever produced. Pinakilala niya ako dito, at madalas namin itong makasama sa mga worship events for the Body of Christ.

Later nakilala ko si Brylle Mondejar, actor/singer, na nakilala dahil sa That’s Entertainment at mga pelikula sa Regal Films. He was invited to attend once to one of my events, and since then, he has become one of my closest friends. He introduced me to some of his celebrity friends, like Jigo Garcia, Jefferey Santos and Nino Mulach.

Name dropping? Hindi naman. Ang konti nga niyan kumpara sa ibang churches and ministries, na marami talagang umaatend na celebrity.

I once visited this well-known church here in Metro Manila, and just two seats away from me was Piolo Pascual, the multi-media celebrity. At sa likod ko naman, also on that same day was Assunta de Rossi the actress. I visited their service in another branch, and actress Claudine Baretto and her husband, the actor Raymart Santiago, was seating in front. Jumping all around during the worship, and obviously nag-eenjoy sila sa pagsamba ke Lord. Hindi ko na mababanggit sa devotional na ito ang ibat-iba pang celebrities na nakita ko sa church na iyon that day, kasi ang dami nila dun talaga.

And this is the christian world now.

Marami ng celebrities na nagiging christian.  Mga artista, singers, musicians, models, basketball players, businessmen, and even politicians.

Glory to God. Nawa dumami pa sila. Nawa marami pa sa kanila ang makakilala ke Lord.

Pero, pag worship service at christian events, hayaan lang natin sila. Let them worship God. Wag natin silang gambalain. And more importantly, wag natin sila pagkaguluhan pag pare pareho naman tayong nagwo-worship ke Lord.

Once i was invited to lead worship with my band RISE UP, sa isang malaking christian gathering sa Quezon City.  It was a (7) hour worship event. Habang papasok ako sa amphitheater, biglang nagkagulo ang mga tao. Sabi ko sa mga kasama ko “anong nangyayari?”. Ilang saglit lamang at me nagtilian na. Me artista pala. Kumanta saglit sa gawain, at tapos paalis na. Nalaman ng crowd, at kahit me nagpapakanta pa ng worship, e, nagalisan ang kalahati ng nagwo-worship, at hinabol ang christian celebrity sa paglabas nito sa event.  “Our God is an Awesome God” pa naman ang kinakanta!

We should be thankful to God at maraming christian celebrities ngayon.

At dapat natin silang tulungan sa paglago sa kanilang pananampalataya.

We should also recognize their achievements in the field that made them famous.

Sabi nga “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”. Wag tayong magpanggap na wala sila in our midst. Natural lang siguro na matuwa tayo pag biglang nakita natin in the flesh ang ating mga napapanood sa TV at pelikula. May mga achievements sila kaya sila naging celebrity. Hindi natin dapat ito dedmahin para lang magmukhang hindi natin sila itinataas higit ke God. They deserve our recognition and respect.

Ilagay lang sa lugar.

At wag natin laging isipan ng paraan kung papaano sila “gagamitin”.

Surely its a blessing that they could lend their fame to our cause. Na makapag testimony sila o dinaman kaya makapagbigay ng special numbers. At kung malaki ang kita nila ngayon, tunay na makakatulong ang kanilang tithes and offerings for funding of church ministries. Tulad ng lahat sa atin, in order for them to truly grow in faith, they need to discover their calling and serve God and his church.

However, wag nating gawing priority na “magamit” sila.

We should help them grow. We should pray for them. They are now, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And let’s all remember, “give to God, what is for God”.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank you for today. Thank you for your words that continue to inspire me to live my life for the glory of God. Thank you that many celebrities are coming to Jesus Christ. May there be more. Anoint and use churches, ministries, and Pastors to do this unique and challenging work. And help these celebrities Lord to grow in their faith and service to God. Use me Lord as well, in praying for them, and for bringing more people to the Lord, irregardless if they are a celebrity or not. Bless us Lord today, myself, my family, my friends, and my loved ones, with your guidance, wisdom, favor, and protection. I pray all these things in Jesus name, amen.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.