Posted on 09/23/2002 4:11:58 PM PDT by KMC1
Contact Kevin: kmc@wyll.com
I look for exemplary lives among Christian leaders such as music stars also.
BTW, Amy Grant joins Bruce Springsteen and other artists as well who are not as popular post-divorce.
Note to the author: Keven, no one forced you to attend the concert. I suppose the lives Amy has touched are moot because you are scandalized at her humanity?
I met Amy quite a few years ago when I was employed as music director for a large christian television network and studio musician. She was as real then as she is now. With the same emotions, hardships and failings as any living human.
The dissapointment ends when fans stop treating entertainers as gods (little g) and realize that they should get their own lives and stop living vicariously through their idols.
We are all sinners, saved by grace........and as for you, Mr. McCullough.......if you are without sin then toss the first stone.
One of my cousins gave tepid explanations for a divorce and that bothered certain people. Her ex-husband seemed like such a nice guy but he had been cheating on her ---with a babysitter. For the sake of her kids and maybe everyone she made a decision not to discuss their problems to everyone. Sometimes a marriage can look perfect but no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.
BTW, Amy Grant joins Bruce Springsteen and other artists as well who are not as popular post-divorce.
I will give Springsteen credit for one thing: You listen to a record (yes, I still call them that, have some respect, sonny, I helped win the Cold War) like "Brilliant Disguise" and it's so much more poignant and morally honest about the reason things were falling apart. The couple in that song are not only probably cheating on each other, there is no communication left, so nobody's going to take the first step and get it fixed. And he makes no excuses: It's a song about a husband's suspicion of his cheating wife, but he admits that his suspicion might be born of his own adultery. You won't hear that in "It Takes A Little Time" or any of the other music released by the "Pity me, I'm a Christian role-model/adulterer/divorcee" crowd, because it would sound like (and be) hypocrisy unless it followed a period of career hiatus and repentance. I'm not letting Gary Chapman totally off the hook, because I don't know or care to know the intimate details of why their marriage failed, but he must surely wonder where the girl who sang "If These Walls Could Speak" for him went off to.
People someimes fall out of love, to be sure. But the proper response for 2 Christians is to stick with it and persevere.
I heard it put this way, I believe by Tony Evans: "Do you still love her? If so, make it work. Is she your enemy? If so, you are called to love your enemy. Get in there and make it work." Sure, it sounds a little flip, but it's true: Two Christians should only be divorced if there is adultery or abuse and the cheating/abusing spouse will not stop their behavior.
And......it was their business.....
Since when do we have the right to fire our high powered gospel guns into a situation we have no knowledge of?
I admire Amy and Vince.
I admire the fact that they have not allowed the christian world to taint there love for each other. I admire the fact that they both share their faith openly.
What I am ashamed of is how once again.....people that call themselves believers can be so incredibly stupid. So quick to judge. So non-christlike.
If you are shooting for a position of influence in ANY sphere...you need to have your act together more than the "little people".
What I am trying to make you realize that entertainers, christian or not have their own lives.
I'll bet if Paul and Jan had first heard the news that King David had sex with another mans wife and then had that very same husband killed.......my god.........they would have had a holy orgy.
God however, will always continue to look at the heart. A very private affair......
People should be able to express disappointment in the adultery of two famous people with families torn by sin. Otherwise, it becomes tacit approval. We should be put off by a sin publicly committed. A complete tolerance of sin is a green light to evil. It is not how we are supposed to live our lives, whether or not we are Christian music stars.
I read the piece that he was big fan of Amy's but very hurt by her behavior.
Therein lies the problem. Christians never seem to agree on just what exactly defines "together".
Who places them in that "Place"?
Humans want to worship something. The old gods of Baal are dust and we have erected new idols.....entertainers.
When we change our focus to where it belongs.....all this other tabloid junk holds no meaning any longer.
Everyone will have a different opinion on what constitutes good behavior in a position of authority and, yes, no one is perfect.
However, in our culture there are too few good examples of powerful people having good marriages.
I believe this is the issue at the moment in our time...we need more good marriages and holding people accountable is one way to achieve this.
But society always has and always will look for examples to follow. People who achieve these "places" (as spoken of above) must be held accountable.
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