Christianity Has a Kanye West Problem
By: Benjamin Sledge
Tags: Religion, Spirituality, Life Lessons, Christianity, Kanye West

For the few uninitiated and unaware, Kanye West has become the hot buzzword among Christian circles. West, whose long time theatrics have fascinated the public, had a very public conversion to Christianity in the past year and dropped a gospel album in late 2019.

When I first heard the news, I remained skeptical given his tendency for publicity stunts, but from what I could tell, he also seemed sincere. As a Christian, I had to remind myself that the main tenet of the Christian faith is that regardless of behavior or background, all are welcome and can become followers of Jesus.

Kanye, for his part, seems to have reconsidered old aspects of his life. However, anyone watching still can see the same boastful Ye appear in almost every news clip. From stating that “Jesus has won the victory, because now the greatest artist that God has ever created is working for Him” to telling an interviewer he should change his name to “Genius Christian Billionaire” one can’t help but roll their eyes. But I’ll also be the first to tell you change takes time. When I first became a Christian, I was still out getting hammered each weekend and hooking up. So Kanye and his behavior isn’t the point. The problem is Kanye’s message about Christianity.

Kanye’s current gospel is one of money and influence, which has attracted the eyes of vultures already. Ye boasts of God blessing him and removing hardships. This style of faith is known as prosperity theology and has led to many disillusioned men and women walking away from their “faith,” because — with time — they realize it’s a sham. Any sane person reading the Bible can tell you Jesus was a homeless man constantly at odds with the wealthy and influential. Eleven of the twelve disciples ended up brutally tortured and executed (tradition holds the surviving apostle, John, was boiled in oil but survived, then exiled to Patmos). We must not also forget that the early church faced mass executions and persecution — but sure — God is all about that paycheck and making sure you don’t suffer despite evidence to the contrary.

Even more telling is that the modern Christian and Average Joe think Jesus didn’t talk all that much about wealth and money. However, Jesus spoke more about money than Heaven and Hell combined. Eleven of the 39 parables are about finances.

Why would this matter so much to Jesus and what does this have to do with Kanye’s message one might ask?

Often when Jesus tells these stories, a key group of influential men sat among his crowd looking for a way to kill him and his message. These men were known as the Pharisees and Sadducees and were an elite religious — and political — ruling class. While they varied in belief, both sets made a habit of snuggling up to Jewish and Roman power.

In Kanye’s current world, he’s promoting the age-old message of the Pharisee and Sadducee, as well as wealth and influence. This became most evident during his latest Sunday Service with prosperity preacher, Joel Osteen. Osteen is known for his feel good messages that teach worldly success as proof of God’s favor. This isn’t a debatable point, as numerous journalists have covered the problems with his message (as have psychologists). Osteen has also been repeatedly condemned by Orthodox Christians as a charlatan. Taken at face value, Kanye’s basic message is simple — God blesses you when you turn to him and Osteen is the epitome of that message. For anyone watching Kanye’s gospel message the key take aways are that God will show you off, give you your 15 seconds of fame, make money magically appear in the form of tax breaks, and convince you you’re super special because God is now lucky to have you on his side.

This message feels good to the average man and woman. Who wouldn’t want those things? But the message Christ most often reiterates is one of dying to self and taking up your cross, the exact opposite of Ye’s message. When wealth, favor, and influence invade the heart, the average man revolts and crucifies the man bearing a message of peace. I’ve long wondered just how far the mob and Pharisees went to ensure this was the case, and in studying an obscure passage from the Gospel of Mark, I finally found my answer. It illuminates how we often want to kill the version of Jesus that offends us and instead embrace our wealthy and powerful overlords claiming to bring us closer to God.