What I Think About Kanye West
Similar to Bieber, Chance, and many other celebrities, Kanye West is another who seems to have recently been gripped by the grace of God. West has just dropped his much anticipated ninth studio album titled, JESUS IS KING. (Edit: Kanye kept his promise with no swearing on DONDA. He also seems to have maintained his position regarding faith, conceding the fact that the 2021 album contains significantly less biblical bars). People all across the spectrum of both faith and hip-hop have been eagerly waiting to hear how true he remains to biblical truth and the art of rap.
So what are my thoughts?
I think it would be foolish to think that God is unable to save someone because of their wealth, fame, and history of sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) therefore nobody is more fitting to be saved than another. We are all broken and in need of a savior, no matter your net worth. Job, Abraham, and Solomon are but a few of the biblical characters who were rich and famous. So yeah, God can save anyone.
Understandably, many will initially be skeptical of his sudden and drastic conversion. We read of a similar situation when the well known Christian-killer named Saul of Tarsus (also named Paul) quickly finds himself blinded by the love of God. Paul, now fully at the service of Christ. But how did the church respond? Not with applause or immediate praise, but with fear and skepticism. Let’s read what happened:
“And when [Paul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 9:26-28)
So if Kanye is truly born again, we ought to rejoice for the glory of God is being explicitly, passionately, and beautifully shown to the masses. And if this is only a marketing tactic to bring Ye more fame and fortune, I still say rejoice.
But AJ, how could you say that? Because of what Paul tells us in his letter to the Church of Philippi.
“Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,” (Philippians 1:15-18).
I don’t know whether or not all these celebrities are truly saved. None of us do. Truthfully, I don’t know for certain whether anyone’s saved or not, from the pastor to the rapper, but God does.
And I will say this: Whether or not Kanye’s truly saved, he preached truth and I can and should rejoice in that.