Why do we want famous people to be saved?

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Why do we want famous people to be saved?

I think it’s an important question for us to ask ourselves, not only because it is important for us to constantly examine our hearts and our motivations, but this question has implications on how we do evangelism. 

Jordan Peterson is a popular (and extremely hated) Canadian professor and author among many other things, and I’ve seen a lot of videos of him where he espouses Christian beliefs. So many of his writings are very biblical and though he is not a Christian yet, many Christians seem to be holding out hope that he will convert to Christ. 

I’ve seen many articles, tweets and videos about Jordan Peterson and a desire for his conversion. Alot of it is pretty fascinating. Take for example this article written last year. There seems to be much hope and excitement over his statements and a big desire for him to be saved. Many people seem to be holding out hope that he will become a Christian. As I consider this and look back at our reaction to the news that Kanye West became a Christian, I wonder what our motivation is for wanting these celebrities to be saved. So, I’d like to offer 2 bad reasons and 2 good reasons for wanting people to come to know Christ.


2 bad reasons:

If He gets saved it validates my faith

If a famous person comes to Christ nothing will change. Jesus will still be currently alive and resurrected (Rom. 6:9). All the miracles in the Bible will still have happened exactly the way the Bible said that they happened. You will still either be saved or not saved. No one and nothing will change. The only difference will be that Jordan Peterson will spend eternity in Heaven instead of Hell. 

Yes, Jordan Peterson seems to be a genius. His intellect is out of this world. But it is imperative that we remember that the gospel is foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block for the Jews (1 Cor. 1:23). In fact, it is the foolish of the world that God has chosen, in order to shame the wise (1 Cor. 1:27). That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t save brilliant people, but in the eyes of the world they will be regarded as fools, they will be regarded as idiots. One brilliant person getting saved won’t make a lick of difference to your faith, unless perhaps you attend his church, in which case God will use that new believer to encourage you in your walk by giving him spiritual gifts that will benefit you (1 Cor. 14:12). 


If he gets saved it means more will come to Christ

Salvation is a miracle. That only God can do (2 Cor. 4:6). People are born dead spiritually speaking (Eph. 2:1-3) and no one has the power to give a dead man life, but God. God has chosen though, to use people to bring people to himself (Matt. 28:18-20). We know that God has determined that the Gospel goes forth through the lips of Christians. As we preach the Bible to souls, He uses His Word to awaken the dead (Rom. 10:17). It is a mistake though, to think that He needs famous people to advance the Gospel. The disciples were not famous, they were regarded as fools. In fact, the Bible tells us that God uses the nothings of the world to advance the Gospel. As we said before the gospel is foolishness to the world (1 Cor. 1:18). No one becoming a Christian will change that. No one will become a Christian because so and so became one. Sure, If Jordan Peterson becomes a Christian, He will also be a part of the great commission. He will be called to spread the Gospel. But it is wrong for us to believe that he will be more or less effective than us because of his platform. God doesn’t need me or you, and He certainly doesn’t need Kanye or Peterson to accomplish His sovereign will on earth. 


Two good reasons:

If Jordan Peterson gets saved, Jordan Peterson won’t go to Hell

Perhaps a simple reason why we should want Jordan Peterson to be saved is that we don’t want Jordan Peterson to go to hell. Public figures grab our hearts in a special way. We feel like we love them even though we don’t know them. I remember crying when Kobe Bryant died. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know much about his personal life. But I loved him. Of course, we can have affection for someone. But it is important to remember that even celebrities have souls. That they will spend eternity in either heaven or hell (Heb. 9:27). We have been taught to treat them selfishly. We live in a society that uses celebrities. We want gossip. We want to be entertained. We want things from them and all along we forget that they have a soul. The Church must be different. We shouldn’t want Jordan Peterson, or Kanye to be saved so that we can get something from them. We should want Jordan Peterson to be saved for his sake. Because without salvation he will rightly be damned for eternity. 

If Jordan Peterson gets saved God will be worshipped by one more tongue

While the first good reason is man-centered this second reason is God-centered. In fact, I would say that this is the best reason to share the Gospel in the first place. 

Until a person is born-again, they do not possess saving faith. Yes, God may be drawing them to Himself (John 6:44), we can never know, but until the instant that they go from death to life, that their heart is changed from a heart of stone to one of flesh (Eze. 36:26), they are hell-bound souls and incapable of worshipping God. Only born-again people can worship the Creator. And God deserves the worship of every creature He made. Including Jordan Peterson, Kanye west, and the homeless man we pass by on the street. Our motivation in sharing the Gospel, our hope in their salvation, should not be a selfish desire for validation, it should be that God deserves every tongue’s praise. We love worshipping God and so we call on people to join us in worship. This and only this should be our motivation. 

I understand the excitement over people getting saved, I live for it as well, but we must constantly be evaluating our hearts. We must constantly examine ourselves to make sure that we are pleasing the Lord in our desires. So let’s go ahead and pray that Jordan Peterson gets saved because God deserves the worship of all men, rich or poor, brilliant or not so brilliant because He is Creator of all and worthy of all praise.

by Jordan Standridge 

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