When We Sound Like Kanye West (Or How Honor Doesn’t Work)

You’ve probably heard all about it already.

Over the weekend, Kanye did another one of those Kanye things that makes him look like a self-important jerk.

Quoting from The Independent:

The star stopped the show in Sydney on Friday night and insisted that every member of the audience got up and danced.

Kanye told the crowd: “I can’t do this show until everybody stand up. Unless you got a handicap pass and you get special parking and s**t.” While nearly everyone stood up, Kanye spotted two people still seated and called on them to get to their feet, refusing to carry on with the show.

It was only when one fan waved her prosthetic limb in the air that the rapper realized his mistake and quickly said: “Okay, you fine.”

He then focused his attention on the second fan, who was in a wheelchair, to confirm he could not stand either before continuing with his song “Good Life.” Members of the audience were apparently trying to signal to Kanye that the fan was wheelchair-bound, concert-goers told reporters.

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Oh Kanye. You have so much Kanye-fidence. And no one loves Kanye more than Kanye.

While it’s easy to hate on Kanye, I think we (Christian leaders / pastors) do the same thing.

Here’s what I mean: we often demand honor rather than giving it. And we look like self-important jerks.

I’ve talked about this before – there are an astonishing number of similarities between rappers and pastors. For instance…

• Name dropping their well-known friend that they’ve collaborated with.
• Half the time no one understands what they’re saying.
• Make up their own words and get away with it.
• Entourages.
• Love talking about haters.
• It’s all about numbers. SIX MILLION SOLD / SAVED.
• Always making the crowd say or do something // “errbody say hey…”
• Love the sound of their own voice.
• Hype.
• Photo shoots.
• Always want the mic.
• Feed off crowd response.
• Undervalue women.
• Super Sized Egos.

The bottom line: both rappers and pastors seem to have this tendency to make everything about themselves.

Jesus modeled something completely different. Philippians 2.7 says “He gave up His divine privileges and took the humble position of one who serves others.”

Jesus consistently demonstrated that He was all about giving, not taking…

Serving, not being served.

Giving His life, not taking lives.

Giving honor – even to the lowest of the low, not demanding it from others.

I want to end up being more like Jesus than Yeezus.

I want to be a giver, not a taker.

I want to serve, not expect others to serve me.

I want to honor freely and generously and indiscriminately, not demand honor from others.

God help me to lay down my self and follow you. Amen.

SEE ALSO: We’re The Servers, Not The Saviors