This past weekend I saw a headline that Bill and Melinda Gates were divorcing. I’ll admit, my first thought was “wow….ok?”. Let’s be honest. We may resent them because they tend to be part of a celebrity culture that likes to tell others what to do.
Their foundation has been very active in pushing for a Covid-19 vaccination, among other causes. Mr. Gates recently stated that we should use air travel less, and that we should eat less beef and other meat in an attempt to counteract climate change. The American culture, and Midwesterners especially, don’t like to be told what to do. We do not appreciate being told that a key part of our economy, beef, is bad.
So how do we think about this? Is their divorce anything that we should care about? Is this anything we should even think about? Does it matter to us?
How about another celebrity in the news? I saw another headline that Josh Duggar was arrested for child pornography charges. Obviously, I want Mr. Duggar to have his day in court, and if he is found guilty, to be held accountable. I would hope he would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
But does his crime matter to us? Should we care? Or is he just another celebrity that we may talk about in the coffee shop but that’s all?
I saw a suggestion on social media from someone that made me think.
“What if we prayed for Bill and Melinda?”
What if, instead of gossiping about them, we prayed?
What if, instead of patting ourselves on the back and talking about how crazy, out of touch, or bad they are, we instead prayed for them?
It’s a crazy idea. Our tendency may be to not realize they are actually people. All we see of them is what the media presents to us. We see their names in print, and we read of their antics, and we never stop to think that they are actually people.
What if we prayed for them?
Let’s pray that Bill and Melinda would be reconciled. Let’s pray that they come to Christ and experience the love and forgiveness of our savior.
Let’s pray that Josh Duggar would find forgiveness from the savior. Perhaps through a prison ministry, or some other way, that someone would be able to speak truth to his heart. He comes from a famous Christian family, but that does not mean he KNOWS Jesus. May we pray that Jesus draws him to him and that he would experience forgiveness and freedom from his sin.
And finally, may we realize that our own sin is no better or worse than the sins of others. May we experience forgiveness and freedom in our savior.