Celebrity Christians

According to television ratings, the season premier of John & Kate Plus 8 turned out to be way more popular than the NBA playoffs last week. More than 10 million viewers flipped on the tube to watch the Gosselin family celebrate the fifth birthday of their sextuplets. Sadly, this huge ratings boost was not because the kids were going to be especially cute this episode. Most people just wanted to see how the famous evangelical Christian couple were going to deal with the fact that the tabloids caught John going out with another woman during the show's time off.

It's a really sad thing to see a family fall apart, but it's particularly tragic when so many people are tuning in to watch it happen. Up until the last few months, John and Kate had been a huge hit with the Christian community. Despite the fact that the TLC network downplayed the religious side of things, it was clear that the couple were believers. They were heroes with evangelicals from the start, ever since they refused selective abortions for their babies and carried all of them to term. Even though I'm not a watcher, I know quite a few Christian dads who are absolutely hooked.

Unfortunately for the Gosselins, the stress of raising so many children, dealing with their different parenting roles, and now the allegations of an affair have caused the relationship to break down. In the season premiere, the couple was openly talking about divorce as an option. It's not an uncommon tale in today's America, but it's a big deal because of the their status. As soon as they decided to go on national TV, John and Kate placed themselves under the microscope. For Christians, that's a huge responsibility. It means your actions are going to be scrutinized, your motivations questioned and your opinions debated in the public forum. It means you have the opportunity to be a true light, but it also means you've got a big target on you.

Just ask Tim Tebow. Recently his former teammate Percy Harvin said that if he could be one person for a day, it would be his old QB. Why? "Some of the stuff and some of the girls and things that were thrown at him," Harvin said. "We saw all kind of actors and news reporters just kind of blatantly say, 'Tebow, I want you.' And he turned them down. I'm looking at him, like, 'Man, you are crazy.'" Tebow knows he has a responsibility to the Christian community he represents. He's held to a higher standard, one that he has because of his very public demonstrations of faith.

The challenge for us nonfamous Christians is that we are held to the same standard. God sees no distinction between famous Christians and regular people like you and me. He has called us to live in His ways and show spiritual fruit in our lives. It's easy to criticize famous Christians like the Gosselins and blame them for the bad rap that evangelicals can have publicly. But a Barna poll from last year showed that among people who dislike Christians and are hostile to the faith, most of them feel that way because of personal contact they have had with the Christians in their lives.

We may not be famous, but we have a circle of influence, and we are held to the same standards as people like the Gosselins and Tebow. Don't take the easy road and blame others. Go out and be salt and light.