There is an amazing power in celebration. Celebration gives you confidence, empowers you and affirms your very existence. An achievement is satisfying, yet it is even more so if there are others to see it and celebrate with you.
Most of us have to wait for certain days of the year to be celebrated: a birthday, a big contract snagged in business, or maybe even winning the local grand final of whatever sport we play. Most of us love the limelight and seek it out.
Personally, I think I could have been really good at some sports if I had put my head down and concentrated instead of looking up all the time to see if anyone in the crowd liked the move I just pulled.
When I'm in the surf at home on the Gold Coast I like to imagine all the photographers on the beach and in the water are pointing at me when I catch a wave, ready to snap my next big move. So far I have collected three photos of myself. I have been bodyboarding for more than 20 years. And I still imagine the same thing every time I paddle out.
What if you were celebrated every day? If even the most mundane of daily routines was celebrated by millions of individuals all over the world, moment by moment, every single day? I think we would have precisely the epidemic we have right now.
A world ruled by celebrities
For many Hollywood stars now, movies are not enough, television doesn't cut it and magazines make money for someone else. So why not infest the social network to be sure no one spends more than two minutes a day not thinking about him or her. Of course there is money to be made, but that pales in comparison to the power to be gained.
This strategic self-marketing gives these people a lot of clout when it comes to voicing there opinion, some of them deserve it, most don't. In the end we are the ones that give it to them.
Of course politicians recognise this (at least the smart, cunning ones do) and are adopting the motto: 'If you can't beat them, join them'. They shouldn't have to work to hard anymore to 'put themselves out there' rather, just make sure they 'align with the stars'—stars being celebrities of course.
I don't think anyone does it better than American President Barack Obama. Hollywood power couples like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, or Jay Z and Beyoncé don't end up in the White House just because they were down the road and thought they might knock on the door to see who's home.
From Obama's campaigns to his terms in office he has successfully woven the governments influence together with the fabric of Hollywood, so as not to lose influence over the masses, but share it. Of course it has come at a price—the loss of real leadership, and sensible morals.
Taking a mud bath
Governments are making the biggest deal with the devil since the Roman Empire saw its influence and power waning in the face of Christianity and decided to propose an ungodly marriage instead—'If you can't beat them, join them'.
If you take a bath and clean yourself thoroughly then decide to jump in a pool of mud, you are not going to make the mud clean. You are going to get filthy. Thus the once pure bride—the Church—became a filthy whore when she decided she liked the riches and comforts of Rome.
Now, no one is going to say our governments are squeaky clean, but whatever the case, when they marry Hollywood to regain lost power and influence over the masses, we can be sure to end up in a quagmire of feculence.
We are already sinking. That city—full of sexual immorality, violence, greed, strange cults and witchcraft—we know as Hollywood, whose idols we have worshipped, is now the major force in the earth for deciding what's right and wrong in society.
Facebook celebrities are the new Catholic Cardinals of the good old-fashioned witch-hunt, ready to incite the masses to burn alive anyone who disagrees, destroying the name of any poor individual who questions their moral authority on the expression of culture, sexuality, climate change, identity, or the origin of life.
Weak governments are becoming their puppets. Thank God for Tony Abbott, who would rather be called an old fool for believing in something that has been defined the same way all over the world for thousands of years, than let his mind be changed by an excitable rabble who have so much mud in their eyes they no longer know the difference between a male and female.
I fear for the future. Maybe it's time to stop trying to clean up the mud pit, get out and take a bath. History shows that the power of Christian celebrity is not enough to stand against the immoral trappings of fame and power. What about the power of pure Christianity? Now that I would like to see!
Joshua Robbie is from the Gold Coast Australia where he runs a painting and decorating business. He recently started a church fellowship with his wife Rene' in Currumbin, Queensland. Though he has many interests, including basketball and surfing, he and Rene' have determined to give themselves in service to the kingdom of God in all aspects of life.
Josh Robbie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/josh-robbie.html