Can We Still Love Kanye While He's in the Sunken Place?

Kanye, Yeezy, Mr. West, Ye. Kanye West goes by many different names and titles and has become an icon. His first song Through the Wire details how he got into a terrible accident which required his mouth to be wired shut. But even "through the wire" Kanye finished recording The College Dropout which went double platinum. One of his most infamous songs that solidified his place in the music industry and showed the world that he cared less about what people thought was Jesus Walks. With lyrics like "They say you can rap about anything except for Jesus. That means guns, sex, lies, videotapes, but if I talk about God my record won't get played" (I rapped that as I typed it lol) Kanye showed us his spiritual side and we felt it. The world fell in love with Kanye. He was a young rebel but his Chicago style (backpacks and t-shirts) softened our hearts. 

He went on to put out amazing albums like Late Registration, 808s & Heartbreak (one of my personal favorites), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne. He's been nominated for countless Grammy's and consistently topped the Billboard 100 Chart. If that wasn't enough, Kanye put the icing on the cake by getting on national TV and stating "George Bush doesn't care about black people!" (which may or may not be true lol)

But recently, Kanye has been under heavy media fire and has even been "canceled" by a few notable black celebrities for his comments about slavery and his love for President Donald Trump. This article is not about whether Yeezy was right or wrong in his views. This article is about how we can work to understand people on a deeper level and not immediately writing them off or "canceling" them because of the things they say or do no matter how bad we may not agree with them.

Kanye has had a rough couple of years. His mom, who was the love of his life died shortly after receiving multiple plastic surgeries. His wife, Kim Kardashian, was set up and robbed in Paris by the security company that he hired to protect her and as of recent, Ye and his idol/close friend, Jay Z have been in conflict for multiple reasons. At one point in time, according to an interview he conducted with Charlamagne Tha God from The Breakfast Club, Ye was addicted to opioids he received after undergoing liposuction surgery to avoid being called fat on social media. Life got so rough for Kanye that he was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital for exhaustion and sleep deprivation. 

This past week Kanye West posted images of himself with Donald Trump wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat. Now the hat is problematic because many African Americans feel they have never truly been treated with respect and dignity and truthfully, America was built with the money from the African American slave trade so in essence, American was never "great" to begin with. Many people were bothered because out of everyone Kanye seemed to be the most "woke" and should have known not to wear that hat and honestly people idolize him (problem number 1). Many people also did not like the fact that Ye seemed to be very friendly with Donald Trump who has had a recent history of blatantly disrespecting not only black people but people of color, women, children with disabilities and other groups of people that are unlike himself.

The most shocking moment of the week was Kanye's appearance on TMZ Live when he stated that in order for slavery to exist for 400 years, it must have been a choice. That statement sent social media into an uproar! 

I definitely do not condone what Kanye is currently saying  BUT I do think it is very important to note the spirit behind what is going on. When Kanye first debuted on the scene, one of his very first songs was Jesus Walks. That song exemplified Kanye's belief in Jesus Christ. Over the years if you notice, he has slowly phased Jesus out of his music and in his interview with Charlamagne he talks about "the universe". Now I would never say that Kanye no longer believes in Jesus but his music no longer indicates his love for our savior. 

Kanye has been under extreme emotional and mental pressure. His mother's unexpected death, coupled with clear self-esteem issues, mistrust of friendships and being taken advantage of takes a toll on a person. 

Before we begin to roast this man, let's take a step back and look at a few things especially us Christian folk! 

1. Why do we idolize celebrities so much and place them on such a high pedestal and get upset and angry when they fall off that pedestal?

We do the same thing with church leaders and pastors. Yes, we as church leaders and teachers are biblically held to a higher level of responsibility BUT we are still human and we still sin every day. The problem comes when people are no longer able to make mistakes without being outcasted from the church, society, etc. We should always be held accountable for our actions but nowhere in the Bible does it say that people who sinned were "canceled" from society! Let's work to take people off the pedestal we put them on and recognize EVERYONE is human no matter if they know Jesus or not and they make mistakes and as Christians, we need to be the church and forgive and show love, grace, and mercy.

2. We have to stop being so self-righteous as a society.
Social media has given us the ability to see a portion of a person's life and make a snapshot judgment based on what we see. We then sit back behind our phones and computers and make outrageous comments with no regard to how the other person feels because we feel we have the "right" to state our opinion. We have to understand that just because you have an opinion does not mean it needs to be stated or that it is respectful. We have no right to intrude our opinion on other people's lives ESPECIALLY when there's no way that we have all the facts and details.

3. This is bigger than Kanye
This is about how we as a society care for those who are struggling. We have to be more empathetic for those who are poor, hurt, struggling, weak, etc. As Christians, our call is to LOVE. No we may not agree with everything someone does and yes they very well may say and do really dumb things but how many of us have done and said things that have our family members and friends looking at us how we are looking at Kanye? How many of us have been so wrapped up in our sin that we hurt the people around us? Why can't we extend that same grace to people whether they are saved or not, family and friends or not? 

No, I do not believe Kanye was correct nor accurate in saying slavery was a choice and nor do I agree with him kicking it with President Trump but honestly, my opinion means nothing against the grace of God. God is with Kanye, God loves Kanye and God is moving in His life so who am I, who are we to be against that.

Let me know what you think! Post comments and share this article and I'll see you next week with a new topic for Fresh News Friday's.