More and more it seems that when a secular celebrity takes to Twitter and mentions God or Jesus, it suddenly makes headlines in the Christian media. One “retweet” of a popular “Christian” such as T.D. Jakes or Joyce Meyer, and the secular artist is portrayed in a whole new light. Seldom, however, is the logical follow-up question asked: Does the public life of this person demonstrate Christian fruit? If the answer to this is negative, then should they be applauded simply because they decided to tweet out a verse from Proverbs?
A primary example of this is the recording artist Rihanna, who has appeared more than once in the headlines of popular Christian publication, The Christian Post (CP). In an article entitled, “Rihanna Shares Joyce Meyer’s Teachings With Fans, Calls Christian Speaker ‘Awesome’,” CP reporter Christine Thomasos writes,
Rihanna’s spiritual beliefs may have raised questions for some in the past, but the 24-year-old singer is not afraid to admit that she is a fan of Christian minister and author Joyce Meyer.
This month, the record-breaking Barbadian singer has been using her Twitter account to spread Meyer’s teachings.
In a 31 July article, “Rihanna Visits ‘Jesus’ Before Ending European Yacht Trip,” Thomasos again details Rihanna’s “retweeting” of Word Faith teacher Joyce Meyer:
Last month, the record-breaking Barbadian singer used her Twitter account to spread Meyer’s teachings. “If Satan can defeat you in your thoughts then he can defeat you anywhere else as well,” reads a message written by Meyer and re-tweeted by Rihanna on June 4.
To underline her point, the singer sent a tweet to Meyer directly.
“@JoyceMeyer you’re awesome,” Rihanna told the minister via Twitter the following day.
Today, in “Rihanna Focuses on Obeying God, Sharing Scripture with Fans,” we learn:
Most recently, the singer followed Meyer’s path and shared a scripture with her Twitter followers.
In a message titled “Don’t Be Lazy” Rihanna shared a biblical proverb with her followers.
“Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men,” the Barbadian pop star tweeted from Proverbs 22:29.
Each of these articles is written with a neutral tone, simply reporting the Scripture and Meyer-quoting Twitter antics of singer Rihanna. Nevertheless, they may leave some readers with the impression that Rihanna is a legitimate artist for people to follow. Articles such as these fail to acknowledge two very important details.
Before Rihanna is lauded for her use of Scripture, perhaps one ought to take a close look at some of the lyrics from, as one example, her album, “Talk That Talk.” The album actually carries a parental advisory for use of explicit language, and thus the lyrics cannot be printed here. One cannot help but conclude that the “talk” to which the album title refers is not the wholesome speech spoken of in Scripture.
Further, it seems as though Joyce Meyer is the go-to “Christian” leader for singer Rihanna. Yet, it has been well-documented and long argued that Meyer is a teacher of the Word Faith heresy, and thus hardly a wholesome or legitimate Christian influence.
This brief commentary is not meant as an attack on these CP articles or even on Rihanna or Joyce Meyer. It is, however, intended as an alert and call for discernment as we read even Christian publications. It would most certainly be wonderful if someone such as Rihanna would repent, put her faith in Christ alone for salvation, and then demonstrate that repentance by denouncing some of the vile music that she has created and helped place into the minds of children and teenagers. Until this happens, however, let us be careful of applauding something that may be a feeble example of an appearance of godliness that nevertheless denies its power (2 Tim. 3:5).