The next awakening?

The seven-time platinum artist who once referred to himself as “Yeezus” has released a Gospel album entitled “Jesus is King.” The 21-time Grammy Award winner who once proudly confessed he sold his soul to the devil is now leading Sunday worship services where thousands around the world are giving their hearts to Christ. The man who wrote a song entitled “Lucifer,” blasphemed the Christian faith, and declared Jesus is dead, is now leading a movement to resurrect the Christian faith throughout the world.

Kanye is only a small part in a growing tide of celebrities to publicly declare their faith in Jesus. In recent months and years, Justin Bieber, DMX, Lamar Odom, Chance the Rapper, Kevin Hart and Selena Gomez have openly confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. Skeptics call the movement nothing more than a publicity stunt. Others suggest it is a genuine manifestation of the next great spiritual awakening of our time.

We have every reason to be skeptical. Consider the shortcomings of each celebrity. A former professional athlete who overdoses in a brothel and nearly dies in a coma. A comedic actor who cheats on his wife. A music artist repeatedly committed to rehabilitation for psychiatric evaluation following repeated drug abuse. Not our idealistic characters to represent a spiritual awakening in our nation. However, that is exactly what is transpiring.

In fact, this is the great and unpopular paradox in the Christian faith. Historically, awakenings and revivals have stood athwart history’s grand expectations. We anticipate a credentialed and licensed minister of a mega church to lead us into revival. We expect a traditional choir or favorite worship song to open our hearts to a spiritual movement. We long for the vessel with a perfect past, present and future to awaken and light the fire within each of us. The Apostle Paul confronts these grand expectations in 1 Corinthians 1:27. The Apostle tells us that God chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wisdom of the wise and that God uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong.

The Third Great Awakening of the 1950s started with nothing more than a Bible study for children on the streets of Chicago. The Azusa Street Revival of 1906 that formed the modern-day Pentecostal Church began in a small house where a few men and woman had a prayer meeting. The Brownsville Revival of the 1990s began in a church on the outskirts of Florida. The fact is that revival has traditionally come from the most unlikely of places and people.

History teaches us that the Pharisees (members of an ancient Jewish sect) did not reject Jesus because the Pharisees were bad people. They rejected Jesus because they were not expecting the Messiah to be a man born in a manger, a carpenter by trade in Nazareth, and one who brings a new covenant to dismantle the laws on which the Pharisees based their lives.

One recurrent theme in the Bible is that the weaker the vessel, the greater the miracle can be manifested from and within the vessel. We should take comfort in knowing that people with conflict, troubled pasts, addictions, anxiety, depression and bad habits can be a lamp for a world riddled in darkness.

The new awakening comes upon us at a time when there are more churches and denominations than ever before, but when less members are willing to live their lives in a manner that demonstrates their faith. A time when there are more Sunday services, streams and outlets for our faith, but less prayer in families. Perhaps now we need awakening more than ever before.

When asked by Late Late Show Host James Corden about what Kanye West would say to believers who are skeptical of the faith, Kanye’s transformation and the possibility of a divine transformation in people all together, Kanye replied: “people are asleep . . . and this is the awakening.”

A native of Pacifica, Jonathan Madison worked as professional policy staff for the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, from 2011-2013. Jonathan works as an attorney and can be reached via email at jonathanemadison@gmail.com.