Thinking Anew:THE ACTOR George Clooney was arrested last week outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington. He was one of a number accusing the Sudanese government of waging war on the people of the Nuba Mountain region of Sudan and causing a humanitarian crisis by withholding food and aid from the region which is close to the border with South Sudan. Most people had probably never heard of the Nuba Mountains or the people who live there, but they do now thanks to the intervention of a celebrity.
Celebrities are part of modern life. It has been said the cult of the modern celebrity began with the industrial revolution when those who had acquired great wealth gained public recognition and approval for supporting good causes. Of course then, as now, some inevitably attracted attention for less worthy reasons but even they often caught the public imagination.
It has been suggested that the cult of celebrity gained prominence as belief in God and the practice religion faded; that it has something to do with our need for someone to look up to, a hero to admire and even worship.
Jesus must have had some kind of celebrity status in his day; certainly he was well known and attracted large crowds. But he pointedly spurned personal attention or popularity; he made clear that his mission was to point people to God and nothing could get in the way of that, not even his own safety. We see this in the Temptations where the lure of the spectacular is firmly rejected. We read about it too in tomorrow’s Gospel where he gives what seems a cool response to the news that some Greeks had arrived wanting “to see Jesus”. It is as if he is saying that he is not a personality to be admired from a distance but a leader to be followed as the reading goes on to make clear: “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also.
Jean Vanier suggests that some people would not be comfortable with the Jesus way. “They create a false world made up of pretence and appearance rather than true encounters. They have no time to waste on Jesus. They have better things to do: making and defending wealth, exercising power.”
He contrasts this mind-set with the example of Jesus: “Jesus is not struggling to climb the ladder of promotion. He does not want to rule in society and to get the apparently best place, a place where he can exercise power even if it is to do good. No, he is always going down the ladder, closer to the earth, closer to people, whoever and wherever they may be. Jesus is just person-orientated. He cannot be in a role that lives off appearances and makes people hide behind barriers and roles. Jesus keeps going to people where they are and where they need him most.”
George Clooney used his celebrity status in a positive way to highlight an injustice and there are other famous people who do the same and more. Bill Gates of Microsoft fame for example and his wife Melinda have gone a step further by setting up and funding a trust to promote health and education to disadvantaged people all over the world. They have pledged 95 per cent of their considerable fortune to charitable works and have successfully encouraged other wealthy people to do the same.
All this is very good, but there is something special about the many people we might describe as ordinary who do good without seeking any publicity or recognition. Their reward is the action itself, living God’s love and concern for someone who needs it.
It brings to mind the comment of a young nun in Kerala in India, who one day was bathing the open sores of a leprosy sufferer. A visitor passing by said to her “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars”. “Neither would I,” she replied “I do it for Jesus Christ.”
– GORDON LINNEY