A Friend I Once Had, And The Dogmatic Principle

I would say I'm pretty conversant with pop culture; maybe too much. Then again, I think I'm pretty discerning. All prospective (Protestant) pastor-types learn to develop a little voice in our heads that affirms (in some sense, if possible) and challenges everything that we, or our parishioners may watch or hear. Like every twentysomethingish (American) dude who happens to be a Christian, I have my odd list of famous or influential people that I'd love to befriend and testify to Christ in their general direction. In my dreamworld, it's set up like this: "You have one hour to tell influential person X whatever you wish about Jesus and the gospel, and they won't run away." It's a rotating list of sports heroes, political figures, pop singers, etc. I realized today I had to add a name to my list, even though he's not American, and he is, in my words, an "awesome pariah": George Michael. You can't grow up in the 1980s (especially listening to pop radio) without encountering him. When I read his Wikipedia page, I didn't even realize how successful he's been. That is of course knowing a big handful of really well-known songs, not as one who's scoured the man's catalog. But I know that my mother bought his greatest hits compilation--one of them, anyway--and I remember thinking that I had heard of all of them, and really liked a lot of them. Whether as part of "Wham!" with schoolmate Andrew Ridgeley and others or as a solo artist, the guy definitely made an impact. As you can read from various sources, George has some problems. Drugs and alcohol, as well as sexual sin are present. But when God-given talent is made so plain in a person, you say, "It's a shame that's being wasted, in some sense" even though you don't know him. Every time I listen to Sirius/XM satellite radio, if I listen long enough, George will come on. Gut reaction every time: "Yes!" Even if I haven't heard a song by him, he's in "I Gotta Hear This One Out" territory. Try not to laugh. I had a friend play a trick on his mother using Madonna's greatest hits once: he put it on, and didn't tell her who it was. Result: she liked it. Sometimes, famous people have done bad things or weird things, and they have earned a fair amount of mockery, scorn, or whatever. But if you try this test with George Michael, it may surprise you. Now, don't get carried away. How might Bryan or Larry say it, if they listened to every song? "He has disordered desires." Undoubtedly. Still, most famous people are famous for a reason, and there's no sense denying the ordinary gifts of God in people and running to our Christian cultural ghettos, as good as separateness can be at times. In truth, I share a ton of cultural reference points with non-Christians that some of my brothers in Christ don't because of how they grew up, (though of course there's loads of good about that, as well) and that makes me feel comfortable when the uncomfortableness of the gospel shows itself.