A Hard Act to Follow
Come on, admit it. Deep down, you're a fan. You may laugh at the karaoke clowns in sequinned jumpsuits, sporting grease-slicked quiffs and reaching into the depths of their souls to summon their inner King, but secretly you wish it was you up there belting out Suspicious Minds and, in between pelvis shakes, delivering the odd karate kick.
I may not have joined the 75,000 queuing on Elvis Presley Boulevard to file past his final resting-place in Gracelands this week, but I, too, have visited those hallowed halls. What struck me was not the tasteless décor of the Jungle Room or the dizzying array of screens in the TV Room, where Elvis would watch many programmes at once while ploughing his way through whole platefuls of cheeseburgers.
No, what impressed me was the size of the place. It's a typical Southern mansion, and certainly large; but it would be utterly dwarfed by the domiciles of today's global rock stars. But then, as you listen to the drawl of the tour guide as you make your way down corridors decked out with platinum discs, it begins to make sense.
Gracelands, the place Elvis came to call home, was actually the house of the local doctor when the Presleys first moved to Memphis. To a young man from a poor family, it must have seemed like a palace then. Whoever lived there had arrived.
The King himself changed all that, of course. In becoming the first truly global superstar, he set a new benchmark for success. Perhaps it's fitting that he took over the GP's home, because his extraordinary career would, in time, supplant all those professions our society has traditionally looked up to. Today, many more young men and women want to be entertainers than aspire to be doctors, lawyers or teachers. The King may be dead, but his sway is not.
Of course, the influence of Jesus, too, is very much alive today - but we have to be careful that Christian culture doesn't ape the world of pop media. It has been said before but clearly it still needs to be said: Is Christian celebrity culture damaging our authenticity? Do youngsters grow up wanting to be headline speakers, high-profile youth-workers or big-name worship leaders first and disciples only second?
It isn't wrong to encourage the young to follow a star. Let's just make sure it's the right one.
Jason Gardner
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