We are in an age of enormous magnification of human individuality. People are scrambling for celebrity status while also bowing before those they idolize for all sorts of reasons. While this is not a new phenomenon, I don’t think anyone can argue the degree to which this whole thing is accelerating.

Kings and chiefs have been with us since the earliest days of human community. We recognize that anarchy is unsustainable and so defer to others, while according them some measure of our allegiance. Even the mob does this.

I’m an observer of history and so privileged to make observations in context. When print became common and relatively inexpensive to produce and disseminate, that allowed those with access to help create legends along with news, literature and other forms of expression. While I may not be exact, to me a legend is at least partially a story about something that captures the imagination but is just not true. Sometimes, we take truth and make it legendary.

With the rise of movies and TV, stars were born. These people who happened to have a gift (or not) of acting … of playing a role … became kinds of legends. They were larger than life, capturing our attention and, to some degree, accorded a status well beyond their fundamental gifts. Radio, newspapers and visual media did the same thing for athletes. And, of course, politicians.

Not all was bad by any stretch. Entertainment can be great fun and even inform as art does. Sport is a feature in many cultures, although not all and also a form of entertainment. I’m a fan of entertainment … some movies and TV … music … and sports. But entertainment has its limits and is mostly a sideline to what is really important in life. It is not a substitute. When it becomes a substitute and gets too strong a foothold in our consciousness, I believe it distorts what is real and we are the worse for it.

And here is my observation and it may be completely self-obvious but I’ll toss it out anyway.

The lines between movie and music stars, athletes, and politicians have become so blurred it’s often difficult to tell the difference. I’m going to toss out that this phenomenon really began taking off during President Kennedy’s brief term in office. With his glamorous wife, wealthy and powerful family, his heroic story in WWII as the skipper of PT-109, many were spellbound. Immediately following his assassination, Jackie summoned the highly respected author Theodore White (who wrote many “Making of the President” books, all of which I read in my youth) and said that her deceased husband was a fan of the Broadway musical and Arthurian legend, “Camelot.” A magical place. White bit and the legend was born. For decades, JFK reached nearly mythical status, as did his brothers Bobby and Teddy, the latter of whom paid no price for the manslaughter of the object of his dalliance. Of course, all Kennedy sons (save the elder and anointed one, Joseph, who was killed as a pilot in WWII, thus passing along the mantle from the patriach to Jack) were serial adulterers but their legends transfixed us and distracted us from the true human side of who these people were. True history is not kind to most legends but we seem not to learn that lesson very well.

A half century after, we have the confluence, never more obvious than with the election of Donald Trump. But, let me be clear. He is NOT the outlier. He is the product of the age that has fed us across the political spectrum and has insinuated itself into so much of our daily lives.

His opponents on the left, Obama and Hillary Clinton, reveled in the adulation of stars and they all assumed a symbiotic relationship that made actors, actresses, and sports figures instant experts on complex issues of public policy, without any demonstration that they have anything more than a surface understanding of the real nature of the issues. They all fed and were fed by this obsession for attention and authority. All shared center stage for our living rooms. Late night TV, rallies, Sunday football. We are a celebrity-centered culture and the only result is narcissism, the condition where such adulation infuses the object with such expansive ego that nothing dare stand in the way. With cameras everywhere and YouTube and Twitter and 24 hour TV and massive dollars flowing as rivers, we are drowning in this.

I remember reading a book in high school entitled, I believe, The Hidden Persuaders. It’s probably out of print but I remember it as focusing on advertising using subliminal messages to alter our opinions and, therefore, capture our money. While it was mildly interesting at the time, I’ve never really lost sight of how easy it is to manipulate public opinion.

Eight years ago, Barack Obama captured the attention of the world. He was a charismatic person of mixed race who demonstrated particularly good oratory skills. Coming out of virtually nowhere, he leapt to the forefront of our public consciousness, promising unity and hope. I recall following him as early as 2004 and remarking to Diane that he held some great promise. Then I remember the moment I became disenchanted. Just after he was nominated by the Democratic Party in 2008, he removed himself to a rally at Invesco Field in Denver, replete with Grecian columns purportedly designed by Britney Spears’ crew and with megastars set to perform, the man was presented as Olympian. I was reminded of Camelot and the ever-present fact of hubris.

Donald Trump, descending from on high, riding his escalator down from gilded heights to announce his latest presidential run was only in the same vein, although readers may object to the comparison. Both on the left and on the right. You may argue that your guy or woman was or is the right guy and I’m not here to argue with you. That’s not my point. While I suspect my Obama/Hillary supporters reading this will take umbrage at comparing Trump to your leaders and Trump supporters might take umbrage at comparing your leader to Obama and Hillary, I ask you not to go there. The right saw Nuremburg represented in the massive columns and adulation of the Invesco rally. The left sees Hitler in our reality star/businessman president. I’m a descendent of Jews. Be careful.

I am no longer a registered Democrat or Republican, finding it impossible to pledge my allegiance to either party. I’m just shy of 63 years old and making current observations based upon a lifetime of engagement and attention in the realm of public life.

We are willingly buying into cults of personality and giving undue allegiance to that which will always disappoint.

So, what are we to do?

This has been my struggle.

Some see Christians as choosing the avenue of escape. Nothing should be further from the truth. While some Christians may make that choice, I don’t believe that’s consistent with Jesus’s life and message. We are to be completely engaged in this world. His teaching is direct and unequivocal. I have written on this before.

My struggle continues. I read. I watch. I discuss. I wrestle. What is my role? How am I to receive all of this and what am I supposed to do?  So far I refuse to leave the public arena and will continue to advocate for the things I believe are most important.

Jesus tells us to keep our lamp lit.

Our lamp is who we are in the most fundamental state. He brooked no quarter. He said in his first century way, life can suck. We are not called to escape. Neither did he teach that we are some disembodied spirit in reality, such as some of the Greeks or Gnostics taught. We are in this world and, as believers in the Gospel message, our hearts can only call us to be engaged.

But we start with the recognition that WE are the problem. Not they.

I believe I’ve mentioned the remarkable statement of the British wit, author, journalist and Christian, G.K. Chesterton, before, when asked to provide an essay in the early 20^th century on what’s wrong with the world . He responded with just two words: I am.

Meditate on that.

Diane and I were in the midst of a long drive from Cortez, Colorado to Yuma, Arizona last week. Basically bisecting the state of Arizona from northeast to southwest in a day, through some pretty bad weather. We were trying to avoid the worst part of a winter storm but after calculating all options, we knew we had to pass through the high altitude city of Flagstaff, Arizona, just as the storm would begin to gather strength. It did not disappoint. As we drove into the city and the wind was blowing the cold snow everywhere, we pulled into a McDonald’s for a pit stop and in so doing, observed this hunched over man, making his way down the sidewalk, hooded jacket covering his head, pack on his back. Not a place any of us would choose to be. As we parked, he walked by, entering the restaurant just after me and following me to the restroom. As we washed our hands together, he said he noticed our license plate showed we were from California. I looked at him more closely and pegged him for Indian or maybe Latino and said yes. He asked which part. When I told him San Diego, he said he’d served in the Marines and was stationed there. I imagine he was in his 50s. I asked him if he was stationed at Camp Pendleton and he said yes, and at El Toro, just north of here. I had an idea what would come next but instead of asking for money, he simply said he was homeless and hungry and wondered if I’d buy him breakfast.

Most people I know would have responded no differently than I did. I bought him a hot plate of food and a big cup of coffee and we chatted for a few minutes as he showed us some artwork he was working on. He was grateful but not effusively so. That didn’t matter. He remained hunched over the little booth table as we left the restaurant, returning to our expensive vehicle on our wonderful trip.

There but for the grace of God, goeth I.

What is wrong with the world? I am.

I have talked about hubris before. Excessive pride or self-confidence. It is always misplaced.

The first shall be last and the last first. Do we believe that? If we do, let us not focus so much of our attention on those that our world elevates to the top. While they may give lip service to the least of us, they almost universally live in opulence and rarely rub shoulders with a guy in a restroom in a snowstorm.

I cannot save humanity and neither can the actors, musicians, athletes or politicians. Sure, everyone can have opinions and some may attain massive amounts of influence and power, regardless of their values or expertise. Yes, we can make inroads and try to support like-minded leaders and hope for policies and practices that reflect our values. But in the end, we will always be disappointed. Always.

And, that is because we put our faith in the wrong place.

You knew that was coming. As a believer in Jesus, I can say nothing else. It is a fundamental fact of the reality I subscribe to. You can choose differently and I accept that.

While my knowledge of God is limited and I could be off the mark about a number of things, nothing in my experience is dissuasive of the reality that he is the one who deserves our truest allegiance and that we ought to be extremely cautious about placing it anywhere else.

Lord, thank you for reminding us what is really important. Thank you for my group of men this morning at zero dark thirty as we wrestled together to try to make sense of the intersection of faith and reality. It’s not easy and we recognize it’s a mistake to place our greatest allegiance in temporal matters. Reality is not temporal. It is eternal. While we realize that large numbers of people will disagree, we are grateful for the faith that we have. And, as the writer of the Book of Hebrews says, “Faith is the confidence of what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see.” Amen.