There has been so much discussion in the media about Kathy Griffin’s recent statements after winning an Emmy Award for her show, “My Life on the D-List.” At this point, I can’t imagine that anyone would not know what she said BUT, just to keep this post in perspective, here it is:
“…A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. Suck it Jesus. This award is my god now.â€
I’m certainly not the first person to blog about these comments. If you google it, you’ll find lots of different posts. Lauren Green, Religion Correspondent for FOX News, wrote a blog about Griffin’s comments with a very different approach. Many people have come forward and condemned the statement and the edited version that aired on E! did not include the statement. “Kathy Griffin’s offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night,” the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in their own statement last Monday.
Yes, Kathy Griffin’s statement was very offensive but is it so far from the truth about many of us? Even for those of us who claim to be Christ-followers? It should really make us stop and think. Kathy Griffin only acknowledged that she is a Worshiper and this Emmy Award is her god. But everyday, all day long, all over the world, in every place, we all worship. Think about it like this – Worship is all about our response to what we value most in our lives. It fuels our actions and is definitely the driving force behind everything we do. If we all seriously examine our own existence, we might be surprised to find that, while we say that God is the most important Person in our reality, something else might be sitting on our “throne.” At least Ms. Griffin was honest enough with herself to identify her god. Every person has an altar somewhere in their life, even those people who aren’t “religious.” And at every altar, there is a throne. All of us have an altar – all of us have a throne. If we follow the path of our time, affections, energy, money, etc., we will instantly know what we have put on that throne because it is the one thing that is of the most value to us…and that is what we worship.
At the end of the day, our worship is more about what we do than what we say. Some profound words were written in a small book in the Bible called 1 Timothy. The writer wrote, “Teach with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.” And St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.” Ms. Griffin was honest enough to just say it – THIS is what I worship. And, yes, the words were very offensive when we heard them. But how many of us express that same thought every day as we live in our own reality? What is it that we worship with our lives?