Michael Jackson and Me
It was the 25th of June 2009 when I landed at Augusto C. Sandino International Airport in Managua, Nicaragua. In the course of the flight it was hitting news channels around the world that Michael Jackson was dead. Michael was perhaps the world’s greatest entertainer and his latter years had been riddled with accusations and charges of pedophilia. But he was found “not guilty” in a court of law.
The debate over his innocence would continue to follow him until he died. But there is no denying that his music bridged oceans and linked the hearts of people around the world. Michael’s music crossed cultural boundaries and impacted generations.
As I drove away from the airport I could hear people playing Michael’s music on what seemed like every car and store radio. Newspapers and televisions were broadcasting the latest news but details seemed slow in coming.
The following day I was prepared to do my usual line-up of radio broadcasts in Masaya and had planned on promoting the school for pastor’s and church leadership that I would be teaching the following week. My ministry involves working with Christians of many traditions crossing denominational boundaries and encouraging others to do the same. As I often share with others, “Christ has only One Body, not many.”
As I arrived at Radio Caliente I could hear all the way out to the street Michael’s “Thriller” playing loudly through the radio station speakers. This would be my first visit to Radio Caliente and it didn’t seem to be a good time to talk about anything other than Michael Jackson. It’s difficult to ignore what people are thinking. And they all seemed to be thinking about Michael and listening to his music.
Not long into the broadcast I started talking about Michael. I told the radio audience that growing up in the United States I had felt a certain kinship with Michael Jackson. We were born in the same year and I grew up listening to his music. But there was a really big difference between the two of us.
When Michael and I were little boys we could not eat at the same restaurants or use the same toilets. Because his skin color was black and mine was white. And I added that all of this occurred in a nation that considered itself a Christian nation.
I also talked about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which made it illegal to discriminate because of a person’s skin color. And went on talking about the Civil War in 1861-1865. It was a war where 600,000 people died at the hands of their fellow countrymen. And I emphasized that all of this occurred in what was considered a “Christian” nation! I realized this might have delighted anyone who wanted to hear the United States slammed and it no doubt could have angered some Americans. But I wasn’t finished.
I then moved the focus across the ocean to Africa and talked about the genocide that had occurred in countries like Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, to name only a few. Millions of people were slaughtered at the hands of their neighbor for reasons including ethnic, political and economic. And these nations were regarded as “Christian!” I also shared concerning the apartheid that was cultivated in the “Christian” nation of South Africa.
Then I started talking about Nicaragua and the wars where brother and sister had killed their neighbor. I talked about the racism that exists in Nicaragua and the atrocities that had occurred in places like Coyotepe. And I emphasized that all of these things occurred in a nation that considered itself “Christian.”
I concluded that racism, murder and corruption of all kinds, is not a U.S. problem, or an African problem, or a European problem, or an Asian problem, or a Nicaraguan problem. It is a problem with the human race.
As we consider the many nations around the world who consider themselves “Christian,” we must answer the question, “What does the word ‘Christian’ mean?” A Christian is a follower of Christ. And those who follow Christ are to imitate Christ in heart, mind and action. Does Christ embrace racial intolerance and hatred?
What kind of Jesus are we following and sharing and demonstrating with others in our communities and around the world? Is he a Jesus who reflects our own personal interests, prejudices, thoughts and feelings, or do we reflect his?
I shared with the radio audience the need for all people to turn to God who is described in 1 John 4: 8 as “Love.” And in Ephesians 5: 1 we are called to “imitate God.” And what is God? Love! We are called to imitate God’s love.
Acts 3: 19 says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Have you experienced the refreshment that God brings through Jesus Christ?
You receive this refreshment by asking Jesus Christ into your life. And when you do you demonstrate that refreshment through your living. 1 John 1: 6 says, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” How is your walk going?
In 2 Corinthians 5: 17 and following we find that all who consider themselves “in Christ” have become “new creations” and have been given the “message of reconciliation.” This is not reconciliation, or peace, that begins in your neighbor’s heart. It begins in your heart. That is where peace and refreshment begins. Christ brings refreshment and requires change!
And as ambassadors of that change we are called to be ministers of reconciliation. We are called to work together bringing change to the world by demonstrating the love of God.
Michael Jackson sang about the personal change required for changing the world in his song “Man in the Mirror.”
While Michael brought joy to millions of people, the joy in his life wasn’t as apparent. He had accomplished great things in his life and had achieved great fame and fortune. Sadly, he required propofol, a powerful anesthetic, to go to sleep. Drug abuse had taken its toll in Michael’s life.
Think about your own life. How well do you sleep at night? As I wrote on my page, “Do you want a house or a home?” The person who will get the best nights sleep tonight isn’t sleeping in the biggest bed, in the biggest house, or with the most money in the bank. But it’s the person who is at peace in their relationship with God and their neighbor.
Life comes down to relationships. And at the end of all human life nothing remains except your relationship with God. How is your relationship going?
Twenty years from now your children, family and friends, will not remember any gift you ever wrapped for them at Christmas, or on any other occasion. The only thing they will remember is the love you used to wrap it. Accept God’s gift of love through Jesus Christ and share that love with others. Make peace a reality in your life. Then watch it grow in your home, your community, and the world.