Lately, I’ve been thinking about celebrity, particularly the rock star type, and how all of that plays out in our society. This came after a couple of Switchfoot concerts I attended. One was at a small venue in Denver and another at the Red Rocks amphitheater. Jon Foreman, Switchfoot’s lead singer does an incredible job of drawing in the audience. He walks over and onto rails, climbs on speakers, looks people in the eyes, and meanders through the crowd giving high fives and shaking hands all while singing at the top of his lungs. There’s no protective security guard creating a barrier. He is essentially putting himself at the mercy of the crowd because he wants to connect with them. And I believe his stronger desire is for his words and music to connect with them. Now, this is ultimately just a talented guy with a microphone, a guitar, and a nice voice who has people clamoring to feel some sort of connection with him. I don’t usually get star struck partly because most of the famous people I would really love to meet are dead. (Namely C.S. Lewis whom I refer to as my “dead-guy crush”. Don’t judge me.) Yet I found myself right in the middle of it all, shouting out the words to the song as he stood on the railing over us singing. We walked away from that concert at the small venue feeling like we were a part of the show. My experience at Red Rocks, where Switchfoot was the opening act rather than the headliner, gave me a little different perspective. It has to be said that with the red rocks towering on either side of us, the full moon, the stars, and the shimmering lights of the city in the distance I was instinctively connected to more than just the band and the music. Since it was a much bigger venue we watched from a distance as Jon jumped over the railing and walked up through the crowd full of many who had never heard of him or his band. Amazingly, he was able to make that same connection and win them over within a couple of songs. After the show, I heard one woman tell her friend, “Take a picture of the guy in the white shirt because he’s the one who touched my shoulder”. She didn’t know his name or anything about him, but he touched her shoulder so she wanted his picture.
Connection.
As I wonder about our reaction to rock stars I realize this truth. We want to feel connected to something bigger than ourselves. Whether it’s rock stars, celebrities, concerts, politics, causes, or even facebook and twitter, we have a deep desire to be a part of something greater than ourselves. I don’t believe these are inherently bad things. But I do believe that if the ultimate goal is to simply chase these desires or even allow them to become the “something greater” with the hope that they will complete us, then we will never be fulfilled. You know where I’m going with this. These connections are just a dim reflection of the desire we were ultimately created for. If our deepest connection is not with the Creator then there will be an emptiness that haunts us and a longing that follows us around like a child persistently tugging at the our sleeve. And even when we make that ultimate connection we will still at times feel a dull ache in our chests until we are face to face with Him. The truth is I have a lot of fun at concerts where I’m close to the action. I’ll even sometimes wait to shake hands with or talk to someone I admire. After the Red Rocks concert, we waited outside for Jon Foreman to come and sing to a small group of devoted fans. It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget, but that’s all it was. As huge of a Jon Foreman fan as I am, this was ultimately just a talented guy, with a guitar and a nice voice singing about something and Someone greater than himself. Because even when you’re a rock star like Jon Foreman, who just sang under the moon, stars, and infamous Red Rocks on one of the biggest nights of your career, you know there is something more.
