In 2019 Christians the world over were celebrating Kanye West’s new identity in Christ. Unfortunately, the rapper/producer has now publicly renounced his faith and is openly discussing moving into the adult film industry. Given his past comments about how pornography played such a devastating role in his family’s life, the news feels like a sucker punch to the gut for his fans who value faith and family.
WARNING SIGNS
The first signs of his deconversion began in 2021 when Kim Kardashian, his then wife, filed for divorce. Kim claims she was tired of moving around having to deal with his “outbursts,” while Kanye claims that Kim’s mother played a destructive role. Shortly after the separation, Kanye made a morbid video, seemingly killing Kim’s new fling, Pete Davidson. This initial sign was followed by several years of publicly odd behavior, including physical violence and virulent antisemitism.
Everyone knew that Kanye’s behavior wasn’t matching his previous profession of faith, but it wasn’t until last month that he made his deconversion public. During an interview with Big Boy TV Kanye shared that,
“You know, I have my issues with Jesus. There’s a lot of stuff I went through that I prayed and I ain’t see Jesus show up. So, I had to put my experience in this world, my experience with my children, my experience with other people, my experience with my account, my experience with my brand and my experience with the level of music that I was dealing with in my own hand.”
He also stated that,
“… I’m God. And anyone who wants to disagree, I’m the God of me. You can’t tell me who I am. I can’t tell y’all. I could tell y’all. It’s your job to listen. I’m the God of me. I don’t know if I’m in heaven already.”
PROMOTING WHAT DESTROYED HIM
If things weren’t bad enough, West put out a tweet last week confirming reports that he was launching into the pornography industry. For some time, it had been rumored that Kanye was working with leaders in the adult film industry to get something off the ground. His Twitter account has since been deleted for unknown reasons. In former times, Kanye spoke openly about the dangers of having a porn addiction. In 2022 he tweeted that
“The use of Porn destroyed my family, but Jesus will heal everything.” Another earlier tweet said, “Remove any and all forms of pornography from Twitter and every platform. Pornography is the product of [pedophilia]. When grown men look at porn, they are watching someone’s daughter relive trauma for money.”
THE MATTHEW 13 CONNECTION
The tipping point for Kanye seemed to be his divorce with Kim. He formerly claimed that pornography destroyed his marriage and family, so to see him endorsing what will likely destroy other families in the future is not only heartbreaking, but stupid and reckless too. Sadly, Kanye fulfilled the description of the seed that was planted on shallow soil in Matthew 13. When Jesus talked about the different kinds of responses that His message would bring, He used a parable, or metaphorical story, to illustrate what would happen.
“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown … When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:4-8, 19-23
Like the seed that sprang up quickly, but lacked a strong root, Kanye’s fire for Christ seemed to dim after his divorce. Also like the seed that grew up among thorns and got choked by “worries and the deceitfulness of wealth” it’s likely that Kanye’s faith got strangled by his love for fame and fortune.
WE NEED TO DO BETTER CHURCH!
The root of his deconversion seems to be the absence of a root to begin with. Kanye’s understanding of the Gospel appears to have been built on the assumption that God was His servant, not the other way around. He claimed that Jesus didn’t “show up” when he prayed for certain things. Almost every Christian you meet will talk about how God has answered their prayers in miraculous ways. But many of us have also experienced the pain of unanswered prayers as well. In the moment it can feel devastating, and we can find ourselves asking if God really cares about us. But it’s important to understand that the Lord isn’t a genie’s lamp that has to do what we want, He’s sovereign!
And this foundational doctrine is what many modern Christians seem to forget. A lot of 21st century Evangelicalism tends to swing more towards self-help therapy than focusing on the objective God of the universe. I wonder how many of Kanye’s pastors took the time to incorporate the sovereignty of God into his worldview. My prayer for Kanye is that he will realize how miserable and destructive his new lifestyle is, and like the prodigal son, he will run back to His heavenly Father. But in the meantime, my prayer is also for the Church that we learn how to instruct people about the sovereignty of God. When we learn that our lives don’t really revolve around ourselves, that we’re playing a part in God’s great story, our sufferings and unanswered prayers seem to make a lot more sense. This isn’t to say that God isn’t good or doesn’t care about our lives, He is and does. But His plan doesn’t revolve around our ambitions, He thinks farther and higher than we ever can. Sometimes we can even obstruct His good will through our own mistakes. At the end of the day, the disposition of a disciple is one of gratefulness. Even if life doesn’t work the way we always want it to, we can be thankful that we even get to be a part of the big plan that God is working out. Grace is not a license to ego, but humility.