I guess you’ve probably seen this clip a dozen times already, probably picked your jaw up off the floor a dozen times, shook your head in disbelief a dozen times, watched a dozen hollywood based entertainment shows wag their fingers at Kanye what’sizname… a dozen times. But just in case you missed it, or want to sputter over his immaturity one more time, here is the video clip people have been muttering about, where Kanye interrupts Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to plug Beyonce:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rIg2xzeZiM&hl=en&fs=1&]
Nice.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t approve of Beyonce’s leggy, busty, hiked, dropped, and skimped “almost clothing” line. Her music isn’t exactly Christ incarnate. But that VMA thing she did was certainly Jesus-like, wasn’t it? Let me point out a few things:
1. The media missed the point, just as we so often do: The point of scripture wasn’t a sinful world, but a sacrificial savior. And the big moment of the VMA night wasn’t Kayne whatszisname’s upstaging, it was Beyonce’s gift. And it wasn’t just the media; we missed the point too: Try surfing YouTube and you’ll discover ten times the number of videos replaying Kayne’s deal or dissing him than you’ll find about Beyonce’s gracious move. We’d rather revel in sin than celebrate grace.
2. “Classy” was the word of choice for Beyonce employed by the media. But that wasn’t just class, folks. That was character. That’s right, what Beyonce did says volumes about what she’s made of deep down. Cause honestly? Most of those other stars, and I daresay most of us, wouldn’t have even thought of doing what she did.
3. What did she do, exactly? Make no mistake, it was sheer brilliance: She used her moment to give Taylor Swift her moment back. And the media is wrong: Taylor didn’t miss her moment, it wasn’t taken from her. The silver platter moment was dashed to pieces by Kanye, true—but a brand new one on a GOLD platter was offered to Taylor by a princess at heart. If nothing had happened, if Taylor had taken the stage with no Kanye, we’d all have forgotten her moment by now. But remarkably, Just like Jesus, Beyonce took what was meant for evil and somehow managed to turn it around and give it more dignity than it had before the debacle.
4. And she did it by lowering and humbling herself. She quite literally used her stage to turn the spotlight on someone else and then stepped to the side—not just allowing it to happen, but making it happen and enjoying every minute of it. Wonderful! But notice this: If Beyonce had just stepped up into the limelight and kept it for herself, like she was entitled to do, it would have been just another award. She would have strutted up to the podium, strutted back down, and the moment would have faded into the beige non-collage of VMA insignificance. But because she stepped out of the limelight, because she chose sacrifice and grace, she was exalted. There are millions of people the world over that now think the world of her because of what she did. Her fans adore her more, and even her non-fans can’t help but elevate her in their minds. Non-fans like me.
I wonder what God has to teach us through this? I wonder what God has to teach me?