That’s the headline over at Christianity Today.

All kinds of thoughts are swirling around in my head after reading this:

• How (or will) this be different compared to when it happened to Amy Grant in 1999? A lot in society and the Christian subculture has changed since then. Will people (especially radio and retail) be more understanding?
• Who cares? (No offense to Jaci.) I mean, she’s just a singer. She’s not a pastor, a theologian, the head of a denomination…but would that matter? Do any of those titles deserve different treatment in this situation?
• How will this affect her fans, especially her young ones? Yes, she is a role model. Unfortunately, and especially in the Christian realm, somehow that means the model she is to be is perfection personified. What a bunch of bunk. Her opportunity now is to be a role model of how a follower of Jesus deals with the inevitable crap in her life.

That reminds me of something Mike Yaconelli said: “It’s not about perfection; it’s about our intimacy with God, or our connection, our relationship with God. Once we get through that, once we realize that we can be imperfect, flawed, broken; those kinds of things are the ingredients of spirituality.”

A friend of mine told me the other day of a conversation with someone interested in attending our church. She asked what it was like. My friends replied that “we’re a bunch of flawed people who want to learn more about Jesus.”

Amen.