It’s a stupid idea to talk about John Crist right now. But, if it wasn’t for my stupid ideas, I’d have nothing to talk about at all. In this hyper-sensitive, self-righteous world of Western Christianity, anything I say other than, “I’ll pray for everybody” is going to get me into hot water.
So, I’ll pray for everybody.
To those of you who are going to angrily tell me, “You don’t know John. You need a relationship before you speak about him,” – you’re incorrect. John is a friend. I knew him when he was an excellent comedian that nobody knew about. I bought him a Jamocha milkshake and mocked him for picking that flavor. When strawberry and chocolate are available, picking Jamocha is insane. We’ve had multiple conversations about theology, church, faith, and of course – comedy. John is a sincere Christian. But he carries a burden that most of the rest of us don’t carry – he’s famous.
If John was still an excellent comedian that nobody knew about, his sin would not make headlines. His sin would be like your sin. He would have the luxury of letting God work him through it privately. But John’s faith is in the public domain. When he testifies on stage that he’s sinful, you are impressed by his humility. Whenever famous people admit to being “broken”, it’s makes you admire them even more. You like celebrities to admit general “brokenness” but you don’t want the details.
The details of sin are brutal and ugly. The current gospel of “LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!” doesn’t prepare you for an encounter with true evil. Evil is what killed Jesus. Evil is why God had to die. When you use words like, “mistake”, “broken”, or “flawed”, sin becomes a quirky character in a cartoon. Western Christianity has successfully reduced sin to a misdemeanor while God told us it’s a capital crime that carries the death penalty.
I wrote about Kanye West recently. Kanye is in the same boat as John (but it’s a much bigger vessel). The church worships celebrities. If you’re angry that I just said that, it indicates that you’re guilty of this idolatry. It’s a problem that’s as old as the church itself. Long before John Crist, Kanye West, Chris Pratt, and Bob Dylan came onto the scene, church people have been following everyone but Jesus.
“My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 1:11
Now you’re angrily going to tell me, “You’re defending John’s sin! You hate women!” – Neither of those things are true. I’m not suggesting that Crist shouldn’t be held accountable for his wrong doing. But if I’m not mistaken (and I’m not) this particular sin requires two people.
Kate says she eagerly accepted, told her boyfriend about the meeting and then left to meet Crist. When she reached his apartment, he met her outside, suggested they rollerblade, and invited her upstairs to “grab a few things” for the trip. Upstairs, he gave her a water bottle full of raspberry vodka and poured himself whiskey in a Snapple bottle.
Drinks in hand, they rollerbladed along the Venice boardwalk and talked. He reiterated how talented she was and how he could help her career. He also bladed behind her so he could “enjoy the view.”
“I was truly blinded by his celebrity status,” Kate says. “There were a few moments I thought, ‘Hey, this is kind of weird,’ but the same phrase kept playing through my head that stopped me from leaving: ‘It’s OK. He’s a Christian. He won’t do anything inappropriate.'”
“Kate” is not her real name. The editors of Charisma magazine “prayerfully” decided to change the names of the “victims” to “protect the reputations and identities of those sources.”
Catch that? To protect the reputations of the sources, names of the women were withheld. Man! It’s good to not be famous!
Serious question: Why does this woman deserve to have her reputation protected but John Crist does not?
“Kate”, you’re just as bad as John. Actually, you’re a bit worse because you still view yourself as a “victim”. You accepted a bottle full of vodka and an invitation to be alone with a man who is not your husband. You admitted to being, “truly blinded by his celebrity status”. That’s the idolatry I was talking about earlier. You allowed a false god to “enjoy the view”. The flagrant violation of the first commandment doesn’t concern you in the slightest.
You don’t need to be concerned because you’re not famous, Kate. You’re in real danger of being deceived. You won’t have to repent. You won’t have to apologize. You won’t have to turn down the next invitation from a Christian celebrity. You can wallow in sin and your reputation will be protected. Your sin is chalked-up as somebody else’s fault. That’s a formula for disaster. That’s an ideology that will drag you to hell.
The problem with celebrity Christians is the same problem we non-celebrities face. Selfishness and sin creep into our lives every day. Those of us who don’t live under a microscope get to decide whether or not to share our sin. We get to clutch our pearls and cluck our tongues when John Crist proves what we already knew – he’s not much like Jesus. We’re equally horrid but Charisma magazine isn’t going to write a feature about any of us.
The reason I am a Christian is because I deserve to have a feature article in Charisma outlining my wretchedness. I’m truly despicable and without Christ, I’m doomed. But I’m not notorious enough to attract Charisma’s attention. They don’t care about my sin because the rest of you don’t care about my sin. You only care about celebrity sin (which is called gossip).
Shame on John Crist.
Shame on “Kate”.
Shame on Charisma.
…and shame on you.
55 Responses
While I agree that all parties in this situation have fault I am still questioning if Kate is not the victim. She was thrilled about interviewing a Christian leader/ comedian for her “senior project”… how old is Kate? An 18 year old senior in high school, or a 22 year old college senior? John Crist is in his late 30s and in this situation seemed to have preyed on a young female who looked up to him. The females who have spoken out went to Charisma knowing that their names could have been published. Charisma has chosen to not publish their identities.
Since Kate is an adult and has the right to engage socially with anyone she chooses in any manner she sees fit, how would you suggest we protect her from being victimized in the future?
I guess my question is are we automatically exempt from being victimized once we reach a certain age of adulthood? Could you or I be preyed upon by a Christian leader because of their influence if they chose to use it in a way that was sinful? We all certainly look up to authors, pastors and leaders for guidance. The issue is that he used his platform in a way that has hurt young women. I believe that they were victims and not just “accusers”.
Do you think Kate is incapable of recognizing the danger of getting drunk with a stranger while alone in his apartment? Do you think “looking up to” someone exempts us from the consequences of our actions?
He was a famous Christian. Is it unreasonable for a Christian woman to expect that she would be safe with a fellow Christian?
And if it isn’t, than is it not a goof thing that this fellow has been exposed as someone who it is not safe for a woman too be alone with?
And if his reputation as a Christian man of good character had been destroyed, isn’t that a good thing, seeing as he has been shown to be a man of bad character?
As a Christian woman, I’ll answer that first question with a resounding YES–it is unreasonable to assume that everyone who calls himself a Christian is safe to get drunk with…
I’m glad the truth about John Crist has come out so that he can get help. I’m sad that so many Christan woman are NOT allowing the truth to set them free. Their issues with idolatry and drunkenness and infantilism continue to hide in the darkness, being covered up and defended by people who think that’s what Christ would do.
I’d like to say that Kate was able to recognize a danger of sitting down with a Christian man that she admired for years when she walked into his home… but I don’t think she did. When he handed her a drink I’d most certainly be uncomfortable…. When he started flirting- again, a red flag…..But it’s a slow fade.. I’d imagine you wouldn’t assume he’d do these things. She didn’t jump on this train knowing where it was going.
But she made choices. Bad choices. Her choices were in response to John’s manipulation. Only God knows where her heart was at that moment, and will hold her accountable .. But we can’t “shame” her because we don’t know….
John Crist knew. He deliberately did these things knowing that she was a fan of his. Knowing the ethical dilemma that he’d put her in..which some will say- makes her a victim.
The idea that we can’t judge women but we CAN judge men is very prevalent in the church…and it’s dangerous. From your email address, it appears that you are a woman yourself. Many people might argue that I can’t judge you for that reason. But, since I am a woman, too, I know that women are capable of being held accountable for their dangerous Theology.
If you are involved in ministry somewhere (as a teacher, counselor, or smallgroup leader especially), I would really like to have contact information for your leadership team. I’m wary of women being given bad theology and then spreading it through comments like this one. I believe churches need to be warned when it happens.
Wow-I have honestly tried to work out my opinions on this matter with fear and trembling. I simply said we cant shame the female in this situation because we don’t know where her mind/heart was.. John has admitted to what he has done. That is all. I’m not sure what kind of theology you are referring to as I haven’t even disclosed that. I simply am saying we don’t know. We only know what was admitted.
I appreciate the ability to discuss these hard topics with other Christians. But I feel like your comments toward me directly are extreme and hurtful. How can you make a judgement about someone’s theology, faith, ministry from a handful of posts? I certainly am not going to do the same for you just because we may not see eye to eye. With that, I don’t think it’s in my interest either spiritually or mentally to comment any further.
You have disclosed that you believe John can be held accountable for his actions, yet the females who admitted to getting drunk should not be. It’s very common in Christian circles. And, even though I’m sure that most ministers mean well, we simply cannot allow that dangerous pattern to continue.
Everyone keeps saying, “Why did Christians let John get away with this for so long?! Why did the Church allow his sin to be secret, instead of exposing it to the light?!”
And I agree completely. It’s time for Christians to stop covering up blatant sins. Stop using the concept of grace to excuse harmful behavior. Stop assuming that people are too stupid or too famous or too manipulated, so they can’t simply obey God’s commands… And stop assuming that God loves everyone too much to be firm with them. On the contrary, God loves John too much to let him keep using women for sexual pleasure. And God loves those women too much to let them keep dabbling in drunkenness and idolatry…even if they find some clever way to pretend they didn’t know better.
I listened to the podcasit and found it to be spot on! I am sad that Crist got to this point, and like Peaches I too have more hope for him than ever that God can do a work in him. I did come away from the Charisma article wondering a couple of things……..This writer said he came into this story 9 months ago, coincidentally around the same time that John would have begun being seen with his first publicly known girlfriend in several years. Unlike the accusers, this girlfriend is a celebrity in her own right, a well known country music singer. I cannot help but wonder if there is a connection in this timing.
As Peaches alluded, I also wondered about the smart devices and apps of the accusers…….was their block function not working at any time? I get plenty of unwanted calls on my iPhone I simply block the number after the first call……easy peasy. I have to wonder what exactly these accusers were wanting from Crist in exchange for allowing these unsavory exchanges to continue…….girlfriend status? a marriage proposal?
Great questions! It would be a big help to the church if any of the accusers had the courage to answer them.
Aye, there’s the rub! I think it would be a big help to John Crist as well if the accusers had the courage to answer these questions, or if not the accusers then the writer of the article. Did he ask these questions in his 9 months of fact finding?
Also, if the goal was to prevent further incidents, then why wouldn’t Charisma break the story before the now cancelled Immature Thoughts Tour launched?
Perhaps we can all agree that Mr. Crist has deeply damaged his Christian Witness…
Perhaps, however he now has the opportunity to see just how high God can lift him from his lowest point. That may give him a much stronger testimony in the future.
Yeah, maybe – we didn’t really see that with Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart, but I guess anything could happen. Do you know of any counter-examples where that did happen in modern US Christianity?
No question about that.
Can you agree that protecting “Kate” the damage she has done to her own Christian witness is harming her?
Could you be more specific about how you think it is harming her?
She isn’t being held accountable for her part in the scandal. She’s being told she’s an innocent victim while her own testimony acknowledges giving consent in various forms. She doesn’t have the benefit of thousands of people telling her she made a mistake.
So, true.. great write up! Thanks for writing what some of us were thinking.
On point!!!
We hold our Christian celebrities to higher standards because of their faith, placing them on pedestals as if they’re saints. Chris Tomlin has a song where he talks about not being a “prophet,” just a “shepherd boy.” We sometimes forget that, that Christian celebrities are human. We all sin. That does NOT excuse John Crist for his alleged actions, but places it within context. Sure, I saw the headline when it broke and my heart sank. I’ve seen John’s show live, and it made me laugh louder than most shows I’ve seen. But my hope is that John was sincere in his public apology, that he will get help, repent, seek God’s forgiveness.
As someone who was sexually assaulted, would you tell me that I’m just as guilty? After all it takes two people for the sin.
I told them no yet THEY decided to violate me and my consent. Or does that make me a bit worse than my assaulter?
Are you a Christian? Have you accepted the fact that Jesus died for your sins? If so, then you should already understand what is meant by “we’re all guilty” of SOMETHING. Whether it’s idolatry or manipulation or drunkeness. We’re all selfish and ungrateful–and worst of all, we are defensive about it when people point that out. It’s why we need help.
If you are NOT a Christian, then I can totally understand why the Gospel is offensive to you. It’s offensive to me too, quite honestly. The more we identify as a victim, the more unfair it seems that people who have hurt us are ALSO loved by God and ALSO have the chance to be forgiven. It seems like a bad deal because there are many times I really, really, really, really feel like I’m a better human being than John Crist. It takes a miracle for God to work in my heart and humble my sense of self-righteousness.
This is…disgusting. Victim blaming is horrific and this article is everything wrong with the Christian church
That’s funny because a couple of the victims said the problem with the Christian church is that it doesn’t hold people accountable for the things they do wrong… 🤔 Catch that?
I guess it’s hard when you really want John Crist to be judged, but you don’t want to be judged yourself. 🤷🏼♀️
I’ve been listening to your podcasts for a few months now, and wanted to read this blog after listening to your latest podcast.
I don’t think this is just a problem with famous Christians, but you obviously have a lot more insight into that then I do.
I am going on my 7th year in vocational ministry, and I am completely shocked by how hard it seems to be for Christians to not only admit they’ve sinned, but just that they’ve made a mistake. I’ve heard so many leaders make comments along the lines of, “well, God put me in this position so He must approve of my decisions.” I don’t see how that fits with a faith that starts with us admitting that we are sinners who need Jesus to forgive us and change us.
I am far from perfect, but have been striving to admit and ask for forgiveness from my sin from God and others quickly – not defending why I did it or waiting to be caught. I realized if I want “Christian” culture to change, I need to start with me – the only one I can control.
As I was listening to your podcast, reading the Charism article, and your article I was thinking about the woman caught in adultery that was brought to Jesus. I’ve heard many teachers point out that she was brought alone – not with the man she had sinned with. It seems like this “anonymous” reporting is sort of the modern equivalent of that. Does that mean Crist shouldn’t be held accountable? Of course not. Jesus told that woman to go and sin no more, and John clearly needs to change.
In some ways I wish you had mentioned some of the other women’s stories instead of Kate because that seemed to have the most … disturbing details. And yet, even as I am writing this I am thinking of Joseph who fled from the first sign of a sexually compromising situation. I am not trying to victim blame – Crist behavior was disgusting, but I think women need to be expected to take responsibility for their actions as well. We weren’t there so it is impossible to know, but it seems she could have refused the vodka, left after the first unwanted advance, find another way to get her back from his place…
I am sure it was intimidating to meet your “hero,” but I question why Crist was a hero in the first place and hate the idea that because he was a Christian she didn’t think any thing bad would happen.
It was really interesting to me what the other women seemed to be objecting to: Crist pursuing more than one woman, asking to keep things secret, asking for favors in exchange for tickets. It comes across that the sex wasn’t the sin, but the manipulation. Neither is good, but these women could have said no, could have kept themselves from compromising situations…
Guess this is just a super long way of saying, I agree with you.
Thanks for thinking through this with us… (And, also, I love your name!) 😀
-Peaches
I never heard of this guy before today, but I’m old enough to remember Jim and Tammy Faye along with Jimmy Swaggart, so stories of “Guy who is famous because he talks about how much Jesus means to him turns out to regularly act in pretty scuzzy ways” aren’t new to me.
Stories like the one that Charisma published about this guy are important and valuable because the are a useful reminder that just because someone calls himself a Christian, that doesn’t mean that it is safe for a woman to be alone with that man or that his behavior is necessarily any better than someone doesn’t claim to be Christian.
Thank you so much for this honest scriptural challenge! This is something I’ve been wrestling with a lot recently, Christian celebrity. Let us continue praying for wisdom, humility, and God’s continuing work in our own lives and in the lives of all our brothers and sisters, famous or obscure.
I’m must admit my first thought was along the lines of, “Oh great, now the media is going to have a field day with this. Why do famous Christians keep messing up!”
How easily do I forget that I have my own “plank” of sin to deal with. I’m not the perfect representation of Christ either. In John’s apology statement, he said he lived in fear that his secret sin would be found out. Yikes! I know EXACTLY what he means.
If you happen to talk to John, please let him know that someone is praying for him. I’m praying that he will give himself over to God in full repentance, that he would know how to allow God to truly cleanse him, and that this will drive him to a deep relationship with Jesus (which is so much more important than image and fame).
He’s not the only one who needs to be brought to their knees before our holy God. I’ve been reminded that I have a lot I need to deal with. 😑
I wish we start FEELING this deep for our own walks with God and not others
God help us all.
I have to say I disagree on lots of levels. Yes the girl played a part and yes she’s treated differently. But I’m tired of the “famous people have it hard” thing. They are famous because they WANT to be famous. They shout out to the world “please notice me!!” And the Christian famous people add” look at me and notice that I am an ambassador of Christ!” No one forced them to be in the Christian spotlight or in the spotlight at all for that matter. We cannot give them the fame they want and then feel bad when the public says wait a minute I thought you were a Christian, but you’re life is inconsistent with that claim? Furthermore i do not believe that every xian leader and every xian for that matter has years of unrepentant sin patterns or addictions. We certainly shouldn’t. So I can agree with you shame on Crist, shame on the girl, but do i think charisma is wrong for making people aware that someone influencing your church people is living a life inconsistent with the gospel? Not at all. And shame on us? I don’t think we are being judgemental by holding up a standard that we expect our xian leaders to live by. If Crist or anyone else doesn’t want to be a xian leader then he should just be a comedian/singer/artist etc and not perform at churches. My opinion is that if you are an influencer on a stage at a church, you should be expected to have a measure of holy living.
I’m sure John Crist does have a measure of holy living. But, like everyone else, he’s still going to sin. Why is that surprising?
Fair, I think… ☝️
I literally just found your website on the comments section of the Charisma. I am so happy I found it!
I just wanna thank you for sharing your thoughts in general about things that most Christians might disagree. I pray that God keep inspiring you to write and use you as his tool to discuss with love this sensitive topics.
I think we are so scared of questioning things and that’s where it gets scary to me. I also read your article about Kanye and man, people are getting crucified just because they don’t like the new music in general. Literally we are getting to the point that if it’s made by Christians we should all just pretend it’s good art etc.
Well, I’m just here to complement you and thank you for taking your time to write all this. Hearing another side of the coin definitely help me to process.
When I first read the article (moments before I read your blog post), I was heart broken. I love to laugh and love all of you guys! You all have a gift. The truth is, isn’t that what sin is supposed to do, break our hearts? It always breaks God’s heart. But what caught me by surprise was that I seemed to be more heartbroken about John’s sin than my own. Thank you for your ever poignant, but not always popular, point of view.
Wow, John, you have a way of punching me in the gut with truth almost every week. Yesterday when the author of the article from Charisma posted on Twitter, “look what I have been working on the last few months” it didn’t seem like much Christian empathy was involved.
Three things came to mind immediately while reading this post:
1. I can no longer read the word Jamocha without hearing it in John Crist’s voice in my head and it’s pretty hilarious.
2. I didn’t stop thinking Bill Cosby was funny when I found out he had done a lot of bad things just like I won’t stop thinking John Crist is funny now that I know he has done a lot of bad things. I’m never surprised when I hear people have done really bad things because that’s what people do best.
3. I know from personal experience that having one’s dark secret sins brought to light in front of God and man is the first step to overcoming them. In this respect, he has an advantage over “Kate” since she doesn’t appear to have admitted her own sin in this situation.
YES!!! I’ve said the same thing multiple times today, and I’m not sure people understand what I mean… I have more hope for John Crist in the sense that he’s being given an opportunity to repent and he’s being watched very, very closely by thousands of people now. He’s being humbled in an extremely painful way, but it has the potential to lead to growth and wisdom…
I’m not sure the same can be said for the women we’re infantilizing by suggesting they’re easily manipulated and unable to resist the sexual advances of a guy when he gets to a certain level of cool/hot.
Victims don’t need a Savior.
For a moment I thought you’d been saying “Jamocha” in John Crist’s voice all day.
Frankly, the only thing funnier than hearing Jamocha in John Crist’s voice would be hearing your impression of him saying it.
Lol. No, I have very little opinion on the Jamocha front. 😉
I wish I could borrow your brain to write like this in response to situations. Well done. If asked what I think I will just point them to this blog.
Great blog John!
Mr. Branyan,
I am so impressed with the kindness in which you share this truth. I just had a conversation with a person yesterday about gow we do this with pastors and church staff as well. We put them on a pedestal and then gossip and rejoice almost when they fall. All the while, we hide our sins in the dark of our private lives.
Thanks again for your thoughts and theological perspective.
Great article John. I would add “Shame on all of us sinners.” Where is my Charisma article about my sins? Interesting definition of the magazine:
Charisma
1. compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.
“she enchanted guests with her charisma”
2.a divinely conferred power or talent.
I agree with you. This is heartbreaking for me. I do not condone John’s behavior at all but I do believe the woman should bear some of this ad well. He is a single man and while wrong, yes, to have a sexual relationship with a married woman, she was the one that was married..not him.
I liked this line: “In 2019, few Christians seem better known and more influential than Crist…”
Exactly. The most influential Christians are entertainers, not theologians.
Hey John, I have commented on your stuff before, both loving what you write and also I have been critical…hopefully not rude, just posting an opposing perspective. And, I don’t know if you remember me, but I would put you in the top 5 funniest people I have ever had the privilege of being around…I say all of that to say thank you for writing this, and writing it this way! Stating strong truths and calling all of us out on our self-condoned idolatry. I hope people can hear your heart and that it is not condemning anyone that you stated in the last four statements of this article, but rather exposing what is opposing to God, and I believe calling for all of us that consider ourselves Christians to lay our sins down that so easily entangle us and join together in a way that screams to each other and the world that we aren “in this together” and with Christ we can do all things! Thank you, John!
Of course I remember you, Aaron! I’m not Ken Davis!
Thanks for this comment. And thanks for the disagreements as well. I sincerely appreciate thoughtful dialogue even when it’s critical.
but wait! How are you going to change your mind if he isn’t screaming and calling you names?