I have two snapshots of Britney Spears stuck in my brain.
The first is from the late 1990s. I was living in Atlanta and had started attending a cool new church. It was a church “unplugged” – the pastor was young and sat on a stool and talked about Jesus and U2 and Quentin Tarantino. “Worship” was performed by a band. No one wore suits. It was so much fun there were mid-week worship services.
Early one evening I walked in and sat down and worshipped and listened to the sermon and was getting up to leave when I caught up to the non-Jesus buzz in the room. “Britney is here ” I heard whispered as I saw a hulking man and a small girl bustle out a side door. Apparently it wasn’t a terribly uncommon experience. Whenever she was in town for a concert or for meetings, she stopped by the church. I hadn’t heard of pop stars going to church. It never made me a fan but it made me believe that her ‘virgin talk’ was far more than some marketing ploy.
The other Britney snapshot was from 2002. The NFL opened its season on a Thursday night in Washington, DC and there was a concert on the mall to celebrate. My wife Kim and I had been given backstage passes. A host of stars passed before us on their way to perform. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith strutted by, Mary J. Blige held court, Aretha Franklin deigned to be there. Most memorable, however, was the very small Britney Spears. She looked timid, comforted by the big jacket she was wearing, looking like a little girl lost in a glittered world. As her stage time approached, she looked around and shed the jacket to reveal a very tight little outfit. She fidgeted. Her dancers moved in closer and so did her bodyguards. She walked out on stage and lipsynched a new song, grinding and moving and stripping down further to reveal pants well below her navel and a top that covered not much at all. After the performance she ran offstage and back into the clothes. The empress needed her clothes.
Those two moments have colored my perception of Britney. I couldn’t buy the image of her as a sexual diva, a slithering temptress. It seemed an image that old men and young boys wanted but not one based in reality. During the past several years as her music became coarser and her sexuality even more overt I couldn’t buy it. It felt faker than people said her virginity talk ever was. The toll it took on her own soul, however, was real.
Now there is this runaway, this breakdown, the shaved head, the tattoos, the parties and the presumed drugs. And it all makes me wonder if the lost, little girl who now has two little boys isn’t trying to do whatever she can to get back to who she once was. I wonder if she’s looked at the pictures of her onstage kissing Madonna and writhing around on the floor and felt much as the prodigal son felt when he found himself lying in a pig sty. Britney’s sty may be different – more luxe and less slop – but the self-loathing, hopeless destination is the same. They both reached the end of the of the glam road and discovered it looked a lot like hell.
For the son there came the conclusion that his father’s house would give him a better chance at life even if the father he had once shunned no longer loved him. So he went home to confess and ask for forgiveness. He was greeted with a party; a party to celebrate his life.
For Britney now there is a trip to rehab; a trip to rehab with a newly tattooed cross on her left hip. And there is the prayer that as she goes into rehab that she might remember a simple faith that she once had in a man named Jesus and that she might return to him and find that he is waiting to welcome the little girl back and throw her the kind of party she has really been looking for.
posted February 21, 2007 at 3:01 am
Hi David, I thought the same thing when I saw her on tv..I actually Blogged about this situation this weekend. I pray that someone intercedes…
posted February 21, 2007 at 3:53 am
Do you wonder why Americans are so fascinated with celebrity? Poor Anna Nichole, Brittany, Lindsay Lohan, and so many others. We create little mythologies out of such nonsense – little gods and goddesses – living these bigger than life lives- and our common fascination says something very sad about us. They are lives without meaning – not their lives – but the lives we give them in our common almost hypnotic hysteria. And I admit it, i follow them in a sort of fascination myself. When will the train actually fall off the tracks? Tomorrow Lent starts – 40 days to think of the life of Jesus intentionally – and it came to me that one of my Lenten resolutions will be to not allow myself to be sucked into these pretend lives. I will pray for them, but I won’t be part of the drama. If anyone has ever needed prayer – it is certainly – these poor little girls. I am glad that you encountered Brittany in such a fashion, David. And that you told us all. It connects us with her humanity rather than her celebrity.
posted February 21, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I thought the same about britney but i couldn’t put it in words. the only difference is u know how to communicate that’s why bush hired to his speech writer I like ur insight and ur communication level
posted February 21, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Britney made those choices to dress and act the way that she did. She has even said it countless times during interviews that she liked the way that she looked even though she knew she had small girls looking up to her as a role model. Now, I am not saying what she did was wrong. I, in fact, like her and think that people need to cut her some slack. I’m praying that she gets the help and quality time alone that she needs. Hey, we all have to fall down sometime, right?
posted February 21, 2007 at 7:46 pm
“No way is way” – Bruce Lee As each of us follow our own paths, Britney has hers as well.I wish her, and everyone, the very best
posted February 22, 2007 at 2:20 am
why is the main stream media even writing about this? 35,000 children die every day from preventable things: like starvation and diarrhea…but the media, you and I…all we focus on is this Crap. It is demeaning to Ms. Spears…an embarrassment to most Americans, it is demeaning to our Creator, is a reckless affront to the Cross… I shudder to think what it looks like for us christians to carry on over gossip! We are pathetic and we, more than Ms. Spears, should be the ones repenting…thank God for forgiveness, I hope.
posted February 22, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Well said. Excellent thoughts. I feel very much the same way. I have always thought that the celebrity machine is a life destroyer by design. It attracts people who need love, but never had or felt it from anyone. It promises them fame, riches, acceptance, and “love” (like someone would “love” chocolate or Disneyland); but in the end it leaves them much like the prodigal in the pit (spiritually, emotionally, and even physically sometimes). It is those like Britney who need the love of Jesus more than most; both from him and from the church. What would it look like if we we clothed their nakedness, fed their hungry stomachs, restored their dignity, and celebrated their return?
posted February 23, 2007 at 1:48 pm
I think she’s a self-centered, spoiled brat looking to get attention any way she can – and she has a mother who encouraged her to do it too. I agree that she’s lost; but I can only pray she gets the help she needs in order to be the RESPONSIBLE MOTHER she needs to be, and that her little sister doesn’t follow in her footsteps.
posted February 23, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Praise God for this blog. I have been praying for Britney, believing God for her to come to the Lord and for her children to serve the Lord. I believe it will happen, and all the praise will go to the Lord, and her precious life will be redeemed.
posted February 24, 2007 at 3:17 am
Britney who? She will be the next Denise Matthews who used to play Vanity during the 1980s and after she hit rock bottom Denise gave her heart to the Lord and she dislikes talking about her sinful past as Vanity.
posted February 24, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Brittany Spears and these other celebrities are trying to live a life without God and they are making Fame and Money their god! They are leaving an open invitation to the devil to “kill, steal and destroy” their lives. Anna Nicole, Linsey Lohan, Marilyn Monroe and the list goes on have not found out that true happiness is only found with God! It is not found with money or celebrity status. There are other celebrities that have a grip on life, Jodie Foster, Tom Hanks and others. These young girls got too much too fast! God help them to slow down to live longer!
posted February 24, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I pray that God protects her and restores her. She should see someone who does theophostic. This is where God and Jesus will do all the work via the Holy Spirit. Many people have received healing. http://www.tpassociation.com, http://www.theophostic.com.
posted February 25, 2007 at 2:09 am
A hurting world screaming out for help. But where do we turn? What do we do? There is only one way: JESUS. We all have gone stray and return back to the Fathers House. Praise God. Let’s stand in the gap and come to an agreement for Britney to be restored and revived in her life. She will find her way back home….a silent cry….for the Lord will not forsake her. Thanks for the article.
posted February 26, 2007 at 6:21 pm
Brittney is definitely seaching for peace and searching in the wrong places. We must all pray for her. She is a very sad person, right now.
posted February 26, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I personally think Britney just snapped. The gal is never left alone, and every where she goes these rude and cruel people are taking her picture. They never leave her alone for one second. May be she figured if she cut her hair off they would not know her and she could have some peace and quite. If any of us had some one taking our picture all day long, and never let us alone I am sure we would go to some extreme measure to get them to not notice us. I think there should be a law against what these people do, and a limit. The laws need to be tougher on the ones who follow them and take there pictures no matter were they are.
posted March 6, 2007 at 6:02 pm
we need to pray for Britney Spears and I hope and pray she comes to know Jesus in her life. Britney Spears Prayer Chains: http://annointed.net/ForumTopic_29226__15.htm and: http://www.christianforums.com/t92577-pray-for-britney-spears.html&page=2 and: http://rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=131105&page=3