The most successful recording artist of all time, a popstar whose Thriller album sold over 109 million copies (far and away the bestselling album ever – more than double its closest rival), a singer who pulled a greater audience for his Superbowl halftime show than the Superbowl itself, and a man whose death has rocked the world.
There are parallels between Jackson the king of pop and Solomon the king of wisdom. Both knew the luxuries of excess. Both had experienced money and fame and both of them found it ultimately empty.
- Solomon’s story is found in the books of 1 Kings and Ecclesiastes.
- Jackson’s story is writ large in the media this week.
- Jackson’s legacy to the next generation is his songs.
- Solomon’s legacy to the next generation is his proverbs.
Had Jackson’s father passed on godly advice instead of abuse to his son, the story may have read differently. The first few chapters of Proverbs read as a father passing on wisdom to a son.
Solomon’s words could have been lyrics to a song that train us as listeners to see the world differently, to value God’s wisdom more than gold, to resist immediate gratification for the path of godliness, to not rely on purely human reasoning but to trust our path in life to God.
It is by adopting these principles that we preserve down through the generations the Christian way to handle the same challenges of self-identity, financial mishandling, integrity, lostness, and longing for intimacy that Michael Jackson is finally and fatally free from.
Krish Kandiah
http://krishk.wordpress.com
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