Nick Jonas and Me

By Joe Gilder 

I was praying a few days ago, and God brought Nick Jonas to mind. (That’s not a sentence I’ve ever written before in my life.)

If you missed it (or you’re reading this in the future), there’s a video going around internet this week featuring Nick Jonas (one of the Jonas Brothers) botching a guitar solo at an awards show.

People are all too giddy to share the video, along with witty comments like, “Nick, you don’t deserve that nice guitar you’re playing.”

It’s strikes me how okay we are as a culture to bash someone who fails at something. We love it when our least favorite politician gets caught in a scandal so we can do some justified bashing on Facebook. We get excited when a college kid drops the football and the other team wins in the last seconds of the game, because we know the internet will be all a-flurry with memes and jokes and instant replays shaming that dude for his unforgiveable mistake.

But would we think it was funny if someone publicly criticized our song choices on Sunday. Or if someone gets the wrong impression of us. Or if someone posts on Twitter complaining about how off pitch we sang on Sunday. For me, that’s when the fangs come out…at least internally.

“How dare they offend me. Don’t they know that hurts? Don’t they know how hard I work at this? Don’t they know how crippling my insecurities are? How dare they.”

But in the next breath it’s all too easy to turn around and leave a few witty remarks making fun of Nick Jonas’s guitar solo. Ah…that feels better.

We justify it. They’ve put themselves in the limelight. That’s what they get for being successful.

I’m sure Nick Jonas isn’t all that bothered by the bashing. He probably laughed all the way to the bank. I’m not writing this article because I’m concerned about Nick’s feelings. I’m concerned about our HEARTS.

What we don’t realize when we bash others is how much this message affects our own hearts. If you see so many people getting destroyed on the internet, theres a good chance it will make you think twice before stepping out and taking that chance, or fully entering into the role I feel God is calling you towards. Why? Because when you put yourself out there, people feel justified to tear you down. We know it’s true because we do the same thing.

What scares me even more is to think about the people I’ve negatively affected by bashing someone else. Am I perpetuating the lie that you have to be perfect or you will be utterly rejected? Shame is a powerful weapon, and the enemy would love to use God’s people to keep shame alive and well.

Let’s be the first ones to pause before we bash. It’s never okay to tear down another person.

Sure, Jesus confronted hypocrites and sinners, but he didn’t do it by posting to the local message boards. He confronted them directly.

He also welcomed the “poor and powerless” with open arms. As a church, we need to be a haven for broken people, not a place doling out shame and criticism to anyone who dares make a mistake.

Father, let me be the first to repent of how quickly I seize an opportunity to tear someone else down in order to build myself up. Forgive me, and fill me with JOY rather than cynicism.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. – Philippians 4:8