Worth Celebrating

So I am watching the memorial service for Michael Jackson right now and hearing all these famous people sing his praises and talk about what an addition to heaven he is and how saintly he was in life. It strikes me as odd that although a wonderful performer Michael obviously had a morally questionable lifestyle and some of the choices he made must have been concerning the even the most liberal of people. I think this brings up the question of what do we value in a person? Is it their talent or their ability to entertain? Or is it their steadfastness in the face of adversity? Their priority of marriage and parenting? Are failed marriages and bad choices with children okay if you sing a wonderful song about looking at yourself in the mirror? I am not trying to pass judgment on anyone but I have to look at the message we are sending by idolizing people who may not live up to what we would define as a moral person. While Michael did a lot of wonderful things in life he also had many struggles and made some poor choices just like most of us. So mourn his passing but don't send the message that he was a saint and worthy of our aspirations. There are many other finer examples to model our lives after, just because he was a pop superstar and has had his entire service covered by media does not mean that we should live like him.