Michael Jackson’s Search for Love

One of the most puzzling recent events was the pathetic passing of pop star Michael Jackson. He was a study in contrasts. He was perhaps the most memorable contemporary entertainer, but he left a legacy filled with sorrow, moral questions and a drug-drenched finale.

I confess I may have been very hard on Jackson. I reported on his Jehovah’s Witness background when some in the cult thought he might be Michael the Archangel (Jude 9), a nearly blasphemous and, at the least, terribly misguided notion.

A spiritual advisor of Jackson’s was interviewed on TV and declared that Jackson had directed that his children be raised in the Jehovah’s Witness tradition. Doctrinally, the Jehovah’s Witnesses reject both the deity and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, two basic doctrines necessarily believed for salvation. John 8:24 says, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He (literally, “…believe that I am”), you will die in your sins.” “I AM” is a name of Jehovah (Exodus 3:14). Romans 10:13 says we must believe God raised Him from the dead in order to be saved.

My harsh views on Jackson were mitigated somewhat by an article in the July 3–9 international edition of The Jerusalem Post. Author Rabbi Shmulley Boteach, who had befriended Jackson, wrote of a poignant interview that took place during 40 hours with the pop star.

According to Boteach, Jackson told him, “I am going to say something I have never said before and this is the truth. I have no reason to lie to you and God knows I am telling the truth. I think all my success and fame, and I have wanted it, I have wanted it because I wanted to be loved. That’s all. That’s the real truth. I wanted people to love me, truly love me, because I never really felt loved. I said I know I have ability. Maybe if I sharpened my craft, maybe people will love me more. I just want to be loved because I think it is very important to be loved and to tell people that you love them and to look into their eyes and say it.”

The Rabbi went on to say, “One cannot read these words without feeling a tremendous sadness for a soul that was so surrounded with hero-worship but remained so utterly alone. Because Michael substituted attention for love, he got fans who loved what he did but he never had true compatriots who loved him for who he was.”

When I read this, my disgust with Jackson turned to profound pathos. And I wondered if perhaps his life would have been different if he had been taught the truth of the love of God in Jesus Christ, who is the eternal Son of God and God the Son, instead of a works-oriented religious system. Perhaps Jackson’s bizarre behavior was really just a carefully masked search for love, a stunning lack in his life that no doubt led to his early death.

We believers should take note that the pained habits and patterns of the unbeliever may be a spiritual smoke screen blown away only by someone sharing the love of Jesus Christ, who came to give us “life and that more abundantly” (John 10:10). Entertainers’ antics may not be a scramble for success but a cry for help. And ultimately, only God can help.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17)

Dave Virkler