![\"Rich-Wilkerson-Jr\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/524\/2015\/05\/Rich-Wilkerson-Jr.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI\u2019ve now been to several tapings of \u201cBeyond A.D.,\u201d<\/a> the Web companion series to NBC\u2019s \u201cA.D.: The Bible Continues\u201d<\/a> \u2014 which is produced in the auditorium\u00a0at an ultra-modern Evangelical community north of Los Angeles (whose headquarters is almost entirely devoid of any overtly Christian symbolism) \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen Christian actors, musicians, \u201cfaith leaders\u201d and pastors.<\/p>\n What I have yet to see on the show is a Catholic priest or deacon, or anyone who has strongly identified as a faithful Catholic (a couple of the actors were raised Catholic, but I don\u2019t know their current situation regarding the Faith).<\/p>\n It\u2019s never a bad thing to hear believers talking about Jesus, the Gospels and Christianity, but we know what Church was being founded in \u201cA.D.\u201d\u00a0One could still appear, I suppose, but it\u2019s unfortunate and incomplete.<\/p>\n (UPDATE: After addressing this issue with executive producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, I\u2019m told there should be some Catholics on upcoming episodes \u2014 and one of them could very well be me.)<\/em><\/p>\n I have noticed that several of the pastors, etc., who\u2019ve appeared on the show are friends or acquaintances of \u201cBeyond A.D.\u201d host and E! News personality Jason Kennedy,<\/a> a passionate and outspoken Christian. The most recent is\u00a0Miami, Florida, preacher Rich Wilkerson Jr., who apparently went to high school with Kennedy. He\u2019s featured in the episode that became available online today, Sunday, May 31.<\/p>\n Wilkerson hit the news in a big way when he officiated at the wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West (who, interestingly, later went to Jerusalem to baptize their daughter<\/a> into the Armenian Apostolic Church).<\/p>\n As an outgrowth of this, Oxygen TV has announced it\u2019s developing a show called \u201cThe Wilkersons,\u201d focusing on the young-adult ministry run by the preacher and his wife. The cable network has also\u00a0has\u00a0\u201cPreachers of L.A,\u201d <\/a>a spin-off of \u201cPreachers of Detroit\u201d (yeah, no Catholics here, either, especially considering one of the polls on the show\u2019s official Website asks, \u201cShould Preachers Remain Abstinent?\u201d).<\/p>\n I sat down with Wilkerson, and one of the things we discussed is the hazards of fame (seen most recently in the decision of the Duggar parents to put their already troubled family on TV<\/a>.)<\/p>\n \u201cThe downside of celebrity is,\u201d Wilkerson said, \u201cany time that we think we are our own answer \u2026 with the celebrity generation that we live in now, people start worshiping each other. You worship a person, and the person who sees that type of worship, at times, they start to think they are the answer to their own problems, that they are the answer to everything.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that\u2019s what C.S. Lewis called the great sin of pride. That\u2019s always the biggest issue. We could talk about all kinds of practical things, but the big issue comes down to pride. For a preacher, for anyone, it\u2019s a sin.\u201d<\/p>\n But fame can also be used in a positive way, as\u00a0Wilkerson noted, \u201cThe Gospels is the greatest message ever told, and it hits everybody. Whether you\u2019re a celebrity, whether you\u2019re famous or you\u2019re nameless, this is what\u2019s powerful right where you are.<\/p>\n \u201cI get excited about seeing celebrities \u2014 I don\u2019t like that word \u2014 people who are in the spotlight, if they start to give glory to Jesus, how that can impact other people. It can have a ripple effect, and it\u2019s potentially to be excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding Kardashian and West, it\u2019s a puzzling situation. Evidently, they\u2019re believers, but sometimes it\u2019s hard to tell whether the chief object of their worship is Christ or themselves. But Wilkerson is giving them the benefit of the doubt.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re good friends of mine,\u201d he said. \u201cI preached last Wednesday at a little church. They both came to church, and we had a beautiful talk afterwards. They are on the journey, and I respect people who are on the journey.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are friends of mine. I love them; I believe in them. What I\u2019ve learned in my life \u2014 I was raised by really great parents. You don\u2019t have to agree with someone to accept them, so that\u2019s something the church is learning. It\u2019s not our job to change people. It\u2019s actually our job to preach Jesus, and Jesus does some amazing work.\u201d<\/p>\n These days, a lot of Christians are simultaneously upset at the negative portrayals of the faith in the mainstream media, while turning their backs on participating in the mainstream media. But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. For every Catholic-bashing comedy \u201cThe Real O\u2019Neals\u201d<\/a> from ABC, there could be \u201cThe Jim Gaffigan Show,\u201d <\/a>TVLand\u2019s upcoming show from the faithful Catholic comedian.<\/p>\n But it means standing up for what you believe in a world that\u2019s hostile to the message.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever we avoid,\u201d Wilkerson said, \u201cthe Devil tends to invade. We have to be strategic, out of love, out of respect. We have to be careful not to be offended for<\/em> Jesus. Sometimes we\u2019re offended, and so, where we get complicated, is we start talking about rights, and we\u2019re offended for Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Jesus needs to be defended. He needs to be preached, to be proclaimed, and we need to do that with grace and humility. I understand that people are living in uncertain times. We need to have an offense.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to make sure that we\u2019re bold in what we believe, why we believe it, and that we share that with real determination.\u201d<\/p>\n Image: Courtesy the Facebook page of Rich Wilkerson Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve now been to several tapings of \u201cBeyond A.D.,\u201d the Web companion series to NBC\u2019s \u201cA.D.: The Bible Continues\u201d \u2014 which is produced in the auditorium\u00a0at an ultra-modern Evangelical community north of Los Angeles (whose headquarters is almost entirely devoid of any overtly Christian symbolism) \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen Christian actors, musicians, \u201cfaith leaders\u201d and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2174,"featured_media":1252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,21,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-media","category-interview","category-media","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\n