Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, July 26, 1994                 TAG: 9407260299
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: MARC TIBBS
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   55 lines

CELEBRITIES, LISTEN TO THE (LIKELY) WORD OF THE LORD

   What would Jesus say to some of today's public figures?
   It's by no means an original idea, but it's certainly one worth exploring.
   People like the 700 Club's Pat Robertson or the Garden of Prayer's Bishop 
L.E. Willis profess to have insight into the Lord's thoughts, but a suburban 
Chicago minister took that notion one step further. He published a book on the
presupposed lessons the Lord might offer to a few of today's 
headline-grabbers.
   The Rev. Lee Strobel, in his soon-to-be released book ``What Jesus Would 
Say. . .,'' takes a lighthearted look at the counsel the Nazarene might offer 
to some of today's leaders and entertainers.
   Everyone from Bart Simpson to David Letterman gets a beatitude in Strobel's
tome.
   This for Letterman by way of a Top Ten List: ``Sorry, Johnny gets the 11:30
time slot in eternity''; or ``No, Dave, I won't fix it so you get free HBO.''
   Pop star Madonna, in the gospel according to Strobel, gets the same 
treatment as the woman at the well in the Gospel of John - an invitation to 
redemption.
   How about those who resist paying income taxes on grounds that the IRS is 
robbing us all blind. ``Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's,'' He'd likely 
say.
   Californians might find this exhortation disturbing: ``And great 
earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines and pestilences; and 
fearful sights and great signs shall be there from heaven.''
   That explains a lot about Hollywood lifestyles.
   Strobel offers other advice for people like President Clinton and radio 
guru Rush Limbaugh. But what if some of those lessons were applied to Hampton 
Roads?
   What, for example, would Jesus say about Norfolk's grandiose plans to build
a downtown mall with the assurance of federal funds earmarked for the poor? He
might compare it to the Tower of Babel, which saw the spiritual wrecking ball 
before it really got off the ground.
   Or what would Jesus say to Virginia Beach officials who want to tap into 
the Lake Gaston water supply? Maybe He'd read from Isaiah:
   ``I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to
my people, my chosen.'' Kinda tests your faith in Mayor Oberndorf, doesn't 
it?
   And what of the U.S. Senate race? What would Jesus have to say to the likes
of Oliver North, Marshall Coleman, Doug Wilder and Chuck Robb, each of whom 
thinks he has the congressional answers for the commonwealth's troubles.
   He'd flip to Proverbs, without hesitation:
   ``The way of a fool is right in his own eyes . . . ''