The Unusual Suspect

Rarely do I…okay, I don’t think I’ve ever…endorse a book.  Especially a book I haven’t read, but I plan on reading this one.  Stephen Baldwin has always been a sort of loose screw when it comes to anything rational.  However, he is currently taking Hollywood and Los Angeles by storm.  He got saved back in 2001, not out of fear (it happened shortly after 9/11), but out of a true genuine witness that he saw day in and day out in his wife who had committed her life to Christ just a year or two before.  That’s a short infoblurb on him – his book, The Unusual Suspect, is out, on the best seller list, and is basically a memoir of his life, his career, and his ultimate choice that led him to this point in his life.

When I first heard that Stephen Baldwin was a Christian, I was a bit skeptical – not that I didn’t think he was, but just that I wasn’t sure what his definition of a "Christian" was.  And, let’s face it, people in the limelight, claiming to be "Christians," often show a very different and very unrealistic side of what being a Christian really is like.  So, I wasn’t sure what to expect when the whole "Stephen Baldwin is a Christian!" thing came out.  And, to be honest, he was a bit overzealous when he started out, but he has really come into his own and I really believe he’s a true man of God and really has a heart for people.

He’s been involved with a ministry – building skate parks for kids in communities where skaters are often seen as troublemakers – he’s really giving kids a great outlet and helping them find good role models and mentors.  So, he’s decided to take his story to the streets and apparently, it’s doing really well in the book world.  Good on you, Stephen.

I say all that to say this:  he was on The Adam Carolla show this morning.  And I loved every last second of it.  Why?  Because his actions did not go against his beliefs.  He never once backed down from what he holds true to his faith.  Every word that came out of his mouth was backed up by his character (which says a lot, if you know what type of guy he was before he got saved).  My favorite part was when Adam called up Shirley Phelps (pic) and had her gripe and complain at Stephen to see what he would do (she’s the sick, psycho lady that pickets at soldiers’ funerals with signs that say things like "Thank God for 9/11," "God hates fags," etc.).

What blew me away about him is that he never once let her get to him.  He simply said, "My prayer for you, sweetie, is that you will know the absolute, true love of Jesus and that God will bless you.  That’s my prayer for you."  But he didn’t back down, either.  She would throw misinterpreted scripture at him and he would say, "well, if you’d read it in context…." and really point out where her argument was completely flawed and actually un-Biblical.  And I’m not trying to say, "Go Team God!" at all.  But what I want to point out is how the true nature of the faith relationship with and through Christ has been so completely misrepresented and Christians are made out to be some wild, sectarian group of psychotics to the point that I am angered by it. 

It’s people like Shirley Phelps that make ME look bad.  And yes, I am all about the image.  I want to be taken seriously.  I want people to know that who I am and what I believe is genuine and I am not crazy because of it.  And it really frosts my cookies when someone gets out there and completely scraps every shred of dignity I hold within my faith.  But then a guy like Stephen Baldwin gets out there and shows what true faith and genuine love and a true calling can produce and proves all the whack-jobs wrong.

You know, God chooses the most insignificant and unlikely ways to do His work.  Think about it, who would have guessed that the Messiah would come around as a baby?  Doesn’t sound like much of a hero, if you ask me.  But he did.  And then, who would have thought that the guy that would go right to the heart of Hollywood would be Stephen Baldwin?  Unusual Suspect, indeed.  But you know, God’s just cool that way.