The gospel according to Robbie

I'm currently trying to put together a sermon series based on Robbie Williams' songs, comparing Robbie's view on life to God's view in the Bible. It's interesting how much Robbie talks about God and about death and about love in his songs - it's also very sad how far he seems to be from understanding what God and death and love are really all about (though he did sit near a friend of mine in a church in NY once...)
Anyway, thinking about Robbie got me thinking about the celebrity lifestyle which is in our faces day after day, and which affects how we each live, particularly if we're at school or university. What does the celebrity lifestyle tell you about how to live? Have sex with lots of good-looking people, settling down forever is just dull, drugs are fine as long as you don't take too many (and if you do, you'll probably get to go out with a supermodel like Pete Docherty); live for the moment, live for yourself, that's how to be happy in life.
But hold on a minute...before we adopt this lifestyle (and I recently heard of someone I know who's given up on the Christian life because it's too restrictive, they just want to live this kind of celebrity-driven, live for the moment lifestyle for a bit until they're older) it's worth thinking about where it leads. After all, if you want to know if a diet works, you look for the effect it's had on people; if you want to know whether you'll look good in a new top, you think about how you'll look in it before you buy it, not after.
So, let's take Robbie. He's slept with some of the most glamorous, good-looking girls in the world; he's experimented with virtually every substance known to man; he's hugely rich; he's hugely famous and popular; he has lived for the moment and lived for himself.

Last February he went into rehab. For depression. Seems it wasn't such a great life after all.

And of course, he's not the only one. Think Britney Spears. Think George Michael. The list goes on...seems it's not such a great life after all.
Jesus, on the other hand, tells us that he's come so that people can have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). The lifestyle he offers might at first glance look 'restrictive' or 'boring' compared to Robbie's, but think about the result. It leads to eternal life in heaven. It leads to security in life on earth; you know you're loved, you know you're valued, and you'll have friends (family, in fact) in every single city on earth. You'll know that in everything God is working for your good. You'll never need to worry about death (not like Robbie). You'll never need to worry about life.
The gospel according to Robbie is pushed onto us by so many magazines and TV shows - it's not surprising we're sometimes tempted to listen. But there's only one gospel which leads to life, to contentment, to security, rather than to depression, rehab, death...and that's the gospel according to Jesus Christ.

I'm praying for Robbie Williams, that he would come to find the life to the full which Jesus offers; and I'm praying for all those Christians I know who are surrounded by the gospel according to Robbie day after day, that they would always remember to look where that lifestyle leads, and stick with the full and eternal life which only Jesus offers.