Is Elvis Alive and an Anglican Priest?

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media.  This week’s item is from Christian News, February 19 of this year under the headline:  “Elvis Priestly, Rocking Reverend sings like the king to serve the Lord.”  By day the Reverend Dorian Baxter heads up a parish in the Anglican Church, but when evening rolls around he sheds his holy robe and becomes Elvis Priestly.  Baxter, 47, is the only ordained priest in the world who was also an Elvis impersonator and his wild, sexy performances are driving audiences crazy.  I love his hip movements, says fan Maggie Hanton, who tried to climb on stage during a recent concert.  He really rocks and he’s so gorgeous I just want to dance with him.  The rocking Reverend, riding high on a wave of popularity in his native Canada is even taking a leave of absence from his church duties and heading across the Atlantic for his first European tour.  I don’t do this for the money says Baxter, who donates his concert profits to charity.  As St. Paul says, I have become all things that I might win all people for the cause of the glory of the gospel of Christ and that includes becoming Elvis if that’s what it takes.  He even credits the king with his conversion to Christianity in 1972.  Elvis’s remarkable gospel music got through to me, says Baxter who began his impersonations at age 5.  By the mid 1980’s he was an ordained minister who belted out songs in local hotels.  They never dreamed they would hear a priest sing like Elvis, he says, they really went berserk.  Through Elvis I have reached many people and brought them to Christ.

Tom:

Dave, this isn’t the first article that we have dealt with along this line.  Just to refresh your memory we had belly dancers for Christ, we’ve had Texas cheerleaders for Christ, we’ve had lots of different—well, they have worked their way to become organizations and they seem to be sincere.

Dave:

We’ve got the muscle man for Christ on TV, of course.

Tom:

Right.  So, the idea here is that if you can attract a crowd, no matter how you do it as long as you can attract a crowd, then you can present the gospel, but aren’t we at cross purposes here, or at least sending across contradictory information, content and so forth?

Dave:

Well, a couple of things in the article, Tom.  He is misapplying, first of all, 1 Corinthians 9 where Paul says; I become all things to all men that I might gain some that I might win some for Christ.  If you want to take it the way he seems to take it—he says that includes even becoming Elvis, you know, impersonating Elvis.  Well then, to reach the drug addicts I must become a drug addict, to reach prostitutes I must become a prostitute, and on it goes.  No, that is not what Paul said.  Paul is not going to in fact, in that same chapter he says, I keep my body and bring it into subjection, lest having preached to others I myself should become a castaway.  So, Paul is not saying there is nothing that I won’t do and to attract someone to Christ, what’s wrong with Jesus Christ?  What’s wrong with the gospel?  What’s wrong with His Word?  It very clearly says the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe it.  But this gal in the article there wants to climb on the stage and dance with him—he is so sexy—so it’s a sexy — I know nothing about Elvis Presley but this man—

Tom:

Dave, you are not kidding anybody out there, you don’t!

Dave:

That’s right, I don’t.  I never heard him once, but I understand he moves his hips and so forth and the lady says he’s sexy.  So, you are attracting people to Jesus by making sexy motions that want a lady to climb up on the stage and dance with you.  It seems to me she is being attracted to this man.  She is being attracted to the sexiness of this man.  I would think that would be a hindrance to presenting the gospel rather than a help.

Tom:

You know, Dave, there is also a bit of dishonesty here.  I set up a situation, this man is going on tour and he is going to be playing at hotels according to the article.

Dave:

And he is going to contribute the money to charity.  You’ve got to give him credit for having a good heart, but he means well.

Tom:

But on the other hand, you are asking people to pay to come in and thinking they are going to be entertained and he does entertain them, but call it a ruse because it really is.  The whole idea is to give them the gospel.  Now, there is something very deceptive about that.  But going back to another point that you made…Dave, if he just—here he is, he’s an Anglican priest, he can go out and stand on a corner and preach the gospel.  Is he going to get a crowd, I don’t think so.  So why do you have to develop, I mean, he could, but why do you have to develop a technique, a special hurrah.

Dave:

I think of Paul, 1 Corinthians 2, “When I came to you I came in weakness, fear, much trembling, my speech and my preaching  was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in a demonstration of the power of God that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”  We need the power of God to present the gospel and the people must be convicted by the Holy Spirit.  They must come to repentance and faith in Christ and for all his good intentions; I don’t think that’s the way to go about it.

Tom:

Well, the testimonies within this article are not about Christ, they are about how good this guy was, how he sounded like Elvis, how he looked like Elvis and so on.  Dave, we don’t want to sound like guys that just throwing a wet towel over everything but we want people to think about what they are doing, what they are responding to.  Is this the way that God would have us go about things?  Not, again, to just to be effective, got to hunt at practicality, He’s into obedience.  Let him work through us when we do things His way.

Dave:

Amen.