Posted by Melvin Jones on October 18th, 2006
I taped (yes, some of us still do that instead of Tivo) the “Tyra Banks Show” (TBS) when it was re-broadcast on Oxygen the other night. It featured Paula White, the pastor of The Church Without Walls. The theme for the show was something to the effect of “Beautiful Women , Screwed Up Lives.” I probably took a bit of editorial license in the theme, but I think that basically captures it.
Allow me to set the stage for you. At the very beginning of the program, Ms. Banks introduced Paula White. She introduced her as a woman who has advised Ms. Banks on many occasions; a woman who has been coaching and encouraging Ms. Banks for years. Finally, she introduced her as a Life Coach. Further discussions indicated that Ms. White will be appearing on the program on a regular basis, sort of a Dr. Phil with blonde hair and no mustache.
I fast forwarded and just got bits and pieces of the women’s problems. Some of it was a little too salacious for me. One woman was a cutter , she inflicted cutting injuries on herself in order to have feelings. She had been sexually molested as a child and apparently had a great deal of difficulty expressing emotions. The cutting was an outlet.
The second woman practiced promiscuous, unprotected sex, with a bunch of men, a lot of times. The roots to her problem were pretty much the same as the cutter. She had been molested as a child.
The last woman, an alcoholic and a drug user, had lost her boyfriend in a drug-related shooting. She is slowly destroying her life with alcohol. It seems it’s the only way she can handle the pain of her beau’s death.
Before I continue, understand that I do not minimize the pain these women experience or the misery they have gone through. In fact, it’s partly because I do have compassion for these women that I have such a hard time with what Paula White did (or didn’t do, depending on how you look at it.).
Each woman told her story as Paula White and Ms. Banks listened. Ms. Banks asked an occasional question for clarification. Paula listened. At the end of each woman’s narrative, Paula provided advice. Some of it was based on her own experiences and some not.
I don’t expect every word out of Ms. White’s mouth to be “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” And I don’t expect her to stand around holding her hands up, babbling in tongues. Neither did I expect to hear her tell everyone that they need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues. But I did expect more than I heard.
First question: What the heck is a Life Coach? When, before she appeared on TBS, did she ever call herself a Life Coach?
Second question: Other than as a motivational speaker, what role was Ms. White filling on the program?
The women on the show all had emotional hurts that played themselves out physically in the women’s lives. In other words, their sin natures are, just as with any unsaved person, controlling all aspects of their lives. The difficult circumstances have perhaps amplified the behaviors way past “normal.” Watching the women talk about their lives allowed me to see how incredibly empty their lives are. Each tries to fill their shattered life with something. One was blood and pain; another, sex; and the third, alcohol and drugs.
Ms. Banks is the host of the show and I assume she has some say as to what goes out over the airwaves. She also established that she has a relationship with Ms. White, that Ms. White has counseled her on several occasions. So she should know that Ms. White professes to be a Christian. Ideally, she would also know that Jesus Christ is first and foremost in Ms. White’s life and that Ms. White would have a Christian worldview when it comes to people problems and issues. However, none of this came out during the broadcast.
The words Ms. White used most often were “Seek counseling.” Huh?
During her interview segment, Ms. White said that she was able to survive and then thrive was because of a man who helped her to understand what was going on in her life. Say what?!?!
In talking to these obviously devastated women, not once did the words Jesus or Christ come out of Ms. White’s mouth. I can understand why they would never pass the lips of Ms. Banks. She is of the world. Her show promotes debauched values, fleeting materialism, and a rebellious attitude toward God. I wouldn’t expect any better from her.
Ms. White, on the other hand, when she appears before the professing Christians, natters on about Jesus being the be all and end all. She credits Him with her recovery and prosperity. She makes everything about Him, even when she is selling health foods on her television program. It’s “Jesus this” and “Jesus that.” But on TBS it was practically “Jesus who?”
Again, is it not yet obvious that you and yours are simply a means to an end? Paula has gone from a poor little abused girl to Tyra Banks’ Life Coach. Oh, and along the way, she kind of acknowledged Jesus Christ.
Some of you may say “But Melvin, all Paula is doing is biding her time until she can come out with some serious witnessing to the unsaved. If she keeps talking to Tyra, Tyra might get saved and then think of what an influence she will be.”
The only problem with that approach is that if Tyra gets saved, really saved, she won’t continue doing the show for very long. She wouldn’t be appearing in the Victory Secret commercials and ads (rats!), and she wouldn’t continue with the Next American Model show. So where would her great influence be? As it is, Paula appears to have sold out in order to hang with the world. Tell me again what the up side of this is?
Paula White | 200 Comments »