Jojo Siwa was a second-tier cast member on a second-tier reality show, Dance Moms, on a second-tier network, Lifetime. That’s like sixth-tier or something, which should amount to a whole lot of nothing. But Jojo was only second-tier when it came to dancing. When it came to personality, she was cream-of-the-crop, and she sure had that hustle…
Over the next several years, Jojo and her sparkly candy-colored wardrobe and upbeat anti-bullying message became a brand, all glitter and bows and ponytails everywhere. Today, Jojo Siwa has 36.4 million followers on TikTok, the short format video platform, 10.9 million followers on Instagram, primarily a photo platform, and 12.3 million subscribers on YouTube, that now-aged platform for long-format video.
Even if the Venn diagram of people following Jojo on multiple platforms is substantial, we’re still talking about tens of millions of people following a young “influencer,” to use today’s term. Her hardcore fans are known as Siwanatorz. Once primarily tweens, Siwanatorz are increasingly diverse. Tweens become teens, whether we like it or not, and Siwa, who recently turned eighteen, has attracted a lot of attention by coming out as a lesbian and, as of Monday, joining the cast of “Dancing with the Stars” with a same-sex dance partner.
So far, Jojo Siwa’s fans have been benign, a crowd rather than a mob. The same cannot be said for the fans of Beyoncé, known as the BeyHive.
The BeyHive is notorious for defending the singer against perceived slights. Taylor Swift has been a target, of course, since the two singer have been positioned as rivals by folks who enjoy conflict, who love stirring the pot. But many others have run afoul of the Hive as well. For example, Nicole Curran, wife of a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, who leaned across Beyoncé to say something to Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z, during an NBA Finals game in 2019. The BeyHive pounced on what they considered a lack of respect.
Sometimes, the BeyHive attack is sort-of deserved, like with Kid Rock, the white rap-rock singer increasingly identified with racist extremism, but then again, he’s made a secondary career of saying stupid things, and saying anything about Beyoncé can land you in hot water.
Then there are the completely innocent victims. For example, Beyoncé’s video album “Lemonade,” a true masterpiece, took on the question of marital infidelity. Rumors swirled about Jay-Z and the “Becky with the good hair” named in one of the songs. A particular named was named, not one I choose to repeat here, but one that sounded a bit like Rachel Ray, the television chef. Rachel Ray does have good hair, but she is not Becky. Nonetheless, the BeyHive launched a social media attack.
Beyoncé’s fanbase is not the only one that rushes to defend their idol, but they are known for being particularly toxic. If you offer anything less than complete worship, you are the enemy.
And though there is about zero chance that a second-tier pastor in a second-tier city in a second-tier region of New York is worthy of a hive attack, I will go on the record, again, as saying I think Beyoncé is an amazing artist. I don’t worship her, but I don’t worship any human, any sports team, any bit of colored cloth. And I’m not sleeping with Jay-Z.
The binary “against us” or “for us” is at the heart of today’s gospel reading, the desire of the disciples to shut-down unauthorized healing done in Jesus’ name. Notice his response: “Whoever is not against us, is for us.” This is the opposite of the words George W. Bush uttered in a speech delivered to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001: “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.”
Jesus presumes affinity. Bush presumes enmity.
And lest you should think the Marcan passage is a translator’s fudge, I can assure you that this is exactly what is written in the original Greek. It literally reads “For whoever is not against us, for us is.”
There are people actively against Jesus during his ministry of teaching and healing. That is clear in the gospels. I know institutional Christianity leans in to passive wimpy Jesus, because he is way more manageable, but the real Jesus was combative, often antagonistic. He took on the self-righteous, the legalistic, the greedy. He took the side of the powerless when faced with the abuses of the powerful. This isn’t happy-clappy. It is real life. Jesus may prefer inclusion, but he is willing to exclude when necessary.
We navigate this same terrain every day, at least we do if we live in the company of other humans, are not holed up in a cabin in the woods. Big Tent politics is great, but sometimes impractical. Inclusive church is great, but not if those we include seek to exclude others. Tolerating the intolerant is endorsing their intolerance.
I once had a deacon tell me I should not be so passionate about racial justice in the pulpit, since we wanted to be a place a racist felt welcomed. I struggled with her logic. Sure, I want the racist to be welcomed, but only because I want the racist to be transformed, to learn that race is a powerful lie, not because I want us to be infected with the disease of racism. And her generous grace, her white radical welcome of the racist did not extend to misogynists who didn’t think women belonged in the pulpit, for she loved to preach.
Lean into inclusion. Lean into welcome. With us until proven to be against us. We are a church of sinners, not saints, and we are all about the business of transformation. This is the refiner’s fire, burning out the dross. This is the spiritual gym where we learn new routines, are called and encouraged to growth and if we are lucky, to peak performance. This is a fountain of grace, the unearned grace we receive from the mystery we name as God and the grace we extend to one another, that we pour out into the community.
There are times when we must draw lines. Hopefully we make inclusion the default, and only exclude when necessary, and even then, with tremendous humility and a willingness to admit we might be wrong.
I mean, I wasn’t there. Maybe I’d have felt different. But the Sixth Century “filioque” controversy, the debate over whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from just the Father or from the Father and the Son, one of the arguments that split the Eastern and Western Churches, Orthodoxy versus Catholicism, just seems silly. Then again, I’m humble enough to know that all human utterance about God is ultimately silly. A god we could define would not be much of a god.
And Kid Rock? Okay, fine. Have at him. Though seriously, why do you care about what he thinks about Beyoncé? His five minutes of fame are long past, and the folks who value his opinion sure aren’t buying her records. Maybe this is one of those times when grace can come into play. Leaning into hostility, into conflict, will get us nowhere.
But Rachel Ray? She’s just trying to teach us how to whip up a good sauce. And good sauce is an important thing.
May we be Jesus fans, as passionate as the BeyHive, as open and positive as the Siwanatorz, this day and always.
Amen.