A Perspective on the Funeral of Whitney Houston: There Are No Great Christians, Only a Great Savior

I am watching the funeral of Whitney Houston from the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey and am captivated. I imagine there will be two responses to the funeral; either people (like me) will love it for the music and inspiring messages of hope, or there will be people who think the funeral is incredibly over-the-top in terms of the personal praise of Whitney Houston and view it with a heaping dose of cynicism. Though I am not part of the latter group, I do understand the basis for their feelings. I have spoken at hundreds of funerals, even at a few of persons who possessed a little celebrity (former governors, football players, etc...), and the tendency of all funeral speakers is to focus on the good qualities of the dead person, ignoring some of the more glaring weaknesses. With all the media coverage calling our attention to Whitney's years-long addiction to drugs and alcohol, as well as the struggles she had in terms of her personal relationships, some Christians might think that BeBe Winans, Tyler Perry, and Jessie Jackson, are placing too much emphasis on Whitney Houston the person. I don't think so. Why? Two reasons: First, a funeral is the time to remember all the good of the one who died, and second (and more importantly), everyone--I don't care who it is--has ugly issues in this life. If you get upset that people are making small of Whitney Houston's problems at her funeral, just thank God you aren't planning your own funeral. Your struggle with sin in this life, in terms of the internal heart motivation that leads you to commit sin, is no different than Whitney's.  Some peoples' struggles, like Whitney's, are more public than yours and mine because those people are more well-known than us. In addition, internal struggles bubble to the surface in different ways among us all, and we must be careful that we don't judge the sores of others without recognizing our common disease. Without doubt, Whitney Houston possessed an amazing voice and has been in the public eye for the last two decades because of it. Her rendition of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl and her all-time classic soundtrack for the movie Bodyguard has indelibly etched Whitney Houston on our collective consciousness. But we should celebrate that Whitney also possessed faith in the Person she called "my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ." For all the cavilling critics of Whitney's funeral service, I remind you that there are no great Christians, only great sinners with faith in a great Savior.