The antics of Paris Hilton are such a big story these days that even the non-reporting of her news has become newsworthy. I don’t know what she did that originally made her worthy of stardom, but she certainly has become a bona fide star and a celebrity, if not a lightning rod. The latest incarnation of Parisitus has apparently impacted a television news anchor named Mika Brzezinski, who shares airtime with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the hoped-for replacement to “Imus in the Morning.”
Apparently, during a recent show, Brzezinski had the task of wrapping up the day’s news when she looked at her script and saw the latest Paris update. She snapped. She flipped. She couldn’t do it. What followed has attracted over 2 million streams, as she says, “I’m about to snap,” in what is either a moment of conviction or a publicity stunt. (Katie Couric also promised a boycott of Paris news–off-camera, though–but CBS has not followed through.)
Brzezinski’s revulsion aside, there’s something about a person who makes herself vulnerable in public, who stands in front of the cameras and says “I’m me,” that captures the interest of our culture.

Somewhere, underneath what started out to be a surfacy set of stories about an apparently surfacy person lies, I believe, the fascination we all have with someone on a personal journey, a journey which Paris was on long before she started talking about faith and the Kingdom of God.
Christians often ask “What would Jesus do?”. I suspect Jesus would deeply care about Paris’ whole story and would bring healing and wholeness to her life, if He were to be here today. And He likely wouldn’t wait until she showed up at Sunday School or proved herself with all kinds of redemptive actions.
Somewhere along the way, Paris may actually create news for character change, charitable work, or other kinds of inspiration that may see her (you heard it here first!) rise up as a significant spiritual leader of large numbers of people. She may not be a “gutter-to-God” story, as her gutter has been gold-plated–but it will be a story. And the ratings will be high.