This from my home state of Massachusetts today: a second-grade class was instructed to draw pictures of "something that reminded them of Christmas". (Kinda surprising....in my kids' elementary school and preschool, Kwaanza and Hannukah seem to take precedence).
The point of the exercise was to get the kids creatively sketching something associated with the holiday. (Read the whole article here.)
An eight year old draws a crucifix - which he no doubt sees every week at church - and has the audacity to associate the cross with Christmas (very perceptive of him, by the way - few adults do as much. Baby Jesus in the manger is so much less confrontational and threatening than a Christ Who provides the only means of salvation, and demands repentance and surrender.)
The boy is dismissed from school and required to undergo a psych evaluation (we all know how objective and unbiased they are, right?) before he can return to the public school system.
People, this is the "Judeo-Christian culture" in which we live. Free speech is great, until you mention Jesus.
He (still) makes people uncomfortable.
From Glenn, at "Sanity in an Upside Down World": "You know, it’s a really upside-down world where a school system can teach grade-school kids all about homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle but requires a psychological evaluation of a child who draws a stick-figure of Christ on the cross when asked to draw something reminding him of the day we celebrate Christ’s birth."
My position has always been YES, it's perfectly fine, both in terms of doctrine and praxis, to let your kids go Trick or Treating - provided we are not talking about any satanic or occultic costumes, and the kiddies are not compromising their witness by whipping eggs at the neighbor's houses.
Traditionally, the Jews have always gotten their crazy 'dress-up and act silly' day on Purim; why shouldn't we goys get in on the action? It's not as hard to "redeem" Halloween as our IFB brethren would have us believe.
"Whatever you do...do it all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31). Don't think you can observe this traditionally dark eve while glorifying Christ? I beg to differ.
Rule numero uno is - be generous with the candy. Let no one bring a bad witness against you or profane the Name of Christ by aledging that Christians are stingy.
Secondly, while you are handing out teeth-rotting sweets, be sure and slip the Gospel in there as well. What more golden opportunity to witness to your neighbors than Halloween?? They're coming to YOU, hands open. Don't pass up this opportunity. However, a word of caution: make sure that the tract you are distributing is doctrinally sound, and presnets the whole Gospel (repentance and all). Avoid ATS (American Tract Society) like the plague -- their publications are so watered down they make Hillsong look good. One I recommend is "God's Bridge to Eternal Life", written by the Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary and distributed by majestic-media.com.
It should go without saying that you needn't waste your hard-earned money on those morbid, kitchy Halloween lawn decorations. God would probably prefer you save it so you can sponsor an Angel Tree child next month in celebration of His Son's birth.
Another way Halloween can be redeemed is by the simple act of greeting your neighbors - good, old fashioned friendliness as you make the rounds with your adorably-dressed tykes. (I am convinced we are actually doing our neighbors a great service by trotting out our costumed youngsters - they genuinely enjoy seeing them. This is especially true of elderly folks who don't get many visitors). John Macarthar discusses this in an extremely balanced, common-sense sermon entitled "The Christian Response to Halloween".
Have fun, and Happy Reformation Day to all you Milk-Dud loving believers!
The last time I idolized a celebrity, I was in college. Of course, I thought that my idolization of Nadia Comaneci was a positive thing which implied the depth of my commitment to my chosen sport: gymnastics. In late 1989, just after I had started my freshman year at Syracuse University, Comaneci defected from Ceauceascu's Romania - with a married man, and with whom she promptly shacked up. (I forget his name and am too lazy to Google it - he was an immigrant himself, and promptly left his wife for, in her words, "a party girl who could do gymnastics in bed"). Nadia's trampy appearance and indifferent, graceless attitude at the time became tabloid fodder for months. Having worshiped her since age 12, I was devastated. How could "Little Miss Perfect" commit adultery?
A bunch of other Americans were pretty dismayed, too. Then, I clearly remember the Editor in Chief of my local newspaper (himself an immigrant from Hungary) offering wise perspective on our celebrity culture in a piece called "Let's Be More Blase about Nadia". The problem with us Americans is that we worship media-generated images (and I say this as someone who has lived abroad and can attest that other cultures do not, by and large, ascribe the same demi-god-like status to their celebrities as we Yanks do). Then, we have the nerve to be disappointed when those celebrities do not turn out to be as perfect as we believe, but turn into flawed adults with clay feet just like everyone else. Fast-forward a couple of years. I greatly admired (then) Christian singer Amy Grant, and bought all her albums. When she had the affair with Vince Gil and lambasted her (Christian) fanbase for having the AUDACITY to note that both adultery and divorce are....um,...morally wrong, I was disappointed. Not devastated, mind you; but disappointed. I'd expected more from a woman who'd made a career out of being a Christian. While I'd never truly "idolized" Amy Grant, I genuinely believed she was far more spiritual than I. Then I read some of the interviews, in which she revealed herself to be an immature woman with no moral compass.
Lately, this Michael Jackson media circus has brought to mind the absurdity and very real spiritual danger of idolizing celebrities. Leaving aside the fact everyone seems ready to canonize a man who denied the very deity of Christ, who wasted his life and sought only earthly glory; whose narcissism stretched the bounds of credulity and whose greed left him $400 million in debt; masses of people are weeping for the image of a man they never knew. As Fred Sanders wrote last week in "Why I Don't Pray for Celebrities",
"Celebrities are such odd phenomena. They are these personas that are presented to us, carefully packaged by a publicity team and then transmitted through a vast system for the dissemination of their images. We know nothing about celebrities except what they want us to know. They and their handlers project a public image by sending a set of coordinated signals: posed and retouched photos, bits of biographical information, sound bites, reports of how they feel, and of course their own artistic productions or performances....
I also don’t pray for fictional characters. I don’t ask God to send rescuers to Robinson Crusoe, or to get Gilligan and his friends off that crazy island, or to make things work out right for the people on Lost. Those are not real people or real islands.
I know that somewhere behind the persona of any celebrity, there must be a real person. Tom Hanks lives somewhere, has a mom and a dad and loved ones. Jennifer Aniston might have pets, and they probably love her. Even Jack Black must be an actual human. If I actually knew any of those people personally, I would pray for them. But I would not pray for a life-sized cardboard cut-out of them, and what I have available to me in their celebrity personas is essentially an elaborate cut-out."
People have been weeping, hysterically and publicly, professing undying love for a man they never knew. That, dear readers, is idolatry; not compassion. Do these folks weep so profusely for the 24,000 souls who starve to death in Africa each day? The one person every eleven seconds (a conservative estimate, by the way) who dies apart from Christ? Perhaps some of them do. If so, good for them. But the endless fascination with Michael Jackson, coupled with a desperate attempt to construct him into something he was not is morbidity at it's worst.
As has been pointed out elsewhere in the blogosphere, Jackson was by all accounts a deeply disturbed individual who wore his brokenness on his sleeve. He desperately needed Christ, but instead chose to deny Him (first in the cult of Jehovah Witness; much later as a self-professed Muslim). As his fame grew, his bizarre behavior seemed to increase. Public fascination turned fickle - he was the scapegoat everyone loved to hate. Except those who were obsessed with him, and believed they loved him. Ironically, the family that for most of his adult life distanced themself from him now somehow can't seem to say enough good about him.
Michael Jackson was certainly deserving of pity, (and is even more so now), but the Bible is clear that we reap what we sow. A life lived in utter carnality without regard for God's moral order (or basic common sense) will ultimately come to ruin. See Proverbs 11:18; 22:8, Psalm 36: 2 and Romans chapter 1, for starters. I am not singling out Jackson as I see this principle at work every day in the courtroom, but his behavior was lived out very much in the public eye. And now, of course, many would like to re-write his story. With all due respect, God gives everyone enough revelation to turn to Him. A literate, American celebrity, familiar with the Bible, the claims of Christ and the commands of God, has literally no excuse.
If this post sounds a bit more cynical than usual, forgive me. It's not that I'm oblivious to the fact Jackson was a tormented soul. However, much of it was (whether the ever-fickle media now wants to admit it or not) of his own making. I have seen enough real tragedy between the courtroom and the hospitals where I interpret not to have a lot of misplaced sympathy left over for the rich, pampered and idolized. Idolatry is still wrong, no matter who the star is.
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God". - Hebrews 12:2
#1. In the supermarket, you automatically try to add items to your cart by double-clicking them.
#2. You check all of your e-mail accounts, Facebook inbox, and blog's comment box for new messages before your morning coffee has finished brewing.
#3. During worship, you're scoping out the sanctuary for people to add as 'Friend' on Facebook/Myspace .
#4. You desperately wish the Praise team were on YouTube.
#5. Your five-year-old calls from the hallway for help with the bathtub faucet. You mumble, "I'll send you the link and you can do it yourself."
#6. You've listened to more Paul Washer Podcasts than messages from your own pastor.
#7. Your fingers are covered with mouse blisters, and when you wake up in the morning the whites of your eyes look like road maps of Texas.
#8. You don't own a single cookbook, but you have 78 recipes bookmarked.
#9. You know every word John Piper said at this year's Shepherd's Conference in real time, even though it took place two time zones away.
#10. You've exceeded your bandwidth again. You e-mail John Macarthur in frustration, asking him to preach shorter sermons.
#11. It's 5:30 pm, the house is a mess, the laundry is unfolded, and you have no idea what you're making for supper. However, the day is a success as you've thoroughly made a case for historical cessationism on a bulletin board.
#12. You don't know who that Challies.com guy is, but his very existence makes you feel inferior.
#13. Your self-worth is determined by the numbers on your Site Meter.
#14. You love your computer, because your friends live inside it.
#15. While interacting with co-workers, you are mentally constructing them as Meez avatars.
#16. You consider Tweeting, Skyping, and Super-Poking to be perfectly normal things to do to other people.
#17. You quote Wikipedia at cocktail parties.
#18. You realize you haven't prayed in a while, and make a mental note to IM or Skype Jesus later on.
#19. You use E-Sword more than the hard copy.
#20. Your furniture has more dust on it than your laptop monitor.
#21. Texting while driving?? You'd blog while driving, if your aircard worked in the car.
#22. While in line at Disney World, you start to get jittery wondering what RSS feeds you're missing.
#23. You cannot understand why God still doesn't have e-mail. You get up during meals to check yours.
#24. Over 90% of your news and information comes from other people's blogs and embedded YouTube clips.
#25. You can't unload the dishwasher or iron a shirt without your Playlist providing background ambiance.
#26. If you haven't blogged in 48 hours, you start to panic - what if your rankings in the Stat Counter fall, or your regular readers remove you from their blogroll??
#27. You wonder how civilization survived without downloadable clipart, e-zines, and online banking. The idea of driving to the bank to make a transaction seems like an archaic, unreasonable imposition on your time.
#28. In the evenings, you and your husband sit cozily in the living room. Each of you hunched over your respective laptop.
#29. You Skype friends who live 2 miles away from you.
#30. You talk about the Pyro Guys as if you know them personally.
#31. You have burned meals trying to figure out how hard-core of a Dispensationalist you really are.
#32. You lose sleep not knowing why your neighbor un-Friended you.
What symptoms of addiction have I missed?
On that note.....a brief sabbatical is in order. The kids are out of school, and I must get away from this book project long enough to spend time with them.
This is hilarious, in any language.....today my boss at one of the hospitals where I work called me over to show me this (the Polish interpreter had shown it to her, and her reaction was, "I gotta show Marie that!!") This is the funniest thing I've seen all week.
This is a case study in why you should strive to cultivate a little humility - worst case scenario, you might end up an international laughing stock. (If you don't speak English and can't sing, don't do Mariah Carey in public). The exchange, which is subtitled, is taken from Bulgaria's "Music Idol":
And now, Mariah Carey's reaction:
This girl became a big hit in Bulgaria, after taking some English lessons:
At least she has a healthy self-esteem!
This brings up an interesting question in my mind, as my sons are currently watching an obese person fall off of huge rubber balls into mud ("Wipe Out"). Is it morally wrong to laugh at people who go on national TV and make fools of themselves?? I mean, some of these individuals aren't really rocket-scientist material, but really seem to think they're the cat's pajamas. I rarely catch any TV, but when my attention is called to it I invariably notice the high opinions folks tend to have of themselves - without the goods to back it up. Funny stuff.
This has nothing to do with theology, but it was my absolute favorite commercial of all time. In the early '80's, Wendy's aired this spoof on monotony of Soviet life, then pulled it because of the PC police. (Note Lenin portrait in background - yes, they really were everywhere). Recently I stumbled across it on YouTube. I hope it makes you laugh as hard as my husband and I did.
This is the best news I have heard in months. For those of you who don't know, The Newsboys are the best Christian band on the planet (ergo, the best band period). Most of them are Aussies. Several years ago, their guitarist, American Jody Davis, left the group because his infant daughter had serious physical/neurological handicaps and he needed to be with her full-time. Today, the group released news that he will be returning and touring with them soon:
NEWSBOYS ANNOUNCES THE RETURN OF LONG-TIME GUITARIST JODY DAVIS New Single, "In The Hands Of God," Impacts Radio Jan. 16
(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) Jan. 5, 2009— Guitarist Jody Davis returns to newsboys after a five-year hiatus. Davis, who was a member of the band from 1993-2003, contributed to many of newsboys' greatest hits like "Shine," "Entertaining Angels," and "It is You." In 2003, he took time off to care for his daughter, Bethany, who has cerebral palsy.
"I am thrilled to be returning to the band and back with my bandmates, who are some of my best friends," says Davis. "This is a big change in my life, and I'm looking forward to the tour and new record with excitement."
Peter Furler, lead vocalist for newsboys, is also excited about Davis' return. "Jody is like a brother to all of us, and we have missed him greatly over the last five years. It's going to be great to have him back with us."
Paul Colman, who played guitar with newsboys the last three years, will be continuing his solo career and performing shows nationwide in 2009. "My three years with newsboys were among the best of my life. I learned an immeasurable amount about music, ministry, and life, and am happy to say I left with all our friendships wonderfully intact. I always was and always will be one of newsboys' biggest fans. I am very excited about the return of Jody Davis!"
Newsboys will release the title track and debut single, "In The Hands Of God," from its forthcoming May 5, 2009 project to both AC and CHR radio Jan. 16. The band will also embark on a 30-city "Join the Tribe" tour with special guests DecembeRadio, Vota and Bread of Stone in February. Additional tour details are forthcoming. For more information, visit newsboys.com.
Now, if we could just get Phil Joel to rejoin on bass guitar....
The increase of seasonal kitsch catalogues coming in the mail this time of year, coupled with the unavoidable fact that I am on several Christian retailers’ mailing lists calls an ugly trend to my attention that keeps getting uglier every year. It is the trivialization of Christianity and Christ Himself by turning the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” into a commercial marketing opportunity.
In an excellent paper discussing this disturbing cultural phenomenon, author Jared Bridges relates an incident that occurred a few years ago when he accompanied two Eastern European students to a Kentucky Christian bookstore.
“One of the two, Andrei, was a Christian who wanted to visit the store while in America to purchase some Christian music. The other student, Sasha, was an admitted atheist who was merely along for the ride. While Andrei went to a “listening station” to peruse the latest D.C. Talk album, Sasha and I walked around the store, looking at such products as “Bibleman” videos and “Testa-mints” candies. It was then that the atheist Sasha made an observation that is particularly damning to the contemporary evangelical subculture. He said, “Christians in America market God just like everything else. In my country, Christians take God more seriously.” I couldn’t help but sadly agree with him, and I could offer no defense.”
The same has occurred to me, more than once, and my reaction at times has varied. Some of the merchandise marketed as “Christian” is so absurd that my immediate response is to laugh; it appears to satirize itself. The culture war of the Jesus and Darwin fish is one example of this. I remember walking with my family past the window of an upscale boutique in Maine a few years ago and laughing hysterically at the hand-painted, porcelain mouse Nativity set. The idea of portraying Mary, Joseph and the Christ Child as furry mice dressed in period clothing seemed so ridiculous that, at the time, I didn’t stop to ponder the spiritual implications of it.
In the meantime, I have seen Veggie Tales Nativity sets, rubber ducky Nativity sets, Precious Moments Nativity sets, and much more. It gets worse.
Bible action figures? Talking Jesus dolls? That one I had seen in a Christian catalogue; still, seeing the doll “live” in Wal-mart a few weeks ago added a new dimension of creepiness.
Forget purity rings. There are entire lines of abstinence-promoting “Christian” underwear targeted at teens now. Here’s where it gets really weird: there’s stuff like this marketed by atheists, specifically for the purpose of mocking Christians (which I will not link to). It’s getting hard to tell which is which.
Product description: "Blessed are the shopping list scrawlers and the test takers when their pencils are topped with one of these replicas of Jesus. Handsomely detailed with a red robe and arms outstretched in blessing or prayer. Five 1-1/4 inch tall, soft vinyl Jesuses on each illustrated blistercard."
Last year, a colleague showed me a Catholic site that sells porcelain knick-knacks depicting Jesus playing soccer with kids, hockey with kids, etc. It made me cringe – I seriously couldn’t believe anything that stupid could exist. That was before the yearly deluge of evangelical-oriented catalogues arrived – now I can buy anything from Jesus Band-aids and flip-flops to rubber Jesus pencil-toppers. Banal stupidity evidently knows no denominational bounds. However, what’s interesting is that the patrons of businesses which market Jesus Junk (I did not invent that term; do an Internet search), tend to be Protestant Evangelicals.
This is, by and large, the same group that criticizes iconoclasts. I do not know a whole lot about Eastern Orthodox iconography, but I do know that the artwork is not supposed to be realistic – the images are seen as symbolic, rather than representational. More importantly, God looks at the heart behind any kind of tangible object made for His glory. The icons, at least, are created with an attitude of awe, reverence and respect. The same cannot be said of T-shirts and posters that attempt to cleverly link Christ with well-known product lines. Since when did Jesus Christ become a name-brand product to be marketed?
Again, Evangelicals will be quick to criticize the Catholic tradition of displaying the crucifix (“leaving Christ on the Cross”) and turning the symbol into an object of devotion. While there may be some legitimacy to this charge, it is a fact that Catholics are worshiping the crucified, resurrected and living Lord. But more importantly, it is impossible to look at a crucifix, in church or elsewhere, and not recognize the solemn meaning of the symbol. By definition, the crucifix forces one to confront the horror that our Savior endured, and does not seek to obscure or sugar-coat the reality of the atonement. Can the same be said of cutesy Precious Moments cross figurines (as popular with Catholics on First Communions as with Protestants), cross maze games, cross bling-bling, or cross lollipops? (I’m not making this stuff up. See here for some of the cheesiest examples of American evangelicalism gone awry).
Am I the only one who sees this as seriously sick? It’s not funny. Actually, satire is funny. There is much about our American evangelical sub-culture that is rich fodder for insightful comedians, and we deserve to laugh at ourselves. Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” on SNL and Seinfeld’s “You stole my Jesus fish” episode are examples that come to mind. Charlatan televangelists like Mike Murdoch and Benny Hinn SCREAM to be made fun of, and Christian as well as secular comedians cleverly profit from knowing where and how much to skewer the fundies. But here’s where it ends. Marketing God’s Name, much less in such a crass and tasteless way, is beyond disrespectful – it is blasphemous.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and His death on the cross is humanity’s only hope of salvation. Sticking His image on car dash boards and air fresheners is to lose sight of that in a uniquely irreverent way – because these items are ostensibly bearing the label “Christian”. Really? I’m a “Christ-follower” because I wear a WWJD bracelet? In predictable fashion, “Christian” pop-culture annoyingly apes secular pop-culture by coming up with a “spiritual-cool” alternative for every worldly trend – including Twister-style digital dance games. Who cares about living a God-honoring life when you’ve got the latest digital toy – only with CCM tunes? As blogger Jason Janz writes, ‘we have created a subculture’.
Analyzing this appalling trend, Janz cites three reasons for the mass appeal of Christian kitsch: 1) many people trust that wearing Jesus Junk will result in conversions (it won’t); 2) many Christians seem to believe Jesus Junk promotes Christian community (it doesn’t); and 3) many people seem to be in the business because of pure commercialism (true). See his excellent essay here.
Janz writes:
“Does the joining of the holy with the common compromise the message of the cross? We can knock out about half of all Jesus Junk if we just decide not to purchase anything that blends two worlds. Budweiser beer and gambling have never been a friend to grace and to endeavor to meld them into cutesy clichés harms the credibility of the Gospel. You can now purchase poker chips with John 3:16 on one side that says “Don’t Gamble With Eternity.” Then you flip it over, and it quotes Mark 8:36 with the phrase, “Accept Jesus Before You Cash In Your Chips.” This is compromise.”
Yes, it is. But it’s also treading the Name of God underfoot, and in a sense, “pimping the Lord”, to paraphrase a courtroom TV judge. Can you imagine Muslims plastering Muhammad’s likeness on coffee mugs, or carving it into Jack-o-lanterns? And remember, Muhammad was a human prophet. THIS IS THE DIVINE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AND SAVIOR OF MANKIND. This trend is wrong on so many levels that old-fashioned idolatry actually looks more benign when compared to the cross water ring-toss games and Jesus sweatbands and boxer shorts. One Midwestern seminary professor keeps a collection of Jesus Bobble-head dolls to underscore this point.
It could be argued that I, also, am not innocent of this and have supported the Christian kitsch industry with my “Luther is my Homeboy” t-shirt purchase. Truth be told, it was an impulse purchase and if I had really sat down and thought about it, I probably would not have spent $22.00 on a joke that most people don’t even get anyway. (Besides, the historical Luther had an anti-Semitic streak that holds no comic appeal). However, there is a fundamental difference between the theo-geek humor inherent in “Luther is my Homeboy” and the more crass “Jesus is my Homeboy” shirt which I have also seen. The former was a well-meaning, beer-enjoying, passionate guy with his own flaws and failings, just like everyone else. The latter was the sinless Son of God Who died for my sins and deserves my eternal gratitude, reverence and worship. See the difference?
Bridges said it well when he concluded:
“The truth is that kitsch does trivialize God. It is a taking of his name in vain that makes the label “Christian” just another brand name on par with any other. Rather than being transformed, Christians who use kitsch conform to the world by marketing God in the same way that the world does.”
And that, my friends, is the bottom line: trivializing God, diluting the Gospel message, and commercializing our faith is the net result of all this junk. Clearly, someone is buying it, because the manufacturers keep churning it out and the catalogues keep coming, year after year. It is a sad commentary of the frivolous times we live in, when truly nothing is sacred anymore.
These guys are both pastors themselves (as well as sons of pastors) and are being ironic, not mocking:
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.
(Psalm 40:1-3)
