Welcome

Welcome

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Smiling Jesus On A Parade Float?

OK, I’ve got to think about this one for a bit, so forgive the rambling. 

My first take when I saw Jesus standing on this year’s Rose Parade float and waving to the crowds with a big smile on his face was “oh no, this as just too tacky and commercial.”  I suppose that was a bit like what pastors and members thought so many years ago when kids wanted to play folk and rock music with religious themes in church on Sunday.  Has it been beneficial to the growth of our congregations today?  Perhaps it has, though I think the jury is still out on that one.   Do they come to church to hear a rock concert or to worship and learn the word of God?  Or, is it like offering free donuts if you come in the door…just a come on to get you there?  I bet Muslims would never allow a depiction of Mohammed waving from a float in the Rose Parade.  Their order and type of service is not allowed to EVER change.  They seem to be doing quite well in the numbers category judging by the size of their congregations.  Still, is that kind of rigid approach right either?

So, back to the float:  Did a depiction of Jesus help or hurt the cause of Christianity?  In one way I think any presentation of Christ raises the consciousness and curiosity of the viewer, but is this one effective?  For that matter, is a cross on a hill or the manger scene in front of the church on Christmas even effective?  I don’t know, but I keep coming back to the key element that I do know that works and that is reaching out personally to those who don’t know Jesus.  Relationship is the only truly effective means of communicating our faith in the world today.  People judge its relevance by how they see us live our lives and whether we care about them.  If we are insulated in Church on Sunday, we can’t be the Christians we are supposed to be.  Jesus said “GO…” he didn’t say, sit and think or build me a monument.  Go means go.  Wherever you are.  That might be to the desk next to you at work, or it might mean a soggy jungle in deepest Africa.  Do we show that our beliefs make us any different from the rest of society in a way that is to be admired and valued, and do we do any good for the rest of the world around us? 

I remember the words of a noted atheist writer John Steinrucken who said: “Although I am a secularist (atheist, if you will), I accept that the great majority of people would be morally and spiritually lost without religion. Can anyone seriously argue that crime and debauchery are not held in check by religion? Is it not comforting to live in a community where the rule of law and fairness are respected? Would such be likely if Christianity were not there to provide a moral compass to the great majority? Do we secularists not benefit out of all proportion from a morally responsible society? An orderly society is dependent on a generally accepted morality. There can be no such morality without religion. Has there ever been a more perfect and concise moral code than the one Moses brought down from the mountain?”

We need to take that code and the rest of our words from the Bible and turn them into actions with the people we encounter.  We need to GO!  Maybe that is what the guy who stood on the float was doing in his own way this New Years morning. 

Show the love of Christ. Go!

No comments:

Post a Comment