If Jesus Heals The Lame, Explain This.
Monday, September 7, 2009 at 9:00AM There's a boxed game sitting on a low shelf, mostly out of view, in a local Christian bookstore. It would appear that the store has no real grand scheme to promote this product. The truth is that they don't have any such aspirations. The reason I know this is because in addition to my life as a pastor and all the other ministry stuff, I have been part of this retail company since before it began. This means that I've been to many industry trade shows, seen all the catalogues, and met all of the sales reps. In fact, I can tell you why this box sits in such a lowly state. We never really wanted to sell it. To be truthful, if not for the fact that we were awarded the title of "Store of The Year" one fateful evening,with its added benefits of free product shipped to us from various Christian companies, we would never have to look at this game every day. I recall first seeing this game in a catalogue, as my colleague and I stared transfixed at the inherit beauty that lies in something so “bad”, promising ourselves we would never carry it.
The Staff Love It!
Let me explain. This game, aptly named “Salvation Challenge”, gives each player one million dollars in “Kingdom Cash” with the goal to give it away. What must you do before you give this cash away? Why, get saved of course! Now I realize that you must be on the edge of your seat with one question on your eager mind; “WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?” Well it’s really quite a process, so pay attention. FIRST, you must land on the cross. Of course. If you by any chance believe this to be the extent of your obligation in order to be born again, you would be extremely wrong. Once you’ve landed on the cross, you must say “Jesus Save Me”, and then, and only then will you place a sticker on your forehead, go to the river Jordan to be baptized and be permitted to give $50,000 to the missionary fund. That’s right, I said place a sticker on your forehead. While you may be content with simply giving $50,000 to missionaries, don’t forget that the point of this game is to give all of your cash away. If you want to give more after your dramatic “conversion experience”, then you could “stand up and shout at the top of your lungs, ‘Jesus Save Me’” and you would be able to give $250,000 away. The third option is much more sinister. If you refuse to say “Jesus Save Me”, you will proceed to the Deliverance Ministry square and take a card. Trust me, you don’t want to go to the Deliverance Ministry square.
Do you think you have the hang of it? Well hold on one second there, my eager friend. Here’s the tricky part; blessings are bad. You’ve read correctly, they are bad news. It’s really quite logical really, your goal is to give all of your money away. For someone to “bless” you with a “love gift” works against your goal. If you make a wrong move in this game, you are in danger of being “blessed” by other players giving you a $20,000 “love gift. Oh the horror. Here’s how you, God forbid, could be “blessed”:
- Do not stand up when required.
- Do not clap & rejoice when a player gets “saved”.
- Do not stay silent when a speaker is speaking
- Do not display your money clearly on the table
Among the highlights are the “Heresy Square” where, when landed upon, all players must shout “HERESY!” before sending the player to the “Deliverance Square”. The best part is, that this game advertises itself as a game where you can “invite an unsaved friend”. Because pointing and shouting “heretic” at a potential seeker is one of the best ways to win them over. Let’s not forget the “Praise and Worship Square” where all “Saved” players must stand up and “sing a short hymn, chorus, or carol to the glory of God”. Warning; no “unsaved” players may join in. It would be in your best interest to join in the singing, my friend. You wouldn’t want to be “blessed”.
This is just one of many examples of merchandise in the Christian world that many of us would categorize as “cheesy” or “lame”, and we might not be far off. Scripture socks, Christian chapstick, and movies that shouldn’t have made it to Beta. As my boss says, “we need to police ourselves” in the products we choose to carry. Although we admittedly carry products that the staff find less than desirable, there is certainly a line of ridiculousness that we will not willingly cross. All of these things tempt us to take a position of spiritual snobbery that allows us to view ourselves as somehow more sophisticated in our application of just what products need to be “Christianized”. The problem is, while a discerning spirit is of great value and there is a definite distaste associated with turning Jesus into a brand, I believe we at times overstep the areas that God has asked us to judge.
A friend of mine once posed the question, smirk affixed on their face, “what would Jesus think of this stuff”, and my immediate reaction was to roll my eyes and scoff. My next reaction, which should have been my first, was to actually consider the question. What would Jesus think about this stuff? On one hand, we can picture Him clearing the temple with a homemade whip, driving the merchants and moneychangers out of the temple. It’s important to remember, however, that these folks had not only set up in the temple, they were “thieves”. Their excessive pricing and exchange rates was designed for the single purpose of taking a larger slice of the money that was meant for God. Blatantly ripping sincere worshippers off did not sit well with our Lord, who was consumed with zeal for the house of God. It’s easy and even amusing to criticize the makers of some of these Christian products until you go to a trade show and meet them face to face. Sure, at times it may be a major company producing mass amounts of products, stamping scriptures on a cheaply made product, for which I have little sympathy. Often, however, it is one or two people who had such a passion to share the good news about Jesus in the best way they know how that they poured their lives into creating an instrument to achieve this goal. At this point, it becomes increasingly difficult to scoff despite the “cheesiness” of their product.
I remember how my friend and I laughed without end at the strange experience of seeing the Precious Moments headquarters in Carthage, Missouri after closing time. After dark, all of those already creepy Precious Moments figures take on a new level of strange. Upon viewing the chapel, I pitied the men that were forced to be married here and forever be reminded that the greatest day of their life was surrounded by Precious Moments figures. Would they be able to show the wedding photos without embarrassment? Just at that moment, a plaque outside the chapel caught my eye. It was from the creator of the Precious Moments line describing how he hoped this chapel would bring peace and the love of Christ to any who would visit. Don’t get me wrong, I still thought the place was incredibly amusing, but I also had a new perspective on the man who created it. He didn’t seem money-hungry or like a man looking to take advantage of unsuspectingly gullible Christians. This was his way of sharing what he felt inside. While I still would not want one of the figures in my home, I hold no malice towards them. Someone enjoys them, and that’s something.
Back to the question of what Jesus would think, we have to ask why the products or music or websites wouldn’t be cheesy to Him. Heaven is full of beauty which would outshine our finest pieces of art. The simplest melody of the angels is surely more complex and perfect than our grandest symphonies. By those standards, anything we create would fall under heaven’s measure of quality. If He enjoys our songs, our prayers, our art, then He must look past how dignified, sophisticated, original, or professional our work seems to our untrained eyes. He must look at the heart of the worshipper, at the core reason that you felt the desire to create. If we want to become like Him, perhaps it’s time we make a concerted effort to do the same. Sure, sometimes we must laugh at ridiculous religious merchandise in order to keep ourselves from crying in horror, but perhaps we can also save ourselves from the error of overstepping our authority to judge the heart. As the apostle Paul so eloquently stated, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.”
Reader Comments (3)
Very well said. (And funny too!)
I have been reading your blog now for quite a long time and really love it. I don't know if it's your style or not , but do you think you could perhaps do a post on the oil spill in the gulf?
I love your thoughts and opinions, and would love to see your comments on this sad event.
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