You know what we really should be talking about? Jesus Christ’s Twitter profile picture. The fact that
Jesus Christ—the temporal, human manifestation of eternal, esoteric truth—even
has a Twitter page—the forum for #firstworldprobs—blows my mind, but the fact
that
that is his profile picture seals the deal.
This unique conception of Jesus argues that the Jesus is
just one of your peeps, or maybe he’s your dad who thinks he’s funny. Either
way, he’s just a regular guy who uses Pantene shampoo and Colgate Advanced
Whitening toothpaste. And who doesn’t love a guy with luscious locks and
minty-fresh breath? Or a guy who looks like Johnny Depp? His boyish smile and
his thumbs up with a wink appeal to the reader’s pathos. Jesus is your
friend—not your teacher.
It’s difficult to imagine that this Jesus walked the streets
of Nazareth with his 12 favorite students or that he taught at the local
synagogue. Instead, he seems to be pointing to his buddies saying, “Yeah, I’m
cool. I died for you, bro,” appealing the ethos of his audience. “He’s one of
us,” say the teenaged Twitter users, “Yeah man, I’m picking up what you’re
throwing down.” But do I, as a Christian, want a Jesus who acts like a teenaged boy? If I need
that kind of person in my life, my cup overfloweth.
This depiction of Jesus troubles me. Why
should we depict God in our own image? Shouldn’t Christians instead strive to
replicate his? The essence of Jesus is love and compassion. Is that what this depiction argues? Maybe. I guess your pal Jesus might be a bro and spot you a couple bucks to buy soda at the movies, but this Jesus doesn't look like he came to
"proclaim good news to the poor" and "set the oppressed free." By portraying Jesus as just one of the guys, we trivialize his
authority--we make him more palatable for our shallow society. By using this commercialized, watered-down version of Jesus, we make
Jesus stand for our temporal society when Jesus actually stands for transcendence, compassion, love, and peace.
zBut really, can anyone produce an accurate portrayal of something as out of
this world as Jesus Christ?
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http://www.amazon.com/Trimmery-Animals-Manger-Christian-Christmas/dp/B00GT2PMYW
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Honestly, none of these pictures are doing it for me. On the contrary, I find some of them a bit creepy. Each depiction of Jesus argues something different about who he is, but none offer a complete picture. So do I think that it's wrong to draw or paint or portray Jesus? No, but I think that we should be cognizant of the arguments different depictions make about the nature of Jesus.
I do wholeheartedly agree with you. Actually, even from a completely secular perspective, I think that this is just blasphemous to try to bring Jesus down to man's level. If I were God, I'd be insulted.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, I did follow one of those Jesus Christ accounts on Twitter for a while, but eventually I unfollowed it due to lack of originality in its content, and also because I just saw it as disrespectful.
But even more, a force as powerful as God is simply cannot be defined in any human artistic way--no matter how beautiful the painting of Jesus' face, it will always pale in comparison to the divinity that God is.
I'm interested in the connection between this "Bro Jesus" and the modern megachurch phenomenon. Churches with basketball courts, contemporary music groups, club activities have really drawn a lot of people to Christian churches in the last 20 years. Is it better to draw more people into the fold to make the message of Christianity more widely accepted, or keep a sharp focus on the--often really tough--essence of Christianity?
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this "Bro Jesus" with a twitter account is pretty disturbing. People portraying Christ as a "bro" is just disrespectful to the basis of Christianity, regardless of one's beliefs.It would be highly frowned upon if there were Twitter accounts made of Buddha or Muhammad, but why does this casual portrayal of Jesus attract such little disapproval or attention from the general public? It seems that, in general, Christianity has lost the basic respect that all religions deserve from other people- and has been turned into something to joke about.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who identifies as secular, I, too, am offended by the "bro-Jesus." I consider it quite disrespectful to, in a way, water down Jesus. I don't have a twitter anymore, but I do recall seeing those tweets. With twitter being such an accessible form of social media for so many people, it becomes so readily avaible for people to see this tainted form of a religious icon. I was raised in a Catholic family, so I'm aware of how holy and highly regarded He is. I know my parents would also be offended by this account. It's upsetting for people to turn something that is, in Catholicism (as I learned in my many years of Sunday school), part of the Holy Trinity, should be minimized to the form of a twitter account. I believe that it is disrespectful to belittle any relgious symbols/figureheads/icons, and this certainly does so in my opinion.
ReplyDelete