Apparently a few groups in South Carolina are trying to pass some of those specialty plates (or "tags") for cars. You know, the license plates that shout "I like this," "I support this," or, "I'm one of these." These tags beg people to judge you before they meet you. People already judge you by your car, but they have more matter for judgment if your license plate says "United We Stand, "No More Homeless Pets," "NASCAR," "Nurses Care," or "In God We Trust."
Oops, my bias is showing.
Really, these plates are little different from wearing clothes with words on them. Tacky or not, the plates are quite the rage among diverse peoples, many states having hundreds from which to choose. Recently a South Carolina vetoed a Christian plate, apparently similar to one a group in Florida also tried to pass.
As you probably know, these plates cost more and the extra money goes to some organization. I only read a few articles on the South Carolina plate and did not find out to whom the money would go. It sounds like the Florida plate would fund Christian schools.
In all three of the articles I read (Slow down your research Trevar! Three articles?), the slant was separation of church and state. A government plate with a religious message. Government funds side-by-side with religious funds. I do see a potential issue with separation of church and state, which is a good thing, if memory serves me correctly. My soap box has little to do with history and legislation though. I'll let you think about church and state before and after Constantine, before and after the protestant reformation, and before and after the settling of the Americas.
My beef (or eggplant, if you prefer) is with the plate and the people pushing it forward.
If memory serves me correctly, Jesus told us to carry the cross. He didn't tell us to put a small cross on wheels and lead it around town. He told us to carry it. And let's be honest, if we don't read that text metaphorically, then we need to be so religiously and politically revolutionary that everyone--not "the Jews," not "the Romans," but everyone--will kill you on a tree, lynched, crucified, or otherwise. Maybe this "less" metaphorical interpretation isn't such a bad one, after all.
If we put crosses or the "I Believe" message on our cars, we damn-well better be the best, most conscientious, and nice driver ever (please don't be offended by my use of "damn," I thought it a very apt word in this instance, drawing on the curse as referring to a judgmental God who damns people). Jesus didn't cut people off, hold people up by driving too slow, drive too fast because he was late, or fail to let people go ahead of him. And let's not even think about driving gas-guzzlers or a car so nice that it draws attention to our economic status. If the cross has anything to do with economics, it is not with privilege. Also, let's start picking up hitchhikers, offering people rides, and paying for all the gas when we let people borrow our cars.
And if we believe in the "cause" that plate would financially promote, why don't we just give money? We are asked to give without expecting anything in return (Luke 6:30-36 ... yeah, that's straight from the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible). We give time and money and don't expect t-shirts, license plates, or time and money. If we get those things, fine. Take them and be glad. But we do not need to be conned into giving money to a good cause if it is a good cause.
Separation of church and state is a good, big issue about which to be concerned, but it isn't the whole story. And even though I don't wear (what I judge) pithy sayings on my person, I am far from being the audience of this judgmental blog.
Buying Christianity cheapens grace. We all do it. I have a Project (RED) t-shirt. I give money to the organized church I attend--money that comes back to me in the form of comfortable chairs, air conditioning (and occasionally heat), electricity, water, soap, paper towels, a janitor, coffee and donuts, the upkeep on pianos and a beautiful organ.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be (Matthew 6:21). For better or worse, our hearts are tied to our wallets. Sometimes we send our wallets to test the water. And perhaps our hearts never follow the treasure.
Sometimes I don't even send my wallet. I, too, cheapen grace, day by day.
Forgive us, O Lord, for we have sinned. Have mercy on us in the form of inspiration to jump into love with heart and wallet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8353598.stm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gYuJ5cTgLZaXlvNJajXC5jJ5B33gD9BSV0D00
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9083RK80&show_article=1
Showing posts with label Jesus Sells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Sells. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Jesus Sells?
Driving down the street today, I noticed a sign I've noticed and ignored many times before. It is a terribly busy sign and I'm positive most people can't read the whole thing as they are driving by, unless they are stopped to turn at the intersection.
The sign is on a white background with black and red letters. The sign's main gist is advertising a local plumber. On the sign is the man's or the company's name, the question, "Need a plumber?", and a phone number. Probably a few other scattered statements are on the sign--perhaps any specialty services this specific plumber does.
This sign is a rectangle, like every other sign. But it goes outside of the box. On top of the sign is a wooden cross, also painted white. On the cross are the words "Jesus loves you" criss-crossing with the directions of the cross.
I cannot tell you why the plumber put that cross and those words on his signs. Guessing at his intentions are a judgment I do not want to make, lest I, too, be judged. But, I can tell you a few different outcomes for that cross.
First, community and alterity are produced--the "us" and "them," whether fortunate or not, whether positive or negative. The plumber asks the reader to think, "Hey, that plumber is a Christian," either "like me," or "not like me."
If you are not a Christian, you may care less whether or not your plumber is a Christian, especially when your sink won't shut off and is flooding your second-floor bathroom. But you'll remember after you call, if not before, that your plumber is the plumber with the cross above the sign. Your plumber is the Christian. Any mistake that plumber makes, any attitude, any pricey charges will not reflect simply that plumber, but Christianity as the customer knows it. No person is perfect, Christians included, but when we go over the top to identify ourselves (literally), those who perceive will go over the top to associate us with Christianity.
If you are a Christian, you might end up comparing your flavor of Christianity with the plumber's (as I did, unfortunately). You may seek out another plumber, for any number of reasons, from "witnessing" to price and quality of work. Or, you might choose the Christian plumber, because you and the plumber are part of the Church. You want to support other Christians, to be one with them, to show them love. You'll call the Christian plumber even if the price is a little steep, the quality not the best, or the manners not the kindest.
Now, the plumber might be one of the best, kindest, cheapest plumbers ever. But if the plumber carries the cross, then I don't understand why the sign needs to. I said I wanted not to judge, but I can barely keep myself from guessing that plumber has genuine, loving intentions, however misguided.
You see, whatever the plumber's intentions, the advertisement bears the cross, not the plumber. Instead of a Jesus who saves, we see a Jesus who sells. In some cases, Jesus sells shoddy work and a bad reputation. In other cases, Jesus is an unwilling marketing tool for an unwitting plumber. Jesus is no gimmick. Jesus is not an advertisement. Jesus is the Christ.
===
Now, friends, what are we to do when we approach such a situation? Jesus walked into the temple and was outraged when he saw people using God's name in vain by forcing people to be cheated of their money. He overturned their tables. When Jesus saw injustice, he called it out. "What would Jesus do?"
As I'm sure you're aware, I'm no messiah. It doesn't seem my place to call the plumber and ask to discuss religion over coffee. I have no relationship with the plumber and, therefore, no basis upon which to have a meaningful discussion.
Meanwhile, that sign is trying to carry the cross of my Jesus. And Jesus told his disciples they would do greater things. Does that statement include me?
I feel justified to be upset. Could I leave a large note on the sign? Could I send a letter? Could I have a discussion over coffee? Or do I allow the plumber to interpret Christianity without my input and I with the plumber's input (as discussions happen two-ways, after all, and I do not pretend to have the only right interpretation).
The sign is on a white background with black and red letters. The sign's main gist is advertising a local plumber. On the sign is the man's or the company's name, the question, "Need a plumber?", and a phone number. Probably a few other scattered statements are on the sign--perhaps any specialty services this specific plumber does.
This sign is a rectangle, like every other sign. But it goes outside of the box. On top of the sign is a wooden cross, also painted white. On the cross are the words "Jesus loves you" criss-crossing with the directions of the cross.
I cannot tell you why the plumber put that cross and those words on his signs. Guessing at his intentions are a judgment I do not want to make, lest I, too, be judged. But, I can tell you a few different outcomes for that cross.
First, community and alterity are produced--the "us" and "them," whether fortunate or not, whether positive or negative. The plumber asks the reader to think, "Hey, that plumber is a Christian," either "like me," or "not like me."
If you are not a Christian, you may care less whether or not your plumber is a Christian, especially when your sink won't shut off and is flooding your second-floor bathroom. But you'll remember after you call, if not before, that your plumber is the plumber with the cross above the sign. Your plumber is the Christian. Any mistake that plumber makes, any attitude, any pricey charges will not reflect simply that plumber, but Christianity as the customer knows it. No person is perfect, Christians included, but when we go over the top to identify ourselves (literally), those who perceive will go over the top to associate us with Christianity.
If you are a Christian, you might end up comparing your flavor of Christianity with the plumber's (as I did, unfortunately). You may seek out another plumber, for any number of reasons, from "witnessing" to price and quality of work. Or, you might choose the Christian plumber, because you and the plumber are part of the Church. You want to support other Christians, to be one with them, to show them love. You'll call the Christian plumber even if the price is a little steep, the quality not the best, or the manners not the kindest.
Now, the plumber might be one of the best, kindest, cheapest plumbers ever. But if the plumber carries the cross, then I don't understand why the sign needs to. I said I wanted not to judge, but I can barely keep myself from guessing that plumber has genuine, loving intentions, however misguided.
You see, whatever the plumber's intentions, the advertisement bears the cross, not the plumber. Instead of a Jesus who saves, we see a Jesus who sells. In some cases, Jesus sells shoddy work and a bad reputation. In other cases, Jesus is an unwilling marketing tool for an unwitting plumber. Jesus is no gimmick. Jesus is not an advertisement. Jesus is the Christ.
===
Now, friends, what are we to do when we approach such a situation? Jesus walked into the temple and was outraged when he saw people using God's name in vain by forcing people to be cheated of their money. He overturned their tables. When Jesus saw injustice, he called it out. "What would Jesus do?"
As I'm sure you're aware, I'm no messiah. It doesn't seem my place to call the plumber and ask to discuss religion over coffee. I have no relationship with the plumber and, therefore, no basis upon which to have a meaningful discussion.
Meanwhile, that sign is trying to carry the cross of my Jesus. And Jesus told his disciples they would do greater things. Does that statement include me?
I feel justified to be upset. Could I leave a large note on the sign? Could I send a letter? Could I have a discussion over coffee? Or do I allow the plumber to interpret Christianity without my input and I with the plumber's input (as discussions happen two-ways, after all, and I do not pretend to have the only right interpretation).
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