There’s not much else I can add to these two well-stated calls to authentic discipleship. I’ll only emphasize the importance of personal touch in Jesus’ ministry, something that many Christians tend to avoid. We like our ease and our comfort too much. If we serve “the untouchables” at all, it’s often by proxy.
God, please forgive me for my selfishness and my apathy. Give me the courage to be the disciple you called me to be. Help me to look outward always with compassion in my heart, healing in my hands, and gospel hope in my mouth.
Now hear from pastor Charles M. Sheldon:
Nyoman Darsane, “Give Me a Taste of Rice,” 2004. Acrylic on canvas, 32.5 x 29 in.
“The depth of winter found Chicago presenting, as every great city of the world presents to the eyes of Christendom, the marked contrast between riches and poverty, between refinement, luxury, ease, and ignorance, depravity, destitution and the bitter struggle for bread. It was a hard winter but a gay winter. Never had there been such a succession of parties, receptions, balls, dinners, banquets, fetes, gayeties. Never had the opera and the theatre been so crowded with fashionable audiences. Never had there been such a lavish display of jewels and fine dresses and equipages. And on the other hand, never had the deep want and suffering been so cruel, so sharp, so murderous. Never had the winds blown so chilling over the lake and through the thin shells of tenements in the neighborhood of the Settlement. Never had the pressure for food and fuel and clothes been so urgently thrust up against the people of the city in their most importunate and ghastly form. Night after night the Bishop and Dr. Bruce with their helpers went out and helped save men and women and children from the torture of physical privation. Vast quantities of food and clothing and large sums of money were donated by the churches, the charitable societies, the civic authorities and the benevolent associations. But the personal touch of the Christian disciple was very hard to secure for personal work. Continue reading
“What would Jesus do?” Christians have been asking themselves this question in one form or another since Christianity was founded. But in the 1890s, these four particular words became a household phrase for members of Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas, who heard them preached Sunday after Sunday as the refrain of a series of “sermon stories” by pastor Charles Sheldon.
After these stories were published in 1896, “What Would Jesus Do?” became a worldwide trend among churches. The book sold millions of copies. A century later, the phrase became a secular craze, after being reduced to the acronym “WWJD” and printed on bracelets.
Now the phrase is a snowclone, which you can find adapted to everything from “What Would Jesus Drive?”, to “Who Would Jesus Bomb?”, to “What Would Bear (Grylls) Do?”. Most recently, it has been used as a slogan for the Occupy Wall Street movement. _____________________________________________________________
In His Steps is born
The imatio Christi ideal—imitating Jesus in his purposes, thoughts, and behavior—is as old as Jesus himself. “Follow me,” Jesus told his would-be disciples; “do as I do.” This idea is repeated throughout the New Testament. Continue reading
Here’s a transcription of the text on the T-shirt (the font is a bit hard to read):
Jesus was more Goth than you.
– he is referred to as Lord Jesus.
– he was into fishnet.
– he went to dens of iniquity.
– he had the gaunt look down.
– he was big on crucifixes.
– he was into body piercing.
– he was fascinated with the occult.
– he spent time in tombs.
– he was secretly a vampire.
– he was obsessed with Death.
Found at EvolveFish.com.
(AP Photo / Francois Mori)
This photo was taken December 14, 2008, in Issy Les Moulineaux, Paris, France, at the annual Christmas Corrida Race.
A pregnant Mary, or a Mary with a baby stroller, would have been more timely… but I like the sentiment!
Catch the reference?
Found at snorgtees.com.
Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)
Jesus Christ was born for all people of all times. To illustrate this truth, Christians around the world often depict him as coming into their own culture, in the present time. The Italians, whose visual language was predominant during the Renaissance, did it. In fact, when you think “Nativity,” you probably think of the church art from that age and country—not because it offers the most legitimate representations (they are no more “accurate” than the ones below), but because the Church held particular sway at that time, in that place.
Well, the center of Christianity has shifted; it is no longer in the West. And thus if we were to survey the Christian art being produced today, we would see that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and the settings they inhabit, have a much different look. We’d see Mary dressed in a sari or a hanbok; we’d see Jesus wrapped in buffalo skin, or silk. We’d see lizards and kangaroos instead of oxes and asses.
Historical accuracy is not the point; the point is to see Jesus as the Savior of your own people, as incarnated very close to you, and relevant to life today.
Here are nineteen contextualizations of the Nativity painted within the last century. Each work brings Jesus into a different place, in order to emphasize the universality of his birth.
USA:
James B. Janknegt, Nativity, 1995. Oil on canvas, 57 x 82 cm.
Crow Nation (Montana-based tribe):
John Guiliani, Mary Gives Birth to Jesus, 1999. From The Crow Series.
Guatemala:
John Giuliani, Guatemalan Nativity, 1990s.
This clip is from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). I’m not recommending the movie (I’ve never seen it myself), but I think that this scene is telling of how people relate to Jesus.
Ricky Bobby “likes the Christmas Jesus best,” so he addresses his prayers to “dear tiny, infant Jesus,” or “dear baby God.” When his wife chides him at the dinner table for saying grace to a baby instead of to the grown-up Jesus, he responds that she’s allowed to pray to whatever Jesus she wants, but that he’s partial to the baby version.
The other table guests chime in with their favorite Jesuses: Ricky’s friend Cal says that he likes to picture Jesus as a partier, or as a rock star. His son Walker likes to picture him as a ninja fighting off bad guys. Their Jesuses like what they like, or are what they want to be.
Perhaps Ricky likes baby Jesus the best because he’s less threatening as a baby. Don’t a lot of us prefer to view Jesus as small, soft, and cuddly?
Every December, there are handfuls of churches and Christian organizations that put out advertisements to spark discussion about the true meaning of Christmas. Here are two from this year, both of which were unveiled last week and have gotten a considerable amount of press.
Mary is in the pink
This poster was made by St.-Matthew-in-the-City, an Anglican church in Auckland, New Zealand, for display as a billboard outside its church building. It was destroyed yesterday by an angry protestor, who called it—get this—“luciferian!” Continue reading
The Jesus Question 