Occasio

Take the Plastic Christ out of Christmas

This is too good to pass up commenting on. Toys for Tots has rejected a donation of 4,000 Jesus dolls. It's all over the news feeds today (Boston Herald, CNN). The Jesus doll retails for $20 and recites six different verses, bringing the good news to any child within hearing. See the doll for yourself in this video.

The charges are already flying. Robert Marley of the Coalition to Save Christmas in Massachusetts says, “This is just more proof that there’s a war on Christmas and Christianity in this country.” Obviously it's a conspiracy.

Bill Grein of Toys for Tots says they don't want to risk offending Jewish or Muslim families who might receive the doll. That makes sense.

This morning in class my students noticed immediately that this Jesus is very white and seems to be blue-eyed. Very astute.

Regardless of whether Jews and Muslims are offended, I can't understand why Christians aren't. This doesn't have anything to do with the Christ I want to keep in Christmas. This is just another plastic manifestation of a plastic faith passed off as a witnessing strategy.

 

Does anyone else think this looks like Val Kilmer?

Update: it appears that Toys for Tots is now going to accept the Jesus dolls saying the "issue has been resolved." My guess is that they'll hand them off to a Christian agency. Here's the article.

I still think this Jesus looks like Val Kilmer.

 

We Are Sinking

Play the video then read on.

Funny stuff!

I was struck after watching this clip that we laugh because it is so true. How many different contexts do we move through each day with the potential to misunderstand each other? Poor communication routinely happens in the church. As a pastor, I think I have said something clearly, but it is heard with meaning that I never intended. This is particularly true of conversation between moderns and postmoderns. These groups have to work hard to understand each other. There is a need for the gift of interpretation, not of tongues, but of cultural languages. I have often seen myself as a translator – someone who has grown up in a very modern context but seeks to learn and engage in the postmodern conversation.

This video also reminds me of the difficulty the church faces when trying to understand the culture around it. As the world shifts, so do the cultural frameworks. The church as a whole has maintained the framework of a modern era, a paradigm that worked very well for hundreds of years. But in the last 50 or so years North American culture has changed. Just look at the development of technology, global economy, communications, medicine, etc.

Church and culture are now speaking two different languages. Furthermore, the church is often giving answers to the questions of a previous language and culture, unaware that the questions have changed.

The culture asks, “What is the meaning of life?”

The church answers, “Read these four laws and pray this prayer.”

“What is the difference between Jesus, Muhammad and Buddha?”

“We use hymnals,” or, “We only sing choruses.”

“How can I find a job when I can’t afford childcare?”

“We meet on Sundays at 10.”

“Where can we get some food?”

“We’ll pray for you.”

“We Africans are dying of AIDS; can you help?”