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4/21/2004
Jesus is My Homeboy T-Shirt Debate
 Funny, I'd actually planned on writing about this a few weeks back, but other things took precedence. However, Joe Carter, over at the evangelical outpost has once again broached the subject with his most recent post, "Jesus Ain't My Homeboy". I realize I take an un-popular stance regarding a quite popular shirt. See Joe's post for context, however, I'll excerpt a part here:…The idea of Jesus as our "friend" is deeply rooted in our particular religious culture. Our lack of reverence expresses itself in everything from our worship to our evangelism. How many times, for instance, have we seen an earnest Christian approach someone (including us) and ask, "Do you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior?"
While intended as a means of carrying out the Great Commission, the question is asking something else entirely. In essence, it's asking whether we possess God rather than whether God possess us. By claiming God as our "personal" friend we are putting him in the same category as our "personal trainers" and "personal assistants", people who serve us, rather than someone whom we are expected to serve. When Jesus becomes someone we can befriend he becomes someone we can take lightly.
Jesus, however, is not my homeboy. He is not my friend or my buddy. Christ is my master, my redeemer, my Lord and my God. I actually think Joe makes some good points in his post. I think where I disagree is on the notion that Jesus Christ cannot be called our "friend". That's just not Biblical. And he later admitted he maybe took a tangent too far on that point. I also disagree with his take on the idea of using the name of Jesus in different mediums. Although, I understand his premise for the critique, I had to put on my 22-year-old, rebellious generation, youth hat and speak accordingly. Check out the dialogue taking place in the comments. Maybe I'll write something later. But this topic is really a symptom of a greater debate. I think the elephant's crept into the room at this point.
posted by ambra at 4/21/2004 12:56:09 PM | link to this entry |
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