For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
Some of the residents of Lubbock, Texas have their shorts in a knot over sixty billboards (they don't do things small in Texas) which depict a tattooed Jesus covered in bold words such as addicted, hated, outcast, faithless and jealous. They are the work of an non-denominational organization called --you guessed it -- Jesus Tattoo. http://jesustattoo.org/
Media relations coordinator for Jesus Tattoo, Ashleigh Sawyer, said the organization’s campaign has no hidden agenda and means no harm. She said the billboards are not about tattoos as many may think. The group is only trying to convey a message of love and acceptance. Sawyer says the message is simple, “The love of Jesus is transformative and he loves people unconditionally. It doesn’t matter what you have been marked with; love for others and faith in him can transform us all.”
Well, there is a suspicious sounding message if ever I heard one! Of course some find the billboards sacrilegious and offensive. Um, have people forgotten how offensive the crucifixion is? As someone with a couple of religious tattoos I find this ad campaign intriguing.
Years ago I borrowed a life-size crucifix from a minister/artist acquaintance. The cross beams were two steel construction girders, the crown of thorns was barbed wire, and the body was papier mache with headlines of painful circumstances from around the globe: "behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." I used it during Lent and Holy Week in two congregations. Some people were deeply moved. Others were unsettled to the point that they just couldn't look at it. I'm sure there were a few who were offended. It seems like a very similar visual message, wouldn't you say?
Is this just too much, too "in your face?" Is it a sacrilege or an invitation to see the crucifixion in a different light?
I love it - it is what I believe Jesus to have been here for!
ReplyDeleteThe message of the cross is to provoke us out of our comfort zones and our complacency. This image seems to do a pretty good job of doing that.
ReplyDeleteCrucifixion is an awfull way to die
ReplyDeleteI have been in chruches where on Good friday one minister read an article which went into great depth what happens to a body when they are crucified. It was very distrurbing an our kids were much yonger then and were affected by it. when I asked the minister why her choice was this material she said it was good my kids were distrubed cause her point was made. circle to now and society with distrubing video games this picture of Jesus all tatooed up seems not so scarey. We need to see the pain we need to see see the suffering so that we can accept and understand what act was done for our souls.
Read about a Lutheran minister recently who had tattooed her faith story onto her arms over the years. Interestingly, some portions she had tattooed over as her living faith evolved and matured. I liked the comment she made after she got her first tattoo, in an era where "respectable" young women just didn't do tattoos.....she liked the religious symbolism of the tattoo she had chosen, but what became even more meaningful of her tattoo was the fact that it set her apart from what she referred to as her "tribe"......the comfortable,conservative church family she was a part of....which she realized wasn't "enough" for her anymore. Her faith grew into a deeper, grittier story that set her apart at times....rebel was a word she used....uncomfortable....her story tweaked in me the inclination for church families to slip into those comfortable places of good wholesome church life, which is all good, but not the whole story of what we are called to do and be.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all of you for the comments. We seem to agree that our interpretations of the cross have become a little too tame, or non-existent.
ReplyDeleteThe Lutheran pastor you mention Laura may be Nadia Bolz-Weber. I am reading her edgy, fascinating auto-biography and I will probably blog about it soon.