Jesus Paraphernalia

Jesus paraphernalia is everywhere! You can buy Jesus Band-Aids (I will be honest and say I have them in my cupboard at home). You can buy a Jesus bobble head, t-shirt, ashtray, underwear, coat hanger (you hang your coat on Jesus head), pencil topper, and some serious Jesus bling to wear around your neck. The list goes on and on…

I could argue for some of these things theologically: When I put on my Jesus Band-Aid it is a reminder to me that Jesus heals the wounds of the soul. If I were to use the Jesus pencil topper it would be a symbol for how Jesus erases my sins away.

However, the more Buddy Jesus stuff I come across the more disgusted I become. Our culture is turning Jesus into a joke. The truth is, if a good friend and I were in a serious situation where we were close to death and she took the bullet to save my life. I would never create a bobble head in her memory to share with the world – what an insult to the gift of life she restored to me.

Jesus did more for us than any human could do. Jesus renewed our relationship to God to the point that sin no longer has power over us. I can’t help but picture Jesus walking into the temple and turning over the tables. “Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves.” (Matthew 21:12). He is in an uproar at the people for selling doves to make a sacrifice to God. It was an important ritual in the church to offer sacrifice; so why is Jesus so upset? People need to buy a dove before entering the church to be able to “do church correctly.”

Looks like the way we imagine “doing church” isn’t always for God’s glory. It turns into the very thing that distracts us from worshipping God. It is becomes a diversion from the true meaning of salvation given through Christ.

We become more worried about the details of how we worship than true authentic worship. We turn Jesus into an everyday figure on ridiculous gear to possibility make Jesus more known in popular culture. Instead it results in taking away the authenticity of Jesus.

http://jesusgetsaround.com