Saturday, July 29, 2017

Riding Piggyback on Jesus


Jesus is famous. Jesus is loved. Jesus receives a lot of attention. 

Sometimes internet posters ride piggyback on Jesus' fame and love and attention. 

Joe Internet wants to say something that will receive a lot of attention.

If Joe Internet says, "I support Obamacare," who will care? 

Joe Internet could say, "Jesus supports Obamacare," and suddenly he gets five hundred replies to his post. 

Joe is riding piggyback on Jesus. He's using Jesus' high profile to enhance his own. 

I don't begrudge Joe's need for attention. I want attention, too. 

Often people who don't like Christ, Christians, or Christianity ride piggyback on Jesus. They attempt to tear Christianity down by attributing false quotes to Jesus. They insist that Jesus said things he never said, and did things he never did. 

I ran across such a post the other day. It was followed by many other posts by people who don't like Christ, Christians, or Christianity insisting that they know everything there is to know about Jesus. 

We've all heard the claims: Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had ten kids and their descendants are living in France today. Except that Jesus never actually existed. (That a man who never actually existed managed to have ten kids whose descendants are living in France today is in itself pretty miraculous.) 

Jesus never wanted to form a religion. Jesus would hate modern Christians. There's a secret Gospel, known only to the elite, that, if word got out, would smash Christianity to smithereens. Jesus this Jesus that. 

Again, if you say, "I think that ... " maybe your mother will listen. 

If you say, "Jesus thought that ... " suddenly you get a lot of attention. 

It's riding piggyback on Jesus to raise your own height. 

Funny thing. One of the folks in this internet discussion admires the late rock star, David Bowie. 

I said, "David Bowie once advised his fans to snort coke till their septums melted." This Bowie fan, who was embracing misquoting Jesus, was *very offended* at my misquoting of David Bowie. And she never saw the relationship between the two. 

Misquoting Jesus is okay. Misquoting David Bowie? A crime against humanity. 

Beware of folks riding piggyback on Jesus. If you want to know what Jesus said, read the Bible. He's there. Waiting for you. 

4 comments:

  1. I have been enjoying your perspectives. I think we come from vastly different upbringings. But it appears we are brother and sister in Christ.

    1 Corinthians 2:14
    Verse Concepts
    But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
    Tom

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    Replies
    1. Tom, thank you for reading and commenting.

      Delete
  2. And for most of his life Jesus was a low-profile guy.

    He kept the Apostles and Christianity secret until it was blown out of the water.

    Then God did the works and brought the faith.

    "Misquoting David Bowie? A crime against humanity."

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