We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
Uncrossed
Did any of you catch SNL this weekend? They did a parody of Tarantino’s DJango Unchained called DJesus Uncrossed. Many were deeply offended by the depiction of Jesus in this, but David R. Henson blogged about how this skit revealed what we’ve already been doing for quite a while as a culture. In his blog post, entitled DJesus Uncrossed: Tarantino, Driscoll and the Violent Remaking of Jesus in America, he points out that “we’ve been trying to uncross Jesus for decades in this country, long before SNL got their pens into him.” This is why the cross is so central to who Jesus really is and what he came to do. When we uncross him, it’s very easy to bend him into our own violent imaginings. Although we disagree with the author’s assessment of the Jesus found in the book of Revelation (see Greg’s blog on this from 2010) we wholeheartedly agree with the rest of his thoughts.
Let’s pattern our lives after the God most truly revealed in his humble sacrifice out of love for all of us.
From David’s blog:
We have tried to arm him with our military-industrial complex, drape him with our xenophobia, outfit him with our weapons, and adorn him with our nationalism. We’ve turned the cross into a flagpole for the Stars and Stripes. We have no need for Tarantino to reimagine the story of Jesus into a fantasy of violent revenge. We’ve done it for him. We’ve already uncrossed him, transforming him from a servant into a triumphalist who holds the causes and interests of our country on his back rather than brutal execution.
Category: General
Tags: David R. Henson, Jesus, Mark Driscoll, Picture of God, Religious Idolatry, Violence
Related Reading
Sermon Clip: Extravagant Forgiveness, Extravagant Love
Greg Boyd had the wonderful opportunity to guest speak at a great church in Carlisle, PA called Carlisle BIC. He spoke on the topic of forgiveness and love. In this short clip, Greg describes how a prostitute was being judged by the Pharisees, but Jesus came to her rescue. You can listen to the full…
Black Lives Matter, the Police, and Spiritual Warfare
Christ calls us to stand for a different kind of kingdom and this requires that we think in different ways about the violence that is gripping our country. In this short clip from Greg’s sermon this last weekend, we are introduced to a different way. Listen and hear the challenge to understand the deeper reality…
Crucifixion of the Warrior God Update
Well, I’m happy to announce that Crucifixion of the Warrior God is now available for pre-order on Amazon! Like many of you, I found that the clearer I got about the non-violent, self-sacrificial, enemy-embracing love of God revealed in Christ, the more disturbed I became over those portraits of God in the Old Testament that…
God is Not a Monster
Pastor Brian Zhand has a way with words that captures the imagination. And he is a pastor that has taken time to read the church fathers. In a recent post, he quotes Saint Antony who wrote, “I no longer fear God, but I love him. For love casts out fear.” Brian confronts the common misconceptions and images of God that…
When the Law Demanded the Death Penalty
The Sinai covenant is significantly structured around violence. It motivates behavioral conformity by promising rewards and threatening violence. Without the threat of violence, the law looses its “teeth.” If the law is an acquiescence to sin, then the divinely sanctioned violence that is associated with it must also be considered an acquiescence to sin. The…