Little Toy Jesus: More from the Weekend

Maybe you recognize him. You know from all the pictures you saw growing up. Looks just like him, doesn't it?

It's Jesus all right. But not just any Jesus; this is the Deluxe Jesus - complete with 5 loaves, 2 fish and little plastic jars of water that turn into wine when you turn them over (or maybe it's Welch's grape juice).

If you were at GCC or watched the service online this past weekend, you saw Rob Wegner use this little, pocket-sized Jesus to make a point of our treatment of him.

It's amazing what people hear. Or what they want to hear. The following email (from a man who apparently doesn't attend GCC) actually came into my office this week in response to Rob's message and this plastic toy.

I have been watching the Weekend Experience 'Fear of Death' sermon, and I had to stop when I got to when Pastor Rob Wegner pulled out the Jesus action figure. He played with it at his podium "now you can re-enact all the miracles of Jesus... "??? He may think he was just using the toy as an illustration in his sermon, but I believe he went way too far. It was blasphemous. Playing with an action figure of our Lord and Savior is something I'd expect an unsaved stand-up comedian to do... not a Pastor at a church! This is the first full sermon I've listened to before from GCC, and I must say I after seeing this I don't see why I need to ever listen to one again. Are the elders of your church truly ok with this? I would welcome any reply that could explain how this is considered ok. Thank you, -chris

Now, let me get this straight.

• Was Rob poking fun at Jesus?
• Or was he poking fun at the creators of the toy?
• Or was he actually holding up a mirror, reflecting the human tendency to treat God like a quarter in a vending machine... like a convenient, stick-him-in-your-pocket sized Genie?

Chris, I think you might have missed the point.

Oh, and one more thought. I too have been offended at the way some stand-up comedians speak of Jesus Christ. However, I've heard a number of comedians make jokes about Christianity, even Jesus, that frankly, Christians have written the material for. By that I mean, Christians have too often projected an image of Jesus that is anything but biblical. Christians have made him out to be vindictive, moody, and judgmental (that's different than judging or just, which he is). I've heard comedians mock images of Jesus. I've heard them mock self-righteous behaviors of Christians. I've often laughed and wanted to cry at the same time. We deserve to be the butt of some of their jokes.

Jesus is different than most images people have of him. He is the winsome Christ. He is the God of love and justice. He is all-powerful. He is the one true God. As Rob said, he's so big!

I didn't hear sacrilege or blasphemy this past weekend. Rather, I heard about Jesus who's too big for my pocket. I heard about Jesus whose kingdom has come to earth. I heard about Jesus who wants my full surrender to his ultimate agenda of justice, peace, salvation for the world. I heard about Jesus who is so big that I was called to worship this weekend. With thousands of others I experienced God.

It's unfortunate that anyone missed the wonder of Jesus and got hung up on a toy. A toy that probably looks nothing like Jesus.