The Jesus We Present to the World

I stumbled upon THIS STORY and was initially amused. But getting past the initial chuckle, the question remains: Is this type of “holiday lawn art” something Christians should endorse?

On the one hand, the representation of Jesus toting a double barreled shotgun having just killed both Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as well as dear old Santa Claus himself is undoubtedly offensive to the notion of the “doe-eyed Jesus meek and mild who just wants to be your sympathetic friend as he gazes at you longingly with his slightly effeminate face” fostered by various forces within and without the auspices of the Church over the past couple generations. And while I do repudiate the sentimentalized and romantic caricatures of biblical truth which are found in virtually all popular perceptions of Jesus, the fact remains that Jesus IS a sympathetic high priest, a gentle shepherd who will not lose even one of his own, a kind servant ruler who will not break even a bruised reed nor snuff out a smoldering wick.  As we witness in this world, while we do a disservice if we make Jesus appear “too soft,” we likewise do wrong to make him appear “too hard.”

 On the other hand, however, the Bible does depict Jesus as King who rules with a rod of iron and puts to the sword everyone who opposes him. One objection to the uncomfortable – and very undemocratic – picture of Jesus as absolute monarch with zero tolerance for rebellion against his will is that “biblical images and propositions about His rule refer to the end times, but for right now He just wants people to believe in Him.” To this objection I point to the multiple passages that state Jesus is ruling over the universe even now. As I said to one senior chaplain who was attempting to hammer home the vital importance of religious pluralism for the stability of any society, “I am not a religious pluralist because God makes it clear in Scripture that HE is not a religious pluralist.”

 As Christians relate to their world it is important that as ambassadors of Christ we carry forth his message that he commands everyone to bow the knee… and that this command to worship Him and serve Him and in so doing glorify Him is vastly more – so much so that perhaps it would be more appropriate to say vastly different than a mere invitation to “accept Him” in order to experience some sort of subjective “benefit” to a perceived need of ours as if He is a cosmic “snake oil” that’s good for “what ails ‘ya.” In our message and witness, how do we relate the Kingly office of Christ to our world?