In the wake of the Chick-Fil-A stories there have been a lot of pictures posted on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Pictures of nuggets, waffle fries, sandwiches, people proudly proclaiming their love of good chicken, and, well, certain beliefs ... I posted last week on my feelings around the big theological/political debate. I threw out my idea, and put it to bed.
Then a picture re-posted by a friend showed up on my twitter feed that made me stop and pause.
It was the picture of a guy standing outside of a Chick-Fil-A, watching the huge line of CFA supporters going out the door and down the block. On the back of his shirt were four words that read: "Jesus is a (bad word)." I won't say what it actually said. It's more than a little NSFW. Just use your imagination. It wasn't good.
The friend didn't post the picture as affirmation, just asking the question, essentially, "What do we do with this?"
Like most people, my first reaction was more than disgust. I mean, that's my Savior the guy is ridiculing. He's breaking commandments. And it's in poor taste.
But ... I want to know his story, and the stories of others like him. At some point the Jesus he was shown wasn't good. And it's not that Jesus needs to be painted as nice; Jesus wasn't nice. But the Jesus represented to the guy is bad. The fact that he wore this shirt outside of the CFA Appreciation Day is also very telling ... Christians were the ones in support of CFA, followers of Jesus. Maybe this guy is gay, or maybe somebody he loves is. Regardless, his shirt, which showed judgement of the Church, showed what he knows of the church.
Somewhere along the line, somebody modelled a Jesus for this guy that was a (bad word), and wearing that shirt on that day meant something to him. And that makes me sad for him, but also for the witness being shown. When we claim the name of Christian, we are called to put on Christ for the world.
What I really want to know is what happened to the guy after that picture was taken on August 1 ... Did somebody try to show him the love of Christ, or was he damned? What do you do when you're confronted by someone who hates your faith?
Then a picture re-posted by a friend showed up on my twitter feed that made me stop and pause.
It was the picture of a guy standing outside of a Chick-Fil-A, watching the huge line of CFA supporters going out the door and down the block. On the back of his shirt were four words that read: "Jesus is a (bad word)." I won't say what it actually said. It's more than a little NSFW. Just use your imagination. It wasn't good.
The friend didn't post the picture as affirmation, just asking the question, essentially, "What do we do with this?"
Like most people, my first reaction was more than disgust. I mean, that's my Savior the guy is ridiculing. He's breaking commandments. And it's in poor taste.
But ... I want to know his story, and the stories of others like him. At some point the Jesus he was shown wasn't good. And it's not that Jesus needs to be painted as nice; Jesus wasn't nice. But the Jesus represented to the guy is bad. The fact that he wore this shirt outside of the CFA Appreciation Day is also very telling ... Christians were the ones in support of CFA, followers of Jesus. Maybe this guy is gay, or maybe somebody he loves is. Regardless, his shirt, which showed judgement of the Church, showed what he knows of the church.
Somewhere along the line, somebody modelled a Jesus for this guy that was a (bad word), and wearing that shirt on that day meant something to him. And that makes me sad for him, but also for the witness being shown. When we claim the name of Christian, we are called to put on Christ for the world.
What I really want to know is what happened to the guy after that picture was taken on August 1 ... Did somebody try to show him the love of Christ, or was he damned? What do you do when you're confronted by someone who hates your faith?