I don’t care if it rains or freezes
As long as I have my plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car
Yee Haw!!
I hope you took note of that . . . I never said I was a singer . . . but I just could not get away with reciting those lyrics. Those lyrics were meant to be sung . . . with gusto and out-of-tune!
Plastic Jesus was a parody written back in 1962 by two men, Ed Rush and George Cromarty, after they had listened to a Christian radio evangelist hawking every sort of knickknack possible promising special spiritual quality . . . such as the “plastic Jesus” that is the central theme of the song. The writers were mocking the idea that any object and putting one’s faith in such things to, for example, keep one safe while driving one’s car.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the objections to the Viet Nam War were building, singer/song writer John Prine wrote the anti-war song Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven in 1971. The song is about a guy who discovers a flag decal in the Reader’s Digest he is reading. He runs out to the car and quickly slaps it onto the windshield of his car to show his patriotism for the war. Then it seems that everywhere he goes he receives another flag decal . . . which he places on the windshield of his car. This continues to happen until one day he has so many of those stickers on the windshield that he cannot see where he is going . . . hits a tree and dies.
He immediately finds himself in standing at the Pearly Gates of Heaven where the man there tells him:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reasons for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven anymore.
Like Plastic Jesus this song parodies the idea that an object or thing can be substituted for the “real thing” . . . in this case patriotism.
This is one of the issues the Apostle Paul attempted to dispel in the “new church movement” of following Jesus. He attempted to negate the idea that one’s commitment to faith was based on things like making sacrifices to idols or the type of food one ate. He stresses to those receiving this letter at the gathering in Corinth that this “does not bring us near God . . .” In fact, he stresses that it can be a stumbling block for those who believe it and those who are witnessing it. What demonstrates one’s faith is his or her relationship with God and how it makes that person live life . . . is it a life of loving God and others?
As a society we seemed to have stumbled into an age of false idols when it comes to show our allegiance and alliance to people, ideas, and things . . . politics and religion seem to be shouting out for people to “prove” themselves as loyalists. And, how can this loyalty be shown? Well, we can put our plastic Jesus on the dashboard of our cars and fly our flag decals on the windshields of our cars . . . then people will know that we are good followers of Jesus and loyal patriots.
Unfortunately, this would not make the apostle happy. In fact, Paul would probably tell us that it would not make God happy. Faith is not measured by whether we have a plastic Jesus protecting our travels or a flag decal declaring our patriotism. No, faith is an action that shows a relationship with the Holy . . . with God, and how it guides in relating to others. It is shown in love.
It seems that these “external” displays of faith were creating division within the gathering of the faithful. Sides were being taken. Lines were being drawn in the sand. People were getting testy. The true picture of “being faithful” was being lost in the conflict. God and God’s will were getting lost in the fight that was brewing. The in-fighting was dividing the church and was becoming a determent to those on the outside who were watching. People who could easily be led to miss the real point of loving God and others for some false trust in rituals or objects to define one’s faith.
To all this the apostle declared, “Hogwash!”
Using the idea behind John Prine’s song about decals . . . sacrifices weren’t going to get people into heaven. Food choices weren’t going to get people into heaven. The only thing that is going to a person into heaven is his or her relationship with God and how he or she treats other.
Thus, it is that the Apostle Paul warns the people to be careful. It is easy to get allured into and distracted by those idols that do not matter. And, it is true! It is true that we can easily be led down the wrong path when it comes to what represents our faith.
Think about it . . . do you want your patriotism judged by whether you are flying the correct flag in your yard . . . whether you have enough flag decals on your windshield? Probably not. Neither would you want your faith measured by whether or not you watch a certain tele-evangelist, carry a certain Bible, wear a great big cross, or have a plastic Jesus sitting on the dashboard of your car. All of this is distractions . . . distractions that take one away from what really matters—relationships. Relationship with God . . . relationships with others. Distractions that keep others from embracing what is important when it comes to faith. In the end it is not the version of the Bible we read, the number of candles we burn while praying, or whether we drink wine or grape juice in celebrating the Lord’s Supper. In the end it how we relate to God and one another . . . relationships.
Presently we are living in a time in which there seems to be a lot of judging going on about us and others. Judgement that is not based on what is in the heart, but what is displayed for everyone to see . . . whether we have a plastic Jesus or flag decals for everyone to see. These are no better than those things that the apostle points out to the Corinthians . . . they ain’t what gets a person into heaven. We know that it is the grace of God . . . nothing else. And, because we know it, we work on loving God completely . . . we work on loving others . . . work on doing God’s will and striving to fulfill God’s Kingdom. That is what Jesus showed us in his words and actions . . . it is all about relationships.
That is what matters . . . it is not a plastic Jesus . . . it is not a flag decal. The Apostle Paul tells us: “. . . whoever loves God is known by God.” That is what gets us through the day and protects us . . . not a plastic Jesus. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment