Jesus Loves
“Jesus Loves Porn Stars”. That’s what Mike Foster and Craig Gross, a couple of pastors from California (where else?) wanted to have printed on copies of the New Testament. The Bibles were for distribution to attendees of porn conventions, not as an endorsement of the industry itself, but of the men and women who are a part of it. The American Bible Society decided not to print the Bibles, saying the slogan is “misleading and inappropriate.”
The American Bible Society’s response reminds me of a parishioner I used to have. Someone once proposed a baby shower for a single mother. “What will people think of us?” he objected. I laughed and told him that if we were lucky, they might think we suck, just like they hated Jesus for his misplaced love.
Jesus had branding problems, too. He gave his marketing people fits. If you’re going to be a holy man, you can’t drink so much, eat so much, and you sure as hell can’t spend your down time with whores and extortionists. What will people think, after all? It would be “misleading and inappropriate”.
I think a big part of the whole Jesus story is that he was loose with love; he was promiscuous. His love was available to anyone who asked or even just looked over at him with a little interest in their eyes.
If the Jesus story is even partially true, then the center of human existence, of the universe, even, is not anger or indifference, but white hot love, the kind of love that could make a porn star blush.
That’s what the New Testament calls evangelion, the good news.
“Jesus Loves Porn Stars”. The slogan opens a whole slew of possible Bible covers. I imagine green ones that say, “Jesus Loves Oil Executives”, blaze orange ones: “Jesus Loves PETA”, and pink ones: “Jesus Loves Homophobes”. Or what about a red, white, and blue bible with the words, “Jesus Loves Islamic Extremists” on the cover? If we take Jesus seriously, even as a great teacher and example, we’ve got to at least suspect that every human is worthy of more than tolerance and deserving of love. The best part of it is that love is available to people who are absolutely not like me.
The American Bible Society took a pass, but another publisher, NavPress, stepped up. “The Message”, a paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, will express the sentiment “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” both inside and out.
I think that’s good news.
The American Bible Society’s response reminds me of a parishioner I used to have. Someone once proposed a baby shower for a single mother. “What will people think of us?” he objected. I laughed and told him that if we were lucky, they might think we suck, just like they hated Jesus for his misplaced love.
Jesus had branding problems, too. He gave his marketing people fits. If you’re going to be a holy man, you can’t drink so much, eat so much, and you sure as hell can’t spend your down time with whores and extortionists. What will people think, after all? It would be “misleading and inappropriate”.
I think a big part of the whole Jesus story is that he was loose with love; he was promiscuous. His love was available to anyone who asked or even just looked over at him with a little interest in their eyes.
If the Jesus story is even partially true, then the center of human existence, of the universe, even, is not anger or indifference, but white hot love, the kind of love that could make a porn star blush.
That’s what the New Testament calls evangelion, the good news.
“Jesus Loves Porn Stars”. The slogan opens a whole slew of possible Bible covers. I imagine green ones that say, “Jesus Loves Oil Executives”, blaze orange ones: “Jesus Loves PETA”, and pink ones: “Jesus Loves Homophobes”. Or what about a red, white, and blue bible with the words, “Jesus Loves Islamic Extremists” on the cover? If we take Jesus seriously, even as a great teacher and example, we’ve got to at least suspect that every human is worthy of more than tolerance and deserving of love. The best part of it is that love is available to people who are absolutely not like me.
The American Bible Society took a pass, but another publisher, NavPress, stepped up. “The Message”, a paraphrase by Eugene Peterson, will express the sentiment “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” both inside and out.
I think that’s good news.
posted by Ian Wrisley | 9:56 AM
1 Comments:
excellent work
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