Robbie Williams was criticised in the press today for seemingly trivialising the crucifixion in an illusion on Derren Brown’s C4 programme Trick of the Mind.
Church leaders were quoted as admonishing Robbie for his actions; one went as far to say that it was ‘unforgivable’.
It is of course true that you can’t believe everything you read in the papers and the publications included certain tabloids which are not known for accuracy, however it did provoke me to make a response. I watched the Sunday night programme and did think that the metal bore some resemblance to a cross in shape but then I had been to church for the Good Friday and Easter Sunday services so the image of the crucifixion was very much at the forefront of my mind. Practically speaking of course, if you did want to stick needles through somebody’s skin so that they are then able to look at them afterwards, then the arms are an obvious place to try, so it’s equally possible that the decision to have Robbie in that position was for convenience rather than an attempt to trivialise Jesus. Perhaps this comparison was in the back of Mr Brown’s mind at the time of formulating the idea for this stunt and that in the putting together of the series it was very deliberately decided that this episode should be scheduled for Easter Sunday, it is equally possible that nobody noticed any comparison whatsoever and no offence was intended. It is interesting that the criticism is being levelled at Robbie, even though he quite obviously didn’t know what was involved in the stunt beforehand, I suppose out of the two men, he is the more famous so it makes a better story.
This situation nicely illustrates the question that I’ve been pondering for some time about what offends me as a Christian. The conclusion that I’ve come to recently is that things like this actually don’t. I may at times be upset by some of the abuse that is hurled at Jesus, it is after all just like watching your best friend get bullied and not do anything about it, but I am not angry. As I move into my 19th year as a Christian I do so knowing more of God’s capacity to love and of His awesome strength. My battle is not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers unseen. If God is at all offended, He is perfectly capable of defending His Son and Jesus is equally capable of making himself known to those who would seek to denounce him. We are called to love not hate, we need to allow God to be God in situations like this and not try to fight His battles for Him. Transforming hearts and minds is God’s job not ours, I suggest that what He needs us to do is pray, and make it one of blessing not retaliation, too often we underestimate the power that can be unleashed when we simply let God be God.
I am more effective if I allow myself to be offended by the way the elderly are treated in this country, the problem of the AIDs epidemic in Africa, world poverty, the adverse affect that binge drinking has had in this country and the ignorance of cocaine users in the UK and US as to how their habit impacts the poorest of the poor in Columbia. If I am offended by these things it moves me to pray and act – not in judgement but in love.
When I was spiritually young, my understanding was that of a child and though I would not claim to be that wise now, I do know that I cannot ignore the grace and favour that God has bestowed upon me and the enormity of His love. In light of this I want to learn more about this love, how it can transform and change the most hopeless of situations, how the loving Father sees His children and how I can live a Christian life with a passionate not mediocre heart, with focus not distraction, in action not in complacency.
It is strange to find that in things I once saw as threats to the name of Jesus, I now see the sovereignty of God – the opposite of what I should see and yet isn’t that what was meant, in part, by ‘Father, forgive’ ? My Saviour - turns it upside down and somehow makes it right, the startling logic which first appears as foolishness, this mystery which I know the answer to but am still working out, what else could my response be but love?
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