[www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s]
Imitations are rarely funny.
Sam’s Choice Cola vs. Coca Cola – not funny.
Great Value chocolate cookies vs. Oreos – not funny
Dollar store soldiers vs. GI Joes – not funny
Splenda sweet tea vs. sugar sweet tea – seriously not funny
Yesterday the TV was left on while Bethany and I were jostling around the house doing some chores. When I returned to the living room Dogma was on. It was the scene where they have decided to replace the crucifix with a friendlier icon. They then reveal buddy Jesus.
Buddy Jesus vs. crucified and risen Jesus – intolerably not funny.
Does this sound similar to flannel graph Jesus?
The gospel is not a thing, it is a He. So if we manipulate the gospel in order to make it more palatable we tell Jesus, “Sorry ‘buddy’, you needed a makeover. That image went out two millennia ago. The blood, the cross, the shame – not ‘cool’.”
To change the gospel you must change a GOD who says he is immutable (doesn’t change). How crazy is it when the creature tells the creator what image is now “in’ for deity, and that if He could match that image He really would sell better to the masses?
Some imitations are simply not funny.
Others are intolerable.
This one is intolerable. Any perversion of the gospel is not a matter of taste or opinion. It is a matter of the glory of God. Settle for no substitutes.