Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? So today I’m showing images that speak ever-so loudly.
The first is from singer/rapper Flo Rida. I recently saw him perform on the Today Show and he was wearing a RIDICULOUS Jesus necklace made of gold and diamonds. It supposedly cost around $500,000. When asked about it, he threw out some token response about thanking God for all his success. Check it out: (for more pics, click here.)
And the second is a picture I personally took while sitting at a red light a few months ago. It’s a Bentley (a $300,000 car) with a local church advertised both on and around the license plate. It could possibly even be the pastor’s car, considering the verbiage on the plate:
A couple questions to consider:
- What’s the difference between the two?
- Are they both okay?
- Are they both wrong?
- Is one right and one wrong?
- If so, which one is more right and which one is more wrong?
- What does this say about culture and the church?
Chime, in. I’d love to hear your thoughts…
And in honor of the gargantuan Jesus head, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a classic scene concerning huge noggins:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-OCjvbV2Z4&w=560&h=315]
I’d like to hear takes on the $700,000 giant crosses on I-75 as well.
Flo Rida’s Jesus piece shows that Jesus can be a commodity to be bought and sold. When I’ve poked around in Christian book stores, the smaller scale trinkets are just as tacky. Whether you’re buying a 500k diamond-eyeballed (yes, it has diamonds for eyeballs) piece of jewelry or a $1 I heart Jesus keychain — it’s the same level of tackiness.
You might think you’re buying these things to honor Jesus, but you’re really buying them for the same reason you buy a Bentley — because you think you look good in it. All of it — a dollar keychain, a diamond eyeball necklace, a Bentley, is a self aware fashion statement about yourself you’re making, aka vanity.
Either way, at least there’s something balls out honest about the Jesus piece. It’s boldly vainglorious in it’s sheer existence. I actually think Jesus would get a kick out of it. On the other hand, the pastors driving Bentleys, multi-million dollar mega churches, and erecting expensive monuments on highways is gross.