Christians Don't Have To Be Cheesy

I was at a regional meeting recently (one of many that I have to be at, between the various hats I wear for the Northwest region of the Disciples) when a fellow was telling a story about another person who had come to them at a reception for this-or-that and said, "You didn't come here alone, did you?"

He replied, "No, actually, I did come here alone."

To which the other person said, "No, you came here with two other people.  I see God on your right, and Jesus on your left."

I know that line was meant to be endearing, and I don't mean to besmirch that core sentiment.  But off in the back row, a congregant I was at the meeting with and I both rolled our eyes at how cheesy it came off as.  It felt like a Christian pick-up line, to take the place of, I don't know, "Are you from Tennessee?  Because you're the only ten I see!"

Oy.

And after over two decades of going to church--basically my entire conscious life--I see that sort of cheesiness everywhere I look now.

The way pastors (and I am occasionally guilty of this) overuse alliteration.  Or rhyming words.  Or acronyms.

The way we hijack pop culture references.  The Gatorade slogan ("Is it in you?") is almost too easy, the lowest of low-hanging fruit...so, enter the t-shirts that say, "Jesus: Is He In You?"  And believe me, there is plenty more where that came from.

Or the way that, honestly, just about any praise song written before the late 1990s can be boiled down, as Benyamin Cohen notes in his excellent book My Jesus Year, into one of three themes: I-love-Jesus, Jesus-loves-me, or I'm-not-worthy-of-His-love.

On face, none of those things are bad.  And I would be loathe to mock anything that brought a person closer to God and to Jesus Christ.

So I'm really not trying to be a crank here.  But...as Paul would say, all things in moderation, y'know?

We don't need gimmicks.  We certainly don't need to OD on them.

Jesus' message of love and grace and mercy can, and should, be enough in and of itself.

And when you can engage people with that love...I have seen truly amazing things happen.

And those things happen not because of our gimmicks, but because of our authenticity.

Say what you will about the goodness or lack thereof of people, but I think we're pretty good at discerning gimmickry from the genuine article.

And no amount of cheesiness can make up for the feeling of coming to a church--perhaps for the first time--and simply feeling loved there.

Yours in Christ,
Eric