You may have seen the video traveling around the internet-verse of a white, male, 60-something pastor doing his regular “hip” video at a local cafe, attempting to reach the world with his message of joy and faithfulness. He has someone doing a live video-chat for him, and the waitress brings him a glass of water. His response to her is stunningly obnoxious; he is upset that the portion of water is so small, and his demeaning words are shocking. If you look at people’s comments, they are as incensed as I am – I start to research who he is so I can tell him what I think of his un-Christian behavior. But – here’s the thing – when I finally find the source, it tells me that this is satire. By now, we have all probably seen satire that seems too close to the truth, and when we do, we usually respond with resignation. This, however, is different. At least, to me. Satire is supposed to kind of, sort of funny or clever. This is not.
It is different because we in the church have an image problem, and yes, I know that is nothing new. Throughout our history, we have been working hard to be true to our calling, and we have had too many instances across the religious spectrum that have undermined those attempts. Most recently, we have seen the Evangelical world – among others – promote ideas and practices that are direct contradictions of the teachings of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. These fake Christians have perverted the teachings of Jesus in ways never done before. Then, while they are blaring their hypocrisy for the world to see, many of them have been arrested for doing the very things they have accused others of. They protest too much, it seems, and that level of false piety has damaged every person of faith. And people watching us, waiting for some actual good news.
This so-called satirical video is like gas on the fire. We have enough problems with this kind of behavior that is real; we don’t need fake videos that are intended to – what? – be funny? Provocative? This video is nothing more than someone’s attempt to slime my faith. I want that person to know that Christians are sliming themselves just fine, so, really, thank you, but we don’t need your help. I guess a nice, Latino woman in a clerical collar wouldn’t get the clicks this person needs to feel loved and smart. I guess images of us helping others isn’t provocative enough to cause outrage. This is just one more reminder that we all need to be careful about our reactions to the media we consume, because there’s a lot of fake news and false outrage being stirred up. For now, I’m sticking to cute videos of kittycats and nature. Even if they’re fake, they won’t send me into a tizzy.
Prayer – Merciful God, may our humor be funny and our commitment to You be helpful to the world. Amen.