Dove in the Rock

I just received a fwd about the Christian ire raised by Kathy Griffin’s remarks at the Emmy awards. Besides my intense irritation at receiving an email that says, “If you delete this, nothing bad will happen to you, but if you pass this on, you will truly have stood up for Jesus Christ,” I crafted my own response to this forward and am planning to send it to everyone that received it. I think it needs to be said. I’m just trying to decide if I’m brave enough.

Here’s the original email:

I don’t really watch the comedian Kathy Griffin, but I must say I am appalled that anyone could be this bold in making such a public statement about Jesus. We are truly living in a modern day Babylon.

At the Emmy awards, Kathy Griffin’s acceptance speech said, “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.” She went on to say,”Suck it, Jesus. This is my God now!” referring to the Emmy.

As a Christian, I am offended by her hate speech. What do you think might have happened if she had made the hate speech against Muhammed???? Kathy Griffin has the right as an American to say what she thinks. As a Christian-American, so do I.

Today I will refuse to watch any show that she may be on or purchase tickets to any event at which she would perform. What will you do? If you delete this, nothing bad will happen to you, but if you pass this on, you will truly have stood up for Jesus Christ.

And here’s my response:

This woman doesn’t make me angry. We are not necessarily living in a modern Babylon. This is the normal reaction of the unsaved when confronted with the cross. Jesus is foolishness to the world, remember? He is offensive to the unsaved (1 Pet 2:8). How else do you expect them to respond to him? Kathy Griffin has no relationship with Jesus, so do you think he is offended by her words? Hardly. The unsaved have been thumbing their noses and shaking their fists at God for thousands of years, and will continue to do so until he comes back to end it.

I am not appalled that anyone could be this bold in making such a public statement about her opinion of Jesus, I am more appalled that more Christians are NOT making such bold public statements about THEIR opinion of Jesus. We Christians getting our feathers ruffled because we are “offended” by this is such a pompous, American attitude. Where in the Bible does it say we have the right to not be offended? Rather the opposite, we are guaranteed trouble in this world by living our lives for Christ. It is the American who thinks he has the inalienable right to live life without being offended, that’s what puts the gold trim on the BMWs of so many lawyers.

And really, why is this so offensive? Most folks live their lives that way, she just said it aloud. She’s not even guilty of hypocrisy, because she was honest and her actions are consistent with her words.

I find Griffin’s words challenging. She, a non-Christian, openly acknowledges to her audience that she does not submit to Jesus as God, and tells us exactly what god guides her actions. We too have an audience that is paying attention to our behavior, and our behavior tells them exactly what god guides our actions. Whom would your audience identify as your god? Fame? Money? Stuff? Approval? Affluence? Comfort? Personal happiness? Anytime we ditch the teachings of Jesus and the instruction of the Bible to pursue these, we are showing our audience what god truly directs our steps.

So while non-Christian Kathy Griffin can tell Jesus to suck it as a publicity stunt, those of us who name him as our Savior can tell him to suck it by flouting his teachings for our own pursuits, and that’s something that truly offends him. And our audience takes much more to heart what they see in our lives rather than what they hear from a stranger on TV.

I highly doubt she’d be gratified to know that her words inspired such edifying reflections in this Christian.

Updated to add:

I’ve thought further on the subject and also realized two other things. First, that her remarks were not “hate speech.” (See the wikipedia article on hate speech: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_speech)

Second, that boycotting the products of a person you’ve never before heard of has absolutely zero effect on her. How many of us had ever heard of Kathy Griffin before this? Now we all know who she is and that she won an Emmy, so her publicity stunt has worked 100% perfectly.

Updated again:

I did send it, and the only response I got was from an irate person who was sure I’d been writing about her and was mad that I’d sent it to the whole list “to embarrass her.” Guilty conscience much?

Posted on January 18th, 2008 by Dove
Filed under: Learning