February 2010 - Vol. 32 No. 2

THE REVEREND STEVE OSMAN WRITES:

Dear Friends

These days image is everything. Millions of pounds are spent in the fashion industry; thousands of pounds are spent trying to lose a few pounds. For teenagers, looking cool is the most important part of social life. In this lead up to a general election, our politicians will have a small army dedicated to influencing how our leaders appear.

It has to be said, the church has an image problem. This month sees the beginning of Lent when the popular image is about giving things up, being miserable because you can’t have your chocolate fix. Many people think that’s all that Christianity is about. All they remember is, “thou shalt not…!”
In my 5 parishes we are looking for a logo to represent what we are about. The reality is – image speaks.

What troubles me most about all this is when folk have a misguided image of Jesus. It’s been well said that when someone rejects Christianity, they are rejecting a misunderstanding of Christianity. So Jesus is depicted as an irrelevance, a killjoy, someone who said interesting things but doesn’t have much to do with real life. If that were true I would reject Christianity also – and my job along with it!

Read the gospels more closely and you discover a Jesus who was the life and soul of the party, who liked nothing more than eating out with friends and acquaintances, who enjoyed a good joke (remember the camel through the eye of a needle?) and who was an expert storyteller. Why were crowds drawn to him like a magnet?

Lent is, of course, a preparation for Easter. This same Jesus who told good stories also showed us how much he loved us by choosing to die for us. That’s where the Jesus image becomes much more challenging. If he was willing to do that for me, how should I respond? It’s now becoming costly, so far better to keep to my prejudices and misconceptions.

Can I simply ask that you spend Lent learning more about the real Jesus? Read through Mark’s gospel (and the other 3 if you’ve time) and ask yourself just two questions – who was this Jesus and why did he come?

If you do that seriously, my guess is you’ll find your self-image and the way you look at the world utterly transformed. You’ll discover you really are made in God’s image and that’s life changing.

Steve Osman