Too many Christians just don’t get it:

I thought my previous articles about the diabolical Christophobia on display at the Olympics would have been sufficient. But that seems not to be the case. The thing that is bothering me so very greatly is not what the God-hating pagans are up to, but what some very clueless and undiscerning ‘Christians’ are up to.

We fully expect pagans to think and talk like pagans. We do not – and should not – expect Christians to think and talk like pagans. Indeed, I could have titled this piece, “Siding with the Enemy.” For that is just what far too many Christians have been doing over the past few days – whether intentionally or otherwise.

They drone on and on about it was no big deal, we should not take offence, we should just move on, this was not an attack on Christ, and so on. They are utterly clueless. In one piece I brought together a large amount of evidence showing that the IOC fully knew that this was an intentional attack on Christ, and that the Last Supper was certainly being parodied: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2024/07/29/paris-sacrilege-yes-it-was-deliberate/  

Yet we STILL have some woke wonder Christians insisting that it was not. Good grief. There was even a gal who said we are all spreading “misinformation’ about this. Um, it is actually people like her who are spreading misinformation. And worse than that, they are in fact bearing false witness – you know, a violation of the Ninth Commandment.

One positive outcome of the demonic sacrilege we all witnessed in Paris is that it is helping to bring to light those who are real deal Christians and those who might just be pretenders – or at least do not have a clue. Let me speak a bit further to some of these matters, and then finish with some quotes from two other Christian writers.

Sadly many Christians – even those who are on side – were too willing to go down useless rabbit holes. For example, so many Christians have said that the painting of the Last Supper by da Vinci was not really biblically and historically accurate (Jesus and the disciples should have been reclining, not sitting, and so on).

Um, guess what? It does not mean twat that he may not have given us a fully accurate portrait of the Last Supper. That has absolutely zippo do to with this controversy. What matters is the deliberate assault on our Lord and his work – which is what the painting is all about. That is what matters and that is what we should be concerned about.

If you claim to be a Christian, but you do not give a rip that the name of Christ was dragged in the mud, the work of Christ was mocked, Christianity was trashed, children were sexualised, demons were running amuck, and gross perversion and immorality were paraded at what is meant to be a public family event, then there might be something a bit amiss with your Christianity.

And then we have these clueless Christians telling us we should never be offended by anything. Um, Elijah was offended at the false prophets, David was offended at God’s enemies, Jesus was offended even at Peter for missing the truth, Paul was offended at the idols in Athens – on and on the list goes.

That which offends God should offend us. That which grieves the heart of God should grieve us. That which God hates we should hate. And yes, what God loves we should love. So at the same time that we rightly call and denounce our gross public sin, we also should pray for these folks.

I now pray daily for people like Thomas Jolly, the homosexual God-hating “artistic director” behind all this perversion and blasphemy. We can and must call out sin while seeking to see some of these people repent and come to Christ.

And then I have some of these clueless Christians saying we should not be surprised at such sin and such sacrilege. Um, being surprised is NOT the issue. Of course I am not surprised. I fully expect such diabolical evil because I am a biblical Christian.

But we are never called to become cavalier, blasé and apathetic about blatant sin and demonic evil staring us in the face. There actually IS a place for some righteous indignation. I am fully upset and grieved by all this, but I am also fully in prayer about this. We can and should be doing BOTH – it is NOT one or the other.

And then we have Christians claiming the intention was good: ‘trying to be inclusive.’ For heaven’s sake, when you knowingly, deliberately and maliciously seek to offend 2.4 billion Christians worldwide, you are NOT trying to be inclusive!

So much more can be said about the foolish and senseless things some Christians are saying about this. But here is the scoop: about the only thing worse than sin itself is when we have ‘Christians’ making cheap excuses for sin and siding with those who hate Christ. Good grief! “Choose you this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

Let me finish with two recent articles on this, and the matter of taking offence. First, American evangelical and academic Ed Stetzer wrote a piece with this title: “Being Offended by Offensive Things Is Good, Actually.” Here is part of it:

Some were offended by the scene. Other were offended by the people who were offended by the scene. Christians (and many others) throughout the world rightly took offense, because the scene was, well, quite offensive. It made a mockery of a central moment in Christian history, as well as a central piece of Christian art that has endured in the imagination of followers of Jesus for half a millennia. Here are some keys for Christians thinking through and responding to this situation.

1. Christians Should Be Willing To See What Is in Front of Them.

Some (including Christians) breathlessly denied any connection the Opening Ceremony had with the Last Supper. For example, someone commented to me, “What is wrong with you! I would never have connected to the last supper. I guess you see what you want to see.” But the Paris Olympics have confirmed that the scene did draw from da Vinci’s iconic painting, as reported by ESPN, The Guardian, and The New York Times….

2. Offense and Outrage Aren’t the Same Thing.

I wrote an entire book about the problem with outrage, “Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst.” In that book, I pointed out the problems with outrage….

Outrage is different from proper offense. As I said in “Christians in the Age of Outrage,” outrage is disproportionate, selfish, divisive, visceral, domineering, and dishonest. Offense, on the other hand, inverts these flaws. Righteous offense is proportionate, focused on God and neighbors, uniting, rational and spiritual, servant-hearted, and truthful.  While some Christians and others may have degraded into unholy outrage, I believe many of us simply took on a rightful offense to the scene at the Opening Ceremony in Paris. The scene was inappropriate. Further it was but one in a line of offensive scenes during the opening ceremonies.

3. We Should Speak up About Offensive Uses of Symbols of Our Faith.

God commands us not to love the world: “Do not love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15). Notice it does not say, “do not love…the people in the world.” We love the people in the world—our neighbors—but we reject sin in all its forms. We reject the mockery of God’s design for human sexuality and the mockery of Christ’s sacrifice. https://churchleaders.com/voices/490608-being-offended-by-offensive-things-is-good-actually.html

And then we have the Australian Christian leader Stephen McAlpine with an article titled, “Hey Christian – Be Vexed By The Olympics Opening Ceremony. Be Very Vexed.” He wrote in part:

Being Vexed Doesn’t Mean Not Being Confident in the Gospel

Now look, I agree wholeheartedly with Glen Scrivener’s excellent take on the issue. He argues that we can’t trump the shame of the cross, and that every attempt since to shame the Saviour is destined for the, er, silver medal, in light of the gold medal weakness of the cross So I get that. But don’t let that dampen the vexation you should feel.

I’ve read lots of Christians say “Oh it’s no biggie”, as if somehow those Christians who are vexed by it are somehow less mature, less hip and urban as Christians. Away with that idea.. Actually this is a biggie. And if you want to read anything in Scripture that aligns with the feelings it should engender in you, it would be this from 2 Peter 2…

We should be distressed. Vexed, as the KJV puts it. When was the last time you were vexed by the sin of the culture? Perhaps we’ve spent so much time being told “Don’t point out their sin, sort out your own” that we have forgotten what it feels like to be vexed. Or perhaps we’re just not vexed! Perhaps we are just inured with it all, and have kinda lazily slumped into a “Meh, what can you do?” attitude. Which would be worse.

Father Judge Them Because They Know What They Do

Which brings me to another response; The Jesus on the cross response. I get that too. But in actual fact, they DO know what they are doing. The soldiers crucifying Jesus were just obeying orders, even is somewhat gleefully and with a certain bloodlust. But they didn’t have 2000 years of compelling Christian history behind them.

No, this was done in the full knowledge that it was defying the foundational narrative that has swept the world for centuries. A narrative that has led to great deeds, great works of art, great scandals to be sure, but great transformation from the brutal paganism that preceded it. When Christ comes into the space, he is space-filler. He squeezes out all else, and leaves room only for mocking parody….

Imagine There’s No Olympics

And lastly. And this is something my daughter pointed out. The Olympics in 2024 had, as one of its theme songs during the opening ceremony, John Lennon’s Imagine. Again. What a repeat offender. In 2021 during the delayed-by-a-year Tokyo games we got that same song on repeat during the opening ceremony there as well. It’s the perfect pagan homage for the perfect pagan event. How does it go again?

Actually it’s not. Not easy, that is. It’s not easy to imagine there is no heaven or hell. You have to put a lot of time and effort into suppressing the truth about those things. You have to build an alternate social imaginary that requires huge resources, an implacable educational and institutional commitment to the lie that this life is all there is, and a series of life-practices, particularly around sex and money and human ambition that say otherwise. https://stephenmcalpine.com/hey-christian-be-vexed-by-the-olympics-opening-ceremony-be-very-vexed/

Maybe THIS time this article will be my last on this topic. But given how so many Christians cannot seem to think straight or practice some basic biblical discernment, do not be surprised if this is not my last piece on the issue!

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