RASPBERRIES

So this morning I saw a clip of another super-wealthy prosperity preacher casting out the 'coronavirus demon'.

"COVID-19?" he bellows, looking straight down the lens of the camera. The roomful of off-screen followers dutifully repeat after him with a Southern drawl. He pauses for a moment, then, in what would have been a master-stroke of comedy timing, the suited preacher leans forward... and blows a raspberry at the virus.

I laughed out loud. I shouldn't have, I know. Sincerely held belief must be respected. But it could so easily have been a snippet from a sketch show.

'Yeah that'll do it,' I thought, sarcastically, shaking my head.

But then I started to wonder...

Jesus did some wacky things too. He once rubbed saliva into somebody's face; he shouted into a grave; instead of preaching he sometimes told riddles and then sat down without explaining them; he touched people who just 'shouldn't be touched'; he said that bread was his body and wine his blood; he drew sand pictures to end one argument, and told someone else to catch a fish to end another. He called faith leaders 'painted gravestones', while hanging out with the very people they pretended not to hate, and once even, he made a whip and used it to chase people out of the temple. You can't say that Jesus didn't provoke a reaction.

So, what would he do now? Would he be visiting hospitals and praying for people, while being shamed for breaking social-distancing rules? Would he be sewing scrubs and gluing PPE together for hospital workers? Would he be on flumpbook, telling stories about the Kingdom of Heaven? Would he be watching our live-streamed sermons?

I know. Normally, I don't much care for this kind of question; the world we live in has been absolutely shaped by his impact anyway, so it feels redundant. For example, we have hospitals in our cities because Christianity changed the way the Roman Empire looked after its people. Also, Jesus lived at exactly the God-appointed time, with exactly the conditions in place for faith to be spread across the planet, not to mention the thousands of Messianic prophecies that could only have been fulfilled one way, by one person, at one time. Anyway, that isn't really my point today. I'm asking the WWJD question today because what I can't imagine... is Jesus appearing on TV, blowing raspberries.

But here's my next point: whether you liked it or not, the wackiness did work for Jesus.

The man who had spittle and mud in his face walked away with brand new eyes. Lazarus actually did come stumbling out of that tomb. Jesus' parables are memorable ways to explain the Father's heart. Lepers and sinners went home healed and forgiven, and the communion of bread and wine has become one of the most powerful ways for us to celebrate our connection with him. What's more, the woman who committed adultery survived her judgment, there was a coin in the fish's mouth, and Jesus called out the hypocrisy of religious people everywhere he went.

I'm out on a limb when I'm up against a millionaire televangelist in a suit, but I do know that his hero (and mine) told us that talent and wealth ought to be used, not hoarded. And if he wants to be wacky, that is okay, so long as it's in the will of the Father - I laughed, but I'm not criticising. If the death rate drops to zero tomorrow, who am I to scoff?

But there are other ways to help aren't there? And once again, someone that comfortable could probably find a million different ways to be more like Jesus in the current situation, and get down into the mud and the dust and really look after people who are suffering.

...which pushes me to a really good question.

What am I doing?