At first, it struck me as blasphemous—then incredulous.
A satirical newspaper, known as the Onion, ran a recent headline as follows: “Christ Reluctantly Enters Area Man’s Heart.” The article went on to profile a fictional mortgage broker—Derek—who supposedly invited Christ to be his Savior. Derek is not a particularly nice man. Not the kind of man that you and I would necessarily choose to have a relationship with.
The article quotes Christ as saying, “When a believer reaches out to me with faith in their hearts, I kind of have to reach back, even if it’s Derek.”
Now please understand—I get the fact that this article is not only erroneous—it is blasphemous. Jesus has never known a hint of reluctance toward the worst of us. By contrast, the Bible sets the record straight assuring us in II Peter 3:9 that God is “patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
But here’s what blows me away—the real “headline.” The Onion is a printed newspaper, distributed in Milwaukee, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Omaha, Sana Fe, Ann Arbor, Columbus and Providence. The paper has a circulation of more than 200,000. It is entirely secular—and features articles often laced with profanity.
But here on the front page was a powerful (though satirical) illustration of the saving grace of God. The piece goes on to tell us Jesus—quote--“allowed His divine love to wash over” this guy.
As for his part, the fictional Derek is quoted as saying this was “only the start of a long intimate journey with the Lord by His side.”
A satirical newspaper in a post Christian culture has gotten it almost entirely right. On the front page is a somewhat blasphemous, incredulous article that tells the outrageous truth: Whosoever will…may come. Now THAT's awesome. That's Jesus!
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