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Primarily, just because it’s Monday, and who doesn’t need a laugh on Monday.
Secondarily, I think this comic drives home a good point, although a point probably not intended by Mr. Pastis. Here, Rat intends to “help” Pig with his rather co-dependent love letter–I doubt Rat intended the comical result, although I’m sure he was quite pleased! Rat’s message was simple: make bold some words to really communicate what you are feeling. Some of us might have taken the words, “complete”, “ever”, and “are”, to name a few, to make bold. However, Pig doesn’t do this. He selects, “You,” “break,” and “wind.” The first thing your eyes read, when the letter reaches Pig’s girlfriend, Pigita, is the sentence, “You break wind“. Good job, Pig…Your message of love became lost in your botched attempt to make it “more”.
And this brings me to my point–again, probably not Mr. Pastis’: is the message of the Cross, the simple proclamation of the Cross being botched in our attempts to make it “relevant”, “fancy”, and “appealing”? Richard B. Hays, in his commentary on First Corinthians (1:18-31, specifically), writes,
“Wherever we find Christian faith presented in slick, high-tech, high-gloss images, as though it were a product to be marketed, we should ask ourselves immediately whether the gospel that is being proclaimed here is the word of the cross or whether it is some form of human boasting through image manipulation” (37).
In our attempt to proclaim the gospel, the Cross, Christ crucified in modern and tangible ways, are we, instead, saying something different? Are we pointing to something other than the Cross–albeit unintentionally? Is it possible for the proclamation of the Cross to become lost with too much human meddling? Are we leaving people with a good laugh, an interesting story, a neat parallel, rather than the Cross and their dire need for it?
I just wonder…In my attempts at proclaiming, “Christ, very God of very God, was crucified in your, our, stead because you, we, were/are unable to keep the Law”, I might just be saying, “You break wind“.
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6 responses to “"You Break Wind"”
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Love your analogy. Jacqueline and I have been deeply disappointed with the preaching here in a particular denomination in Scotland because Christ is rarely preached. I’ve had a theory for a couple years that each local assembly is remarkably like a chapter from a systematic theology textbook. What I mean is that some churches are heavy on pneumatology, others on sanctification, etc. The conservative wing of the unnamed denomination is always ‘on about’ (credit to Dr. Rod W. for that phrase) ecclesiology and/or spiritual gifts (‘use your talents/gifts in the church’)…rarely do we hear any other ‘words’ emphasized. This is a tragedy, in my opinion. The church ends up being lop-sided and malnourished because Christ becomes the peripheral bit. It is almost enough for us to head to other denominations where at least we know that we’ll get law/gospel…even if a bit of law is tagged on at the end of the sermon.
Amazing how a simple cartoon can point to a profound theological truth…thanks for scanning/discussing that Miss L.
Thanks for that comment, Dylan! I think it’s sad that we (people) think that once we’ve heard the gospel we don’t need to hear it any more. This is very wrong. Every week, we need to be reminded of that love; just as everyone should have wedding pictures about their house to remind them of that day so as to refresh that love. Being reminded about the cross can never get old because it keeps us grounded in the reality of our cross-worldview.
oh, and you can call me Mrs…plus, am I not older than you? maybe it should be ma’am.
So true Lauren. We need to hear it “again for the first time” every day. All of the illustrations and jokes and such are only to serve to get us into the gospel itself. They are in service to the message. If they become the point themselves then something is terribly wrong.
Unfortunately, this is very easy to do because the gospel is so offensive, and we like to avoid that.
OOOOOooo…Sean…I doing a talk on 1 cor 1 and am totally talking about that as one of my points. Here is a great quote from richard hays’ commentary on 1 Cor:
“Preaching that focuses on the cross will not be comforting and cheerful. Such preaching will take the full measure of human depravity and meditate deeply on the radical character of God’s solution. No upbeat self-help message here! This kind of preaching may sound foreboding, but in an age when we are surrounded on all sides by sugar-coated public relations hype and superficial gladness, the honest preaching of the cross will strike a responsive chord deep in the human heart. We want to be told the truth about our desperate situations; in deed, only when that truth is told can the depth of God’s grace be rightly grasped” (Hays 37).
Also, i tend to laugh when i’m uncomfortable, so why not make jokes when talking about something serious. However, it’s hard to not fall into pulp fiction or pulp cross. you know?
I certainly do Lauren.