Inside – Outside “Jokes”

Three times I have had someone direct my attention to a bumper sticker/T-shirt which has, apparently, become quite the rage among politically conservative Christians. It says “Pray for Obama.” So far so good. But this legitimate concern is linked with a bible verse, Psalm 109:8, and thereby subverted and made despicable.

The Christians who have pointed this out to me, thoughtful men both of them, thought it was funny. The verse referenced reads, in part, “may another take his office.” It was, to them, a clever way of saying, “I wish we had a different president.” It was not a happy thing for me to correct them.

The problem is that they were ignoring the other part of the verse: “May his days be few.”

It is this portion of the verse that leaps out and is deeply offensive to others. To their ears, it is a call for Obama’s death. And I have to say I think THEY in this case are reading it correctly. Taken as a whole, it is offensive.

Let me assume the best, that these were produced as a joke (like ‘baseball’ being mentioned in Genesis 1, “In the big inning…”).

The problem is that that which may be funny when told inside a closed culture may not appear as funny when broadcast outside that culture. To take the inside jokes outside without considering how insensitive they will sound to those not on the inside is very, very careless. It is not loving to those we are called to serve, and it is damaging, further damaging, to the very testimony of love and grace that we believe is integral to the Christian message.

We need to learn to hear with ‘alien ears’ and therefore speak with more gracious lips. And that requires constant repentance and repeated draughts from the fountain of God’s grace.

In the meantime, ditch the bumper stickers and burn the t-shirts. Please.