Jesus the Bearded Lady?
Interesting blog post by Mark Batterson on Evotional.com yesterday. If you're not familiar with Batterson, he is a pastor in the D.C area with one of the best Christian blogs on the Web.
In this post, he writes: "a lot of our confusion about masculinity traces back to our view of Jesus. I think the church, by and large, has celebrated his feminine qualities and ignored his masculine qualities. In the words of Patrick Allen, Jesus is portrayed as a bearded lady."
I've heard this idea before and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm all for bringing Godly masculinity into the church, it's one of the reasons I enjoy working for New Man. But I guess I just don't understand what about Jesus' "feminine" characteristics we emphasize and what about his "masculine" characteristics we ignore?
Sometimes I feel that because masculinity is under attack in American culture, Christian men tend to go overboard and view everything in terms of masculine or feminine. It just seems a little over the line if you're telling me that what I have been taught about the Son of God is the little girl's version.
But maybe I'm wrong and most of the church does view Jesus this way. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have on this topic.
In this post, he writes: "a lot of our confusion about masculinity traces back to our view of Jesus. I think the church, by and large, has celebrated his feminine qualities and ignored his masculine qualities. In the words of Patrick Allen, Jesus is portrayed as a bearded lady."
I've heard this idea before and I'm not sure what to make of it. I'm all for bringing Godly masculinity into the church, it's one of the reasons I enjoy working for New Man. But I guess I just don't understand what about Jesus' "feminine" characteristics we emphasize and what about his "masculine" characteristics we ignore?
Sometimes I feel that because masculinity is under attack in American culture, Christian men tend to go overboard and view everything in terms of masculine or feminine. It just seems a little over the line if you're telling me that what I have been taught about the Son of God is the little girl's version.
But maybe I'm wrong and most of the church does view Jesus this way. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys have on this topic.
posted by Chris at 8:33 AM
2 Comments:
Actually, my grandmother owned a Bible and my Mom gave it to me before she (my grandmother) died. It had a picture of Jesus on it, and it was the "Little Lamb" look, you know, where although the Man has a beard, he looks like this sweet little boy - maybe even, little girl. He looks so gentle he almost (I hate to put it this way) looks insipid. Maybe you can tell I don't like this look for the Master of Mankind altogether.
I'm not much of a Christian, but also we have an Italian metalwork on the wall, and again if it wasn't for the beard, Jesus in the metalwork would look like a thoroughly nonplussed young woman. Too gentle perhaps, not masculine enough?
All I can say is, perhaps people over the centuries have wanted to portray Jesus as a kind of half male, half female figure so he could represent all things to all people. Personally, I prefer the way in the Philippines he's always portrayed alongside Mary his Mother, which although it makes them look a little too much like a brother and sister team, it helps bring out Jesus's masculine qualities and helps him look a lot less like - yes- a "lost" little girl. I'm not meaning to be derisive; I just am not in favor of that lost little lamb look.
It is just part of the feminization of the church that has been going on for 150 years. The books "Why MNe Hate Going To Church" and "No More Mr Nice Guy" cover the subject well. People are reading those and getting a revelation. The image that makes me laugh is the typical gentle Jesus image photoshopped so that He is holding a gun. Google it and have a laugh.
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