Last supper on the Seine
Christians around the world are expressing offence at part of the Olympic games opening ceremony in Paris where there was a scene very similar to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting with drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine and various people dressed and undressed generally gesturing in a sexualised manner. Apparently this was all about being inclusive to the gay and trans community but in the process managed to be hugely exclusive for some religious people. C’est la vie?
As Christians we need to be careful with our outrage.
Yes this was clearly a mockery to some degree of a famous scene in the Christian gospel and shows a disdain for Christians. It is not credible to suggest no-one knew that putting together people who were celebrating immoral lifestyles alongside imagery about Jesus eating his last meal with his disciples would cause offence. It is right and proper to express our distress. To ignore it is to say this means nothing to me that a drag artist is acting as the master of ceremonies at the Last Supper, in place of Jesus. Granted, the painting used as the set model for this tableau is not the same as scripture, and was painted by a deist more than a disciple of Christ. But still, it hurts us that the scene of such great significance as Jesus Christ, about to give his body and blood for us, is being corrupted. We should not merely shrug our shoulders and say this is just art, or that we need more of a sense of humour. This was gross and indecent.
But in a sense something worse than that was going on in the ceremony as a whole and countless events like it. The message of the ceremony was that we should worship the god of personal fulfilment and the sexualisation of pretty much all entertainment offered to adults and children. In the end was this ceremony much worse than Love Island, for example?
And then we need to temper our response with the reality that Christians are often mocked and ridiculed in popular culture and in person, as Jesus himself was. This is not unexpected or unusual and we should view it in the bigger picture of the opposition to God and his people throughout history. We are a minority in the West but our main purpose is not the campaign for equal rights as other religions or secularists. Our main aim is for more people to learn about Jesus and want to reverence and respect, him, it’s not about our feelings.
It’s not about our feelings – its about his glory.
As gospel hearted believers we should use our outrage
Many people we live and work with, will have watched the opening ceremony saw reports about it. How might we use it as a starting point to a gospel conversation.
Here are some ideas:
“…that scene from the Lord’s supper was distressing for me to watch because that final meal is so important to me as the foundation of my hope – the giving of Jesus life in my place
“… Christians get mostly mocked and ridiculed and popular culture. Why do you think that is…?
” do you ever feel uncomfortable about the way children are sexualised at such a young age?
“… You know the Olympics was around in Jesus day. The Roman world was a lot like modern society and Christianity turned it upside down so the decadent lifestyle was seen as both wrong and futile.
And lets pray for people around the world to be neither entertained or mildly offended but to actually believe in the one being mocked.
“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:17-19)