At last - I've put a photo on to my blog! And it is the photo used to promote the Manchester Passion, when the BBC produced the story of Christ's passion using the locations of Manchester city centre and the songs of Mancunian artists. The most powerful moment ... when Jesus sang "Those who find themselves ridiculous, siddown next to me" (from the James song). It's a profound insight into the Jesus movement - it is a ridiculous way of life - and yet we often seem to act as though other people are weird for not joining in with us, or seem bemused when we're thought of as abnormal. It was great to be there, to hear the story in music and imagery of my cultural context - which made it all seem 'cool' again - yet I am also aware how 'ridiculous' it is. Yes, he was certainly a social radical, but I should take care co-opting a cool Jesus for my cultural references. Yes, we should do contextual theology - or, rather, we should realise that we do it, even if we don't mean to! - because we speak out of a context, including in our God-talk. But, like a metaphor, it is important to keep alive the 'truth' and 'untruth' of any connection - the passion of Christ has universal resonance, but also its own desperate particularity; the person of Jesus is distinct, but also has things in common with other great figures; he takes sides with radical reformers even today, but is not quite the same as any of them. What this means is, we must never be complacent - however ridiculous that is.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
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