Fearless Faith

While tromping around downtown Los Angeles during a weekend conference, we discovered some artists hard at work on several unique multi-story advertising panels. From upcoming movies to automobiles to popular restaurant chains, the ads were amazing works of art, spray painted onto the exterior walls of various hotels and other buildings. In the last several months, the city of Los Angeles had taken the property owners to task for advertising that did not meet city-established guidelines. A municipal court ruled in favor of the property owners just in time for us to benefit from watching the artists at work on high cable-strung scaffolds.

One particular larger-than-life ad covered a dozen stories of building, boasting a head-to-toe image of a popular Lakers basketball player. What caught one’s attention had less to do with the size of the image as it did with how the face in the ad was totally unlike the celebrity lending their endorsement. A little goofy and out of symmetry with its real life namesake, it became a running joke every time we passed by. Our artistic reservations were confirmed when, two days later, the face on the giant ad had been erased and a new one begun. The image of a harried agent for the superstar having to call the company and threaten them to make it look less comical and more realistic stayed with us the rest of the week. By the time we left L.A., a new forehead had appeared but we were left wanting when it came to the final result.

We all have pre-conceived notions of who Christ is, how he looks in our mind, and how he reflects on society and on us. We create larger-than-life images that become more that representations … they become gospel, particularly when we don’t allow room for any but our own viewpoints. Often, we get so close to the subject that the resulting image may become asymmetrical, and yes, even a little goofy depending on the angle.

One-size-religion doesn’t fit all. It is with the benefit of others’ opinions and perceptions and understandings that we determine what makes for good art and good religion. It is no surprise that Jesus engaged a variety of persons … tax collectors, laborers, fishermen, men and women of faith and those not so faithful in order for us all to encounter the wide-ranging grace that God has to offer. “So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another … Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear (Eph 4:25, 29, NRSV).”

Jesus Christ is more than oversized art in a world of competing interests. He is an enduring work of significant proportion, imagined into our world by a master artist. Don’t be surprised where he might be found, even on 12-story buildings.