Plastic Jesus

I welcome to my blog the hugely talented Stephen Opie.. master marketer and leader of the Oxygen congregation based in Wellington.

 

Stephen writes:

Can you see him? Can you feel him? Is he with you?

Three questions greeting you as you check out Fisherman Inc’s website. They’re interesting questions in themselves, but even more intriguing when you see what Fishermen Inc sell. Fishermen Inc was founded by Eric Dyson, who says on his website that two years ago he was a typical young exec, earning the big bucks in the US. Then his father died. Grief hit home and he says God touched him with the words “I am always with you.”

From there he had an image of Jesus riding a Harley across the open roads of America. Out of this was born Fishermen, an organisation making Jesus figurines.

Now, I have heard of Jesus figurines before. In fact I brought ‘Super Jesus’ as a Christmas present for my sister. He was a wind up Jesus with a cloak of stars and little wheels on his feet. He scooted across the desktop waiving his arms up and down. He certainly was super.

So I wasn’t surprised when I saw these. In fact, I love them. I love the concept. Rock climbing Jesus. Bull riding Jesus. Skateboarding Jesus. Surfing Jesus. And yes, Jesus riding a Harley.

But ‘what’s the point’ people seem to be asking. Well, thinking about it, what do I do on my scooter as I motor to work each day? I talk to Jesus. What do I do when I’m sitting out the back waiting for a wave on my surf board? I talk to Jesus. Jesus is with me everywhere.

But, as life-changing as this concept is, I still seem to forget it in the hard times. It’s when the going gets tough that we sometimes strangely think Jesus has abandoned us.

For that reason alone, I’d love to have one of these on my desk.

But as you can probably predict, some people don’t like them. “You don’t play with Jesus,” says one critic on a Youtube video.

Why not? Well, as one other person puts it, what happens when my kid has a battle between football Jesus and Megatron? Or Gandalf? Or Spiderman? Who’s going to win and how do I explain it to my kid if Jesus doesn’t?

This kind of critique I think is just purely over thinking. And as for the “don’t play with Jesus” argument, I think these are aimed at a slightly different audience. I can’t see executives or teachers or Pastors playing with Jesus on their desk the way one might play with Super Jesus.

So, while this is not a new concept, I love the creative approach at communicating a simple message. I just hope it pays off for this guy. Otherwise he might have to go back to being just another young exec earning the ‘six figure’ salary.

I’m just not so sure about commando-desert-storm Jesus, with his dove and AK47. I think that messes with my theology a little too much.

Stephen Opie

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Check out Stephen’s blog by CLICKING HERE

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