As you go about your life, dear reader, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), and “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish” (2 Pet. 3:14), “and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). God, the world, and other believers are watching to see how your behavior comports with the faith you profess to believe, so beware lest you not only stumble but also cause others to do so by a bad example (Lk. 17:1-4).
For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’ (Rom. 2:24)
The blasphemy of most contemporary unbelievers is pathetic. And it is pathetic precisely because it is ignorant: it does not understand what it attacks, and sets up a caricature to beat to pieces. For example, in the early 90s the rock band Nirvana covered a parody of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam” called “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.” The lyrics are not substantive, as only 28 of the 182 words are unique. By contrast, 58 of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam’s” 113 words are unique. Which is to say that the parody is more simplistic by far than a song meant for 4 year-olds.
But to our point here, it fails, both as a parody of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam,” and as a satire of our faith. Its chorus is “don’t expect me to cry/don’t expect me to lie/don’t expect me to die for thee.” “I’ll Be a Sunbeam” doesn’t mention any of those things – it speaks of being “loving,/and kind to all I see” and being “pleasant and happy” – and a satire, to be effective, needs to savage a target with the target’s own terms.
But musical theory aside, it fails at its irreverence and mainly shows the ignorance of its performers. Jesus doesn’t expect one to lie for him, but forbids it utterly (Lev. 19:11). The fullness of his kingdom will banish weeping forever, and he pronounces blessing to those that weep now (Lk. 6:21). Only the third line has any bearing to anything Jesus actually taught, and to it we might rejoin that while Jesus expects a willingness to die in all his disciples (Lk. 14:26), he actually permits martyrdom to befall only a small minority of them.
In any event, Jesus’ burden is far lighter and better (Matt. 11:28) than that of the drugs which ruled the lives of many in the rock scene of which Nirvana was a part. The performance was dedicated to Joaquin Phoenix’s brother River, who had sadly died of an overdose shortly before at the grand age of 23. (Tragically, Nirvana leadman Kurt Cobain was himself struggling with addiction at the time of the performance, and would flee a recovery program and commit suicide less than five months later.)
Such blasphemy is, again, pathetic, and well might we scoff at it.
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