Jesus or Snoop Dog?

Okay, I'm pushing it with the title. I wanted to get your attention. But check this out. Earlier today while I was lost in the great metropolis of Jasper, Alabama, I ended up in a residential area. As I was turning around I noticed a couple of white statues sitting in a yard. That's not uncommon - people often display icons like depictions of angels, Jesus, etc. But these two were different. Both of the faces had been painted black (actually dark brown).

When I looked back a second time, I didn't realize it was supposed to be Jesus (even though it was clothed in a white robe which I guess is what Jesus always wore?) because it looked just like the entertainer Snoop Dog. I'm not kidding - it looked just like him. Long curly hair with a touch of jerry curyl, skinny face and a goatee. It was hilarious. Once I realized that it was supposed to be Jesus I couldn't stop laughing. It looked so funny.

Now, I don't know what Jesus actually looked like. I could make an educated guess that, based on his heritage and where he lived, he probably had dark, olive skin color and "darker" hair. But you know what, it really doesn't matter to me. He could have been a black man. It doesn't affect my faith in Him or my salvation through Him at all. But because I'm a preacher (and could find an illustration in a pitch black empty room) I immediately starting thinking about why people try to make Jesus out to be a person that they can be comfortable with - even if it doesn't match up to what the Bible says He is? Does that make sense?

The person who owned those statues is obviously a black man or woman and is more comfortable thinking of Jesus as a black man. I think about the pictures of Jesus I have seen, like the one on the cover of our big family bible that has been handed down through a couple of generations. It's a nice looking pale white guy with a neatly trimmed beard. The artist who painted it had a definitive picture of what he thought Jesus should look like.


We do this all the time. We try to alter who He is, what He did and what He said so that it can fit into the life that we want to live. I wonder how that makes him feel now? When we read some of the things he said and did we're left feeling loved and comforted. And at other times we read things that leave us feeling guilty, ashamed or convicted. I hope all of those feelings will lead us to make good decisions to change our lives - and not to change Him, His life or His teachings.

By the way, the angel looked just like Scooby Doo - i'm not kidding. And once I'm done preparing my sermon tomorrow my only goal for the day is to find that house again and get a picture!