Another excursion into popular culture for lessons in engaging with our multicultural society, this time from that balladeer of the low life, the romantic of the all-night bar whose crackling voice is as diamond-edged as his lyrics are cutting, witty and wise. Tom Waits has written two songs that, for me, provide a neat challenge to the pervading god of consumerism: "Step Right Up" and "Chocolate Jesus". In our fear and bewilderment at the pushing of the Christian faith to the fringes of the West and the rise in other religions, it is easy to forget the single most powerful force around and its corrosive effect on all of us, and especially our youth: materialism.
"Step Right Up" is a hilarious and relentless litany of selling slogans, "That's right it fillets, it chops, it dices, it slices, Never stops, lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn....You can live in it, live in it, laugh in it, love in it, Swim in it, sleep in it....It's a friend, it's a companion, It's the only product you'll ever need". Check it out, smile, wince and be that more cynical about the lies we take on board every day, without realising that "The large print giveth, And the small print taketh away". This seeps into the very fabric of our church culture and that's where "Chocolate Jesus" comes in.
Tom Waits' "church" is his local candy store where they sell a chocolate Jesus, "the only thing that can pick me up": "It's best to wrap your saviour up in cellophane He flows like the big muddy river But that's ok Pour him over ice cream for a nice parfait". It's cynical, it's barbed and it ought to challenge the church in an age when we so often domesticate Jesus so that "He's good enough for me, Make me feel good inside". In a consumerist age, is the Christian faith just one of a number of options out there to keep us comfortable, prop us up, provide our therapeutic kick away from the pain of life? Or is Jesus our radical Lord, challenging all other deities, brands and allegiances? Sing on Tom Waits, prophet of the twilight zone. If we are to seriously engage as a church with our multifaith context, we need to name some of the idols first: "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away".
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