Steve Irwin v. Jesus – By Simon Jockel
Its obvioue people loved Steve Irwin, even though many of us Aussies were a bit embarassed by him as an ambassador for our country. It’s funny how after someone dies and you hear their story you realise how tops they were after-all. Samantha and I were watching him talk in an interview on Andrew Denton and realised that big Stevo had a few Jesus like characteristics…Hence Steve Irwin v. Jesus.
1. Stevo said he treated animals/reptiles, the environment and people how he wanted to be treated himself. Jesus said “love your neighbour as you love yourself”
2. Stevo didn’t care about taking up invitations to have dinner with celebrities and important people like Bill Clinton, he’d rather keep doing what he was passionate about and spend time with his family rather than hob-nob with the stars. Jesus was passionate about people, not whether they were poor or rich, cool, uncool, infuential or powerless, he kept it real and got on with what was important.
3. Stevo was influential, well known and loved because of his passion for what he believed in. Jesus is still one of the most famous and influential figures in history because of his passion, integrity, and his love for people and the world.
We know that there are heaps of things Jesus is that Stevo wasn’t but its interesting to think about why people loved Stevo so much, cause I reckon in Stevo we saw a glimpse of the Jesus we are looking for but often don’t see in the Church.
So what would the church look like if it looked more like Steve Irwin / Jesus?
I was just listenning to Senator Kerry Nettle have it out with Senator Amanda Vanstone about this Government’s refugee policies in the Senate. Senator Nettle kept listing church organisations (Uniting and Catholic, notably) as organisations that had put a lot of (non-government) time and money into looking after asylum seekers who weren’t allowed to work due to visa restrictions, and who weren’t receiving any assistance from the government.
Telling stories about how the church still acts with compassion is not going to sell nearly as many newspapers as a headline about a preist who couldn’t keep his hands off kids (for example), but stories of compassion still exist, and they do show a church that is acting as I think Jesus (and maybe Steve Irwin) would. It’s just harder to see because we don’t hear the stories.
One of the heartaches I’ve had recently with the churches I’ve been to is that, while institutionally churches may act with compassion on behalf of refugees and others (which is far better than not acting), I’ve rarely seen that reflected in the concerns and conversations of the local congregations.
Which may be why Steve Irwin / Jesus may not feel too comfortable in a local congregation.