Is is it Blasphemy or continual prayer?

[pbropp]

I struggle with the line between blasphemy and welcoming God in to all aspects of my life. On one hand I would like to keep God in the front of my mind and on the tip of my tongue and offer up all the aspects of my day/life to him. I want to ask him for help with my struggles and praise him for my triumphs, but I sometimes wonder if what I’m doing is blasphemous. The following is an example that is not from my life but is from a Catholic podcast that I have recently discovered. I don’t’ drink but this example illustrates my point.

When these gentlemen drink the exclaim “Cheers Jesus” or “What should we drink to? Raise our glasses to Jesus” Another example is t-shirt that IU saw at Wal Mart that said “Ya’ll need Jesus!” The sentiment is true, but the wording is a little funny. Is this welcoming Jesus in to all aspects of our lives or is this blasphemy?

Does Jesus really want to be a part of every aspect of our lives, even the mundane?

Does the answer lie in the words or the intent?

Kind Regards,

Phil

 

[HopkinsReb]

I struggle with the line between blasphemy and welcoming God in to all aspects of my life. On one hand I would like to keep God in the front of my mind and on the tip of my tongue and offer up all the aspects of my day/life to him. I want to ask him for help with my struggles and praise him for my triumphs, but I sometimes wonder if what I’m doing is blasphemous. The following is an example that is not from my life but is from a Catholic podcast that I have recently discovered. I don’t’ drink but this example illustrates my point.

When these gentlemen drink the exclaim “Cheers Jesus” or “What should we drink to? Raise our glasses to Jesus” Another example is t-shirt that IU saw at Wal Mart that said “Ya’ll need Jesus!” The sentiment is true, but the wording is a little funny. Is this welcoming Jesus in to all aspects of our lives or is this blasphemy?

Does Jesus really want to be a part of every aspect of our lives, even the mundane?

Does the answer lie in the words or the intent?

Kind Regards,

Phil

Jesus is fully human. He has lived the mundane out of His own choice, to live and die as one of us.

No, it is not blasphemy to involve Him in the mundane parts of our lives. Christianity, particularly Catholicism, is not a purely spiritual endeavor. Jesus elevates the mundane to the sublime, as it was always meant to be.

 

[adamhovey1988]

I live in South Carolina, y’all need Jesus is something you’ll get told quite often, I don’t think that’s blasphemy , this is just the way we say you (plural) need Jesus.

 

[HopkinsReb]

I live in South Carolina, y’all need Jesus is something you’ll get told quite often, I don’t think that’s blasphemy , this is just the way we say you (plural) need Jesus.

Plus it avoids the sin of saying ridiculous words like “yinz” or “yous guys.” “Y’all,” as God intended.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Does the answer lie in the words or the intent?

The intent. There is nothing wrong with a non-blasphemous T-shirt referencing Jesus, or having a beer in honor of Jesus, or even telling a mild Jesus joke, if your intent is truly to honor Jesus and make him part of your life, and you aren’t committing some big sin while wearing the shirt or having the beer. (Like, you’re not getting drunk, you’re not wearing the shirt out to pick up a guy at the bar and go fornicate, etc.)

When I say “non-blasphemous” I mean that the shirt or joke or whatever isn’t making a sexual or drug reference or mocking Jesus’ sacrifice for us or mocking the Church, that sort of thing. “Y’all need Jesus” is a common phrase in some parts of the USA; it’s not meant to mock Jesus or religion.

I note that some people are not totally comfortable with regarding Jesus in this way, and that’s okay; you’re not required to wear the t-shirt or toast Jesus with a beer if you prefer and benefit from a more reverent approach. But be careful about criticizing how others approach Jesus. Some of us benefit greatly from having Jesus “around” in a casual and friendly way. I would say it’s something that helped bring me back from a non-practicing state to a practicing state - the idea that Jesus is around, is part of your daily life, loves you and wants to be your friend, and is not some unapproachable distant entity on high. I have a great fondness for un-blasphemous pop culture Jesus representations.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Does Jesus really want to be a part of every aspect of our lives, even the mundane?

YES.

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” is a Scripture that was carved in my heart as a child.

I love the Traditional Jewish way of praying, that there is a prayer to be said before and after the most mundane parts of our life (yes, even a prayer when you go to the toilet).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I love the Traditional Jewish way of praying, that there is a prayer to be said before and after the most mundane parts of our life (yes, even a prayer when you go to the toilet).

Honestly, if one has ever been feeling very sick on the toilet or trying to puke into the toilet, one is quite familiar with praying there.

And when everything has been working right I have been known to feel grateful to God there because I know how bad it can feel when stuff is working wrong.

 

[HopkinsReb]

pbropp:

Does Jesus really want to be a part of every aspect of our lives, even the mundane?

YES.

“Men ought always to pray, and not to faint” is a Scripture that was carved in my heart as a child.

I love the Traditional Jewish way of praying, that there is a prayer to be said before and after the most mundane parts of our life (yes, even a prayer when you go to the toilet).

I love this prayer. Learned about it this spring.

Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, King of the universe, Who formed man with wisdom and created within him many openings and many hollow spaces. It is obvious and known before Your Seat of Honor that if even one of them would be opened, or if even one of them would be sealed, it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You even for one hour. Blessed are You, Adonai, Who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.

 

[pbropp]

Thank you all for your kind responses to my question. I truly appreciate your consideration as I struggle with this and other questions. I think that I’m in agreement with you, for the most part.

As far as the “Ya’ll need Jesus” t-shirt is concerned I understand, because of having southern roots myself that may people do talk like that. Many people also parody that way of speech and I believe that the language on this t-shirt was meant as a parody and I caution people to not let people who parody a certain demographic accidentally parody Jesus. I do agree that he should be with us always but I do not agree that he should be the butt of our jokes and he deserves a certain degree of reverence.

 

[DisorientingSneeze]

“Y’all need Jesus” while true of all of us, seems like it gets used in a judgey way. I’m not a fan of the usages of it I’ve encountered.