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Qwikness

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My Protestant neighbor came over and there was a book inside the book was picture of Jesus suffering and above it said, The Passion, Crucifixion, and Death. She snickered and said, “Look how sad he looks.” I made a joke to try to lighten the mood and to try not make her feel like an idiot (she was my neighbor afterall). I said, “Well he was having a really bad day.” Again she said something " I’m sorry, but Jesus was not always so miserable." Like that’s was not something that needed to be dwealt upon. My eyebrows went up, I almost shook my head, I must have been a bewildered, and I said, “It was his Passion afterall.” She said “Hm, yeah.” dismissing it. Is she only focus on the Joyful and not the Sorrowful? Have you had any experiences with Protestants that only focused on the happy and not the sad?
 
More the reason why she should watch the Passion of the Christ. She has no idea… .🤷
 
This doesn’t sound like it was much of a conversation – just some random ignorant and unreflective comments by your neighbor.

You could have answered like this:

“Look how sad he looks.”
Well, how would you expected him to look while being unjustly scourged, crowned by thorns, and nailed to a Cross??
I’m sorry, but Jesus was not always so miserable."
Who said he was? If you want some pictures of a happy, smiling Jesus, I have those too.
“Hm, yeah.”
Hmm, yeah?? 🙂 I’m not sure I understand-- What do you mean by that?

Then again, I don’t think she was really intersted in conversing, just criticizing.
 
Have you had any experiences with Protestants that only focused on the happy and not the sad? [/QUOTE said:
Not in any one particular instance. But when I was in the middle of converting this thought hit me like a lightening bolt. I couldnt belive that I had lived most of my life not looking at the fullness of the Crusifixion. It certainly makes the Resurrection that much more wonderfull!!!

J.M.J
cat3gs
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Her reaction to the picture, considering that it was in bad taste if not outright blasphemous, tells me that it bothered her very deeply indeed. People don’t usually sneer at that which means nothing to them. I think she was challenged by the Crucified and didn’t like how that made her feel.

Being that you were caught off guard, I wouldn’t beat myself up over your responses if I was you. Rather, take it as a sign that your picture was a witness to her of her need for Christ, not just as a “pal” but as her Savior. Maybe it will haunt her (in a good way), having made a ripple of disturbance in the complacent sea of her soul.
 
Fidelis said:
This doesn’t sound like it was much of a conversation – just some random ignorant and unreflective comments by your neighbor.

You could have answered like this:

“Look how sad he looks.”
Well, how would you expected him to look while being unjustly scourged, crowned by thorns, and nailed to a Cross??
I’m sorry, but Jesus was not always so miserable."
Who said he was? If you want some pictures of a happy, smiling Jesus, I have those too.
“Hm, yeah.”
Hmm, yeah?? 🙂 I’m not sure I understand-- What do you mean by that?
I know I could have said a lot of stuff. I’m not real sure about her depth of “bible” knowledge. I figured she was knowledgable, the way she always talks about Church. But I guess when her services talk about other stuff.

Then again, I don’t think she was really intersted in conversing, just criticizing.
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This was a stupid reaction by a Protestant, not a Protestant reaction. If you get my drift.
 
Qwikness said:
My Protestant neighbor came over and there was a book inside the book was picture of Jesus suffering and above it said, The Passion, Crucifixion, and Death. She snickered and said, “Look how sad he looks.” I made a joke to try to lighten the mood and to try not make her feel like an idiot (she was my neighbor afterall). I said, “Well he was having a really bad day.” Again she said something " I’m sorry, but Jesus was not always so miserable." Like that’s was not something that needed to be dwealt upon. My eyebrows went up, I almost shook my head, I must have been a bewildered, and I said, “It was his Passion afterall.” She said “Hm, yeah.” dismissing it. Is she only focus on the Joyful and not the Sorrowful? Have you had any experiences with Protestants that only focused on the happy and not the sad?
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It always amazes me that most Protestants don’t want to be reminded of what Jesus had to go through to save their souls.
That’s why they frown upon crucifixes - choosing to show (or wear) a simple cross instead.
Whenever I get the opportunity to discuss this with my Protestant siblings, I tell them that the resurrection is meaningless without the sacrifice and death of Jesus.
I tell them that whenever I get a little too full of myself or forgetful about the reality of salvation and damnation, I take comfort in the fact of what my Lord did to save MY soul - and feel the shame of what I did to put him there.
 
rr1213 said:
This was a stupid reaction by a Protestant, not a Protestant reaction. If you get my drift.
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Indeed! Most Protestants I’ve known would have been shocked by someone sneering at a picture of the crucifixion.
 
Hear, hear, Della!
Her reaction to the picture, considering that it was in bad taste if not outright blasphemous, tells me that it bothered her very deeply indeed. People don’t usually sneer at that which means nothing to them. I think she was challenged by the Crucified and didn’t like how that made her feel.
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Being that you were caught off guard, I wouldn’t beat myself up over your responses if I was you. Rather, take it as a sign that your picture was a witness to her of her need for Christ, not just as a “pal” but as her Savior. Maybe it will haunt her (in a good way), having made a ripple of disturbance in the complacent sea of her soul.
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mp
 
I noticed a peculiar phenomenon when I worshipped among the Anglicans in these parts.

On Good Friday, some of the evangelical Anglicans had a service of some sort. None of the liberal or anglo-catholics did at all. And more than one of these latter often told me that they were much more “into” the resurrection than anything that happened on Good Friday. These folks abhored crucifixes, and preferred those curious items that had a cross in the background, and some sort of a resurrected figure in the foreground.

Being so “broad” in their scope, the Anglicans probably reflect the Protestant continuum of those who are deeply moved by the crucifixion, and those who don’t really see it as a big thing at all.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
Qwikness said:
My Protestant neighbor came over and there was a book inside the book was picture of Jesus suffering and above it said, The Passion, Crucifixion, and Death. She snickered and said, “Look how sad he looks.” I made a joke to try to lighten the mood and to try not make her feel like an idiot (she was my neighbor afterall). I said, “Well he was having a really bad day.” Again she said something " I’m sorry, but Jesus was not always so miserable." Like that’s was not something that needed to be dwealt upon. My eyebrows went up, I almost shook my head, I must have been a bewildered, and I said, “It was his Passion afterall.” She said “Hm, yeah.” dismissing it. Is she only focus on the Joyful and not the Sorrowful? Have you had any experiences with Protestants that only focused on the happy and not the sad?
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She will probably come back another day with more questions for you, so be prepared you have given her food for thought.

What a good witness to have done and now continue.

Maybe no one has talked with her about it before so that was just her first reaction. God bless You Dessert
 
I don’t think her reaction should be generalize that all Protestants feel the same way. They are individuals with different views.
 
One of my regular prayers when I was in my last stages of Protestantism was that God would help me understand the sufferings that Jesus endured during His trial and crucifixion.

Then I became a Catholic and learned to pray the Sorrowful Mysteries.

DaveBj
 
What you should do is pick her up a copy of a Case for Christ, he describes medically what Christ went through. It was heart wrenching to read the details.

I dont think everybody really thinks of the details because we have no relative experience to understand it, so we dont get the whole picture.
 
I do not know any Protestants who reacted in the manner that your acquaintance did. Many Protestants I know actually went to see the film in the theatres with their church group. When I went to the theatre, I saw many Protestants who were weeping (as I was) afterwards. I knew they were Protestant even though I did not know them because they were wearing t-shirts from their churches. A Protestant bookstore in my neighbourhood had more books, jewelry, t-shirts, etc. related to the film than the Catholic bookstore. This past Lent, since the movie is available on DVD, many Protestant churches advertised that they were showing the film at their church.
 
lak611 said:
I do not know any Protestants who reacted in the manner that your acquaintance did. Many Protestants I know actually went to see the film in the theatres with their church group. When I went to the theatre, I saw many Protestants who were weeping (as I was) afterwards. I knew they were Protestant even though I did not know them because they were wearing t-shirts from their churches. A Protestant bookstore in my neighbourhood had more books, jewelry, t-shirts, etc. related to the film than the Catholic bookstore. This past Lent, since the movie is available on DVD, many Protestant churches advertised that they were showing the film at their church.
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This is good to see! 👍
 
My 24 year-old daughter, who is Protestant converting to Catholic, said something during her (Protestant) teen years that I have never forgotten.

" The cross is only the instrument of execution. Wearing a cross is like wearing a tiny electric chair or a hangman’s noose."
 
Cat said:
My 24 year-old daughter, who is Protestant converting to Catholic, said something during her (Protestant) teen years that I have never forgotten.

" The cross is only the instrument of execution. Wearing a cross is like wearing a tiny electric chair or a hangman’s noose."
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This echoes the observation by the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. He told people to focus on the crucifix, because Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission, and the cross without Christ is a burden without a bearer.

Blessings,

Gerry
 
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