art criticism and transphobia

Jesus ate with sinners. That's not some controversial hermeneutical position. Even a quick AI search pulls up three references: 

• Matthew 9:10-17: Jesus eats with sinners and tax collectors at Matthew's house, and the Pharisees rebuke him for it. Jesus responds, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners".
• Mark 2:13-17: Jesus calls Levi and eats with sinners and tax collectors at Levi's house.
• Luke 19:10: Jesus eats with Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, in Jericho

 Societal taboos were meaningless to "God with us." I am confident that Jesus would have ate with the drag queens on the bridge, 100 percent. He ate at the homes of prostitutes and social outcasts. He intentionally went to places to get religious leaders to ask questions that exposed the bigotry in their religious control of others. Jesus revealed God's heart of inclusion and belonging. Jesus sought out people of different ethnic backgrounds. Consider the Samaritan woman, first to hear Jesus' identity of Deity (John 4). Jesus spoke a lot more about forgiveness than ever requiring followers to embrace the Law.

It troubles my heart to hear people say that the artistic display in the Olympic Opening Ceremony last week was persecution of Christians in any way. There is legitimate persecution of Christians happening around the world, with siblings who understand the transformative inclusion of the Gospel. Instead, the outrage at the "evocation of The Last Supper" reveals the transphobia and bigotry still rampant in American Christianity.

Something you should know: I love the Olympic games. They are an international event, not an American event. In 2012, I watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Burkina Faso. The games were in London and my Burkinabe friends were convinced that the Queen of England had actually jumped out of a helicopter to join the festivities. In 2016, there wasn't a working TV on the school compound where I was working in Llongwe, Malawi. I convinced a friend with a car to drive us to a hotel so we could watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony in the hotel lobby. The festivities are for a global audience to be introduced to everything the host nation is proud of. The Olympic Opening Ceremony was for France to present their French selves to the world. I did cry when the Assassin's Creed/Phantom of the Opera character began to parkour from the rooftops. I also cried when the Gojira metal set melded into the Les Miserables lyrics, with the French people displaying the sacrifices of a nation so invested in democracy. But, I only watched the first two hours of the ceremony live this year because we had a Backyard Olympics for 20 kids from our neighborhood. That is, I missed the moment that is causing Christian-presenting Americans to "protest" the Olympics. But, as a French-literate former missionary, I appreciate the pun of "La Cène sur une scène sur la Seine”

My six-year-old loved the Backyard Olympics because friends came over. This kid embraces any opportunity to play and welcome. The weekend before, we celebrated with our LGBTQ+ community at the Pride festival in our town. Both of my kids, in full festival mode, wants to take their Pride flag and rainbow beads with them everywhere we goes now. But, when he asked if he could bring his flag to church, I slipped back into my position of privileged bystander.

"Maybe it's better to leave the flag in the car and just wear the beads," I offered. He listened, because he's a great kid, but I realized that I still cling to homophobic and transphobic theology. Not even deep down, it's still quite close to the surface. This week, I let him bring his flags (all of them) on Sunday. We stopped at a bakery before going to church and he was so proud to show off his Pride flag, US flag, and Olympics flag.

As a heterosexual couple, married seven years ago in a ceremony with extensive Christian liturgy, we have a commitment to teach our children that God is loving and inclusive. That's a tenet of the Christian faith that seems to be intentionally ignored in each "culture war" topic of the moment. When I talked with my six-year-old about the controversy he said, "Well, God loves everybody." I am grateful that my kids can accept and welcome the queer families in our neighborhood, the transgendered individuals that we know by name, and even the people with incompatible beliefs.

So, I wonder what specifically triggers the "protest." 

• Was it a repulsion to the depiction of Dionysius? Greek mythology hosts far more banquets and far more tables.
• Was it the defacement of European art? I wonder where the outcry is for the Mona Lisa floating down the Seine at the hands of sunken minions (by far, my kids' favorite part of the ceremony!) It's cool if you don't want to believe that daVinci fled to France to avoid persecution for his gay lifestyle. Just remember, The Last Supper is an artist's rendition, anyways.
• Was it the celebration of diversity within the Paris drag scene? When Kelly Clarkson mentioned the diversity represented in the "fashion show" bit, my mind reminisced on descriptions of Heaven with every tribe and tongue. 

I really can't understand what people who love and are loved by Jesus are so mad about here. There are far bigger affronts to Christianity in our own nation today. Art simply reminds us of our humanity.