Mocking Christianity is as old as Christianity itself. Since the time of the New Testament, Jesus and His followers have been mocked and desecrated by both the Jews and the Gentiles. Fast forward two thousand years and the story is much the same today. The culture and underlying feeling of the modern Western world is not one of reverence of Christendom and its influence, but rather one of disgust.

To the average secular individual, Christianity is backwards and hate-filled. Therefore, it stands to reason that attacking it is not only acceptable, but a good thing to do. We have all seen this play out before. Some movie, headline, book, or song says or does something sacrilegious and offensive. Right on que, Christians cause a fuss and in some cases call the thing satanic. The rest of the country laughs at them and accuses them of being overly sensitive. Gradually everything calms down with not very much having been accomplished.

Recently a video came to my attention that was egregiously offensive and I figured that the same tired cycle would play out again. I was quite surprised to find that not only did the cycle not happen, but it was almost the opposite of what was expected. Let me explain.

The reader has probably heard of the singer/songwriter called Lil Nas X. He came to prominence a few years ago appearing in the song Old Town Road. He is a practicing homosexual man and has released many videos with satanic imagery in them. Recently though, he has turned the volume up on the revilement. He released a video on TikTok and Youtube in which he is seen in what looks like a church, wearing some religious clothing and wolfing down communion bread and wine (For the sake of not promoting the video, I will not be sharing the link). The video is hard to watch and is as irrelevant as anything could be. He is making a mockery of holy communion, one of the Lord’s instituted sacraments. Let’s keep this story in mind, as I bring up another example.

Sabrina Carpenter is a singer that I actually like quite a bit, if I am being honest. The reader may know her from a few of her recently made popular songs, or because she has been the opening act for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. A couple months ago she released a music video on YouTube for her song called Feather. The song itself is fine, but what is more offensive was the background of the video. It starts inside of a church with its altar entirely vandalized by all manner of random objects and junk. It also features pink coffins and Sabrina wearing an outfit that would make any grandmother faint while dancing in front of the desecrated altar. Let’s keep this example in mind too.

What struck me most about Lil Nas X’s video mocking communion was the backlash: there was none. A few commentators brought it up and certainly no Christian who has seen the video was thrilled, but there was no large outcry, no scandal, no satanic panic. If anything a lot of the comments under the video were one of apathy and accusing him of tone deafness. Supringsly, it was the average secular person who seemed to find it distasteful and a waste of time. Unfortunately it seemed to me that this was not because of an upcoming revival but rather because Christianity has been demonized for so many decades, it feels like a dead horse. Liberalism and secularism have so dominated the culture that to beat down Christians was old news even a decade or two ago.

This brings me to the music video from Sabrina Carpenter. I do not want to be a judge of character, but as someone who listens to her songs from time to time, she does not strike me as a raging antichristian. I am doubtful her life goal is to tear the whole system and civilization down. Why then did she create a music video that desecrates a church? It seems to me to be more related to the funerals of different guys in the video (It is a strange video) than any statement on the church. I would make the case that because there is no reverence, respect, or veneration of the church, Christendom, or Jesus, that she probably did not think anything of it. A church is a place for weddings, funerals, and old people. There is nothing important or holy about it, so why not do whatever you want for a video? I am sure her and her team asked permission, in fact they probably paid for the privilege of desecrating the altar.

What ties these two stories together is the fact that the things that the Western world once held as sacred and holy are no longer seen in that regard. Christianity is the foundation of the West, and many, if not all of our views and presuppositions come from the Bible, yet we have just entirely forgotten that. Because Christianity has been attacked and demonized for so long, we as the church have become numb to it. We can watch someone wolf down the Lord’s supper, and it barely elicits an exhale. The question then might be what do we revere and hold up as sacred now? The short answer is probably LGBTQ+ ideology, CRT, transgenderism, secularism, and promiscuity. An in depth look at these topics will have to be done another time though.

What are the impacts of the church and Christ not being held in high regard anymore? I think to find out this answer, we should just look back at the Bible:

Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. – Matthew 27:41-42 (KJV)

We know the answer, because this mocking is nothing new. Jesus was mocked in His day and His church is being mocked today. It is fair and right to lament the decline of the church’s influence, but let us remember that the influence the church had on the culture in the past came from Christ as a gift. What we should expect is suffering and persecution. The constant boot stepping on us from the world is to be expected, but that does not mean we need to suffer in silence. Our Christian communities can continue to venerate Christ and His word. We know about the holiness of our Lord and His churches. Let’s not let the world take that away from us. Like a bully, eventually they will get bored of us if we stop responding in a way that makes it fun to them. Not to say that we should tolerate communion being trashed, but we are not currently in a position to make it stop. If we do ever get back to a position of authority in the West, the conversation would be quite different.

An important aspect of holiness and the sacred that the West currently misses is how wonderful it can be to shift one’s focus. When Christianity was held as sacred and set apart, it was a humbling experience. It made one focus on their shortcomings and how Christ had set them free. It also focused on the greatness and magnitude of God. In contrast, the modern sacred cows are incredibly inward looking and self-centered. To mock Christ is fine, but to mock someone’s sexual identity or homemade gender is unacceptable. To try and tame one’s desires and to look to the Heavens is backwards and silly. Whereas to have promiscuous sex and give into every one of man’s carnal desires is liberating and freeing. No wonder people are so depressed and hopeless, and I really mean it. To always focus on yourself and to always do what makes you happy is exhausting and that much self indulgence is bad for the soul.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. – Philippians 2:3-4 (KJV)

It is my hope that sooner rather than later, our society would embrace the love of its youth and that we would pick better things to hold sacred. Our current apathy and irreverence can only go on for so long. Seeing the curses and blessings from God when Israel disobeyed and obeyed respectively should be paid more attention to. We are not exempt from God’s wrath.

Anyways, I really do not mean to end on such a sour note. On the bright side, Christ is still king and his church is thriving around the world. The West may be in a tough spot right now, but there are plenty of places where mocking Christ and His church would not go as well. I hope that the churches in Latin America, Africa, and Asia would inspire us here in the West. Christ has won, Christ is winning, and Christ will win.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. – Genesis 22:15-18 (KJV)

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. – Galatians 6:7-8 (KJV)