The Blasphemy of Infidels and Professing Believers Compared

“For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’” (Rom. 2:24)

The blasphemy of most contemporary unbelievers is pathetic. And it is pathetic precisely because it is ignorant: it does not understand what it attacks, and sets up a caricature to beat to pieces. For example, in the early 90s the rock band Nirvana covered a parody of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam” called “Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam.” The lyrics are not substantive, as only 28 of the 182 words are unique. By contrast, 58 of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam’s” 113 words are unique. Which is to say that the parody is more simplistic by far than a song meant for 4 year-olds.

But to our point here, it fails, both as a parody of “I’ll Be a Sunbeam,” and as a satire of our faith. Its chorus is “don’t expect me to cry/don’t expect me to lie/don’t expect me to die for thee.” “I’ll Be a Sunbeam” doesn’t mention any of those things – it speaks of being “loving,/and kind to all I see” and being “pleasant and happy” – and a satire, to be effective, needs to savage a target with the target’s own terms.

But musical theory aside, it fails at its irreverence and mainly shows the ignorance of its performers. Jesus doesn’t expect one to lie for him, but forbids it utterly (Lev. 19:11). The fullness of his kingdom will banish weeping forever, and he pronounces blessing to those that weep now (Lk. 6:21). Only the third line has any bearing to anything Jesus actually taught, and to it we might rejoin that while Jesus expects a willingness to die in all his disciples (Lk. 14:26), he actually permits martyrdom to befall only a small minority of them.

In any event, Jesus’ burden is far lighter and better (Matt. 11:28) than that of the drugs which ruled the lives of many in the rock scene of which Nirvana was a part. The performance was dedicated to Joaquin Phoenix’s brother River, who had sadly died of an overdose shortly before at the grand age of 23. (Tragically, Nirvana leadman Kurt Cobain was himself struggling with addiction at the time of the performance, and would flee a recovery program and commit suicide less than five months later.)

Such blasphemy is, again, pathetic, and well might we scoff at it. It does not dim God’s glory in the slightest, but only reduces the blasphemers to silliness and idle rebellion against their Creator, apart from whom they would have neither existence in general, nor those particular talents that they ungratefully use to deny him. And its perception by God we can tell from this word, that “he who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Ps. 2:4; comp. Ps. 37:13). Neither does Nirvana singing a ridiculous song on MTV Unplugged much hurt the church’s witness or mission.

But hypocrisy does. That is Paul’s point in the passage that is the epigram. It is God’s people – or at least those that profess to be his people – proclaiming one thing and then doing another that ought to be our real concern.

Two examples will suffice. There is a homestead in Upstate South Carolina whose owners put out a cross for Easter each year. It makes for quite the contrast to the ‘trespassers will be shot’ sign next to it. On the one hand these people have extolled the mercy of God in becoming flesh among his enemies and dying to save them; on the other they say ‘leave me alone or it'll be the last thing you ever do!’ Passerby might be forgiven for thinking that property owner is saying ‘Become a Christian, so that you can become an ornery hermit like me, and breathe out threats of violence against everyone else in the community.’ He might be further forgiven for thinking that means the Christian faith is an ugly, hateful, unrighteous thing.

And that is the real problem here. Such displays blaspheme God, because they suggest his faith has no power to imbue people with hospitality, mercy, charity, honor, or general neighborliness, but reduces them to being so anxious of their own privacy and safety that they loudly declare their readiness to do fatal violence to those other people that their own faith says are made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27) and may not be killed without just cause (Ex. 20:13).

Or again, I recently encountered a parked car that bore bumper stickers both promoting the Christian faith and cursing the current president. Scripture is clear that we are to “honor the emperor” (1 Pet. 2:17), and Ex. 22:28 links dishonoring God with dishonoring those that he has put in authority (Rom. 13:1): “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.” It is just conceivable that the multitude of weak believers who are afflicted with doubt in this age of apostasy might see that and think that this is proof that our faith has no power to transform souls, but leaves them with a hatred of enemies no different than that of the wider world. Thus also unbelievers, who may be confirmed in their disdain for our faith as something useless or false. In short, such bumper stickers are blasphemous, for they expose those that display them to a just accusation of hypocrisy, and by extension harm the witness of the entire faith.

So as you go about your life, dear reader, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15), and “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish” (2 Pet. 3:14), “and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). God, the world, and other believers are watching to see how your behavior comports with the faith you profess to believe, so beware lest you not only stumble but also cause others to do so by a bad example (Lk. 17:1-4).

Tom Hervey is a member of Woodruff Road Presbyterian Church, Greenville Co., SC. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not of necessity reflect those of his church or its leadership or other members. He welcomes comments at tomhervey@substack.com. He is also author of Reflections on the Word: Essays in Protestant Scriptural Contemplation.