The Gospel of Ned Flanders

Satire and Allegory:
We are all a part of a bigger story. Our lives are characters on the stage of life, each of us a different part to play. The irony lies within our mindset: that each of us play the leading role in this cosmic performance, we all play the star.

We are in a comedy. The Director of this play has a sense of humor. He weaves together all aspects of performance with delight; irony, parody, allegory, and satire. The Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, "it pleased God to confound the wise with folly, with the foolish things of the world."

But deep into the third act, the actors lost the plot, lost the sense of humor with which our Director created, wrote and designed us into existence. Christianity may be guilty of an ab-libbed performance. We have forgotten our lines or even worst rejected them as insufficient to the play itself.

There was a scene in Act Two, when Christianity was the driving force in art and lifestyle. A time when we spoke the words of creation in the image of our Director. Instead of re-creating our own Christian label, (safe harbors apart from the vile and wicked humor of "stand in" performers), it was Christians who set standards of cultural development and societal pursuits. Now we have been "Left Behind" and humorless, interacting only amongst ourselves, each the most self important part to play.

God intended our worldview to be communicated by humor and story. Instead we rewrite our part to communicate it with ritual and fear. Allegory is understood only through preaching points and satire is often rejected all together (we have lost all ability to poke fun at ourselves). The church, with all of its solemn piety, just doesn't get it. They didn't understand Dante even when he named his epic poem Divine Comedy nor do they understand that Ned Flanders (of the Simpsons) has become one of the most important voices of Christian worldview in our society today, far more influential than any single pulpit or ministry.

Ned Flanders,the annoying neighbor and supporting character in the globally popular American sitcom "The Simpsons", is written to be the embodiment of American Christianity. Through his character, non-Christian writers present a Christian worldview, they are painting a portrait of what it means to be a Christian.

At the Movement Campus Church, this fall semester, we will be studying the Gospel of Ned Flanders verses the book of Hebrews. We refuse to be afraid of using humor and satire to communicate the gospel of the One who created it. We will examine the difference between the Bibles definition of following Christ against the the accepted societal normative of Christianity. We seek to reclaim our Director's voice in the presentation of His performance, our story.