In the Gospel of John there is an instance when Jesus Christ visits a temple in preparation for Passover.
When he enters, much to his dismay, he finds that religious devotion has taken a back seat to commercialism.
Livestock sales and money exchanges have taken the place of prayer and reflection in the temple, which frustrates the rebellious reformer.
Jesus, known for his eminently even temper, responds by flipping the money exchange tables and driving out the livestock with a hastily-fashioned whip — he was a trained carpenter, after all.
Whatever one’s interpretation of the biblical story, its message is unquestionably clear: inflate Christianity with commercialism, and you will drive the Redeemer himself to anger.
So how would Jesus have responded to pastor Joe Nelms, who delivered a spirited invocation at a NASCAR race in July?
The video of Nelms’ lively prayer has made the rounds in cyberspace for a predictable reason: He drew from the popular NASCAR parody film track.”
If there were ever a case of advertising copy incorporated more shamelessly and excitedly in a prayer, I’d like to see it.
I spent the first 13 years of my education in a parochial school of one kind or another. I don’t claim to be a biblical scholar in any sense of the word, but it is obvious to me that mixing the sacred with a selling point is something Jesus himself not only preached against, but responded to with his own form of righteous anger.
Nelms’ decision to quote “Punk’d” been waiting near the base of Mount Moriah.
After all, what’s worse than a stodgy, self-serious Christian pastor asked to lead off a sporting event?
But if Nelms can truly claim to be a Christian leader, he has to have read that passage in John at some point. Consequently, he should understand what he did was not simply tawdry and disrespectful; rather, it was blasphemous.
If the biblical story in question doesn’t illustrate this idea clearly enough, a brief reflective thought about the purpose of a public prayer should. When Nelms named those companies in his prayer, he made them the object of importance and, in a sense, devotion.
Some of Nelms’ lines were obviously written to elicit laughter and perhaps lighten the mood, but those commercial messages were included for no other reason than to promote the products mentioned.
The agreement apparently made among Nelms, NASCAR and the companies in question is one of convenience because a pastor can speak to its wildly-religious constituency with an authority that few others can.
Nelms may have not alienated any parishioners — he is the pastor at Family Baptist Church in Gladeville, Tenn. — or NASCAR fans, but one can’t help but think that the Prince of Peace himself might have felt like flipping stock cars over if he had heard how Nelms chose to invoke his name.
 
Chris Seemann is a 21-year-old mass communication senior. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_CSeemann. 
 
____ 
Contact Chris Seemann at [email protected]