Mark Driscoll, Senior Pastor of Marshill Church, and leader of Acts 29 ministries, recently made an interesting comparison on his blog.
Driscoll compares Jack Bauer, the popular star of the hit TV thriller 24, to the Lord Jesus Christ. He sites various venerable qualities about the character played by Kiefer Sutherland that are fully realized in Christ.
This was an interesting and appealing evaluation for me, as 24 is the only television show that I watch. Further, I work hard at evaluating my heart and affections regularly to be certain that the Lord Jesus Christ has supremacy in my devotion. So therefore, the possibility that Jack Bauer and the Lord have anything in common was met with a sort of forbidden optimism. [I don’t feel guilty for staying up to 2 am to watch the next 24 CD with my wife, but if Driscoll is right, the correlation may help me sleep better ;-D…]
I will say right up front that I was uncomfortable with this comparison. And frankly, I find myself uncomfortable with about every third word that comes out of Driscoll’s mouth, but that is another story and this is perhaps why he is so popular, and perhaps why I enjoy “interacting” with him, as it forces me to be discerning.
As I thought about Driscoll’s post, I wondered why I was so uncomfortable…is it what he said, or is it how he said it, or is it where he said it? If I was hanging out with some friends and someone said this, how would I react?
Driscoll says:
At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I would like to offer the suggestion that perhaps 24 is incredibly popular because Jack Bauer is a lot like Jesus
Jack and Jesus are both dudes who worked in construction.
Jack and Jesus both oppose evil and seek to bring forth a glorious shalom world, free of tyranny and evildoers
Jack and Jesus were both betrayed by a close friend who ended up dying as a result of his sin.
Jack and Jesus are both saviors willing to lay down their life for those they love.
Jack and Jesus were both resurrected from death; Jack was essentially put to death to fool the Chinese government and then resuscitated.
Driscoll even uses the 24 storyline to passively exhort Bible teachers to explain context thoroughly when preaching.
At the end of the day, I like his post, his analogy, and his thinking. I guess I’m just used to calling Jesus Lord as opposed to dude. If a friend made this correlation I’d applaud his creativity and we’d continue to talk about the imprint of the divine nature on man and his desire for righteousness and justice, even while suppressing the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1).
So props to Mark Driscoll for a good post, for making me think and for being the guy at the bbq whether he is in his blog, his pulpit, or at the bbq.
Erik Raymond 