Many may not remember, but Comedian Kathy Griffin-the one who recently portrayed the beheading of President Donald Trump, blasphemed the name of Jesus in accepting an Emmy at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in September 2007. She said as she held up her statuette, “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now.” The remarks were removed from the taped telecast and were not shown on national television. Asked later about the remarks being offensive, Griffin reportedly told Reuters: “I hope I offended some people. I didn’t want to win the Emmy for nothing.”
In the September 14 Daily Jot, I wrote: “Strange. I haven’t seen cars being burned in the streets of LA. There have been no beheadings by radical religious fanatics. Blocks of buildings have not been set on fire. Movie theaters and television studios have not been bombed. It appears that there have been no death threats to the people at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In fact, there hasn’t been any violence whatsoever. Oh, that’s right. Griffin said “Jesus” not “Mohammed.” That explains it. Either Christians don’t care if their Lord and Savior is blasphemed by a wicked Hollywood celebrity or they choose to behave in a more “Christ-like” manner in handling their offense of such things.”
In reality, there were Christians who were extremely offended by Griffin’s outrageous remarks-as they were with her beheading stunt. And there are Christians who were, are and will be praying for her very soul. And there are many Christians who are reaching out to people in the name of Jesus to heal the sick, feed the poor, clothe the naked, and, ultimately conduct what is called the Great Commission found in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Generally speaking, Christianity today seeks to return good for evil rather than evil for evil. And that’s why people like Griffin seem to get away with making comments like she did and remain in business to pull other offensive antics.
But Griffin isn’t getting away with anything. Ultimately, the Bible says in Romans 14:11, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” And Revelation 20:12 says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Imagine the awesome moment standing before God as he reads down that list of names in the book of life. And imagine the horror if your name or the name of your loved ones are not in it. Jesus wants none to perish, no not one. Let’s keep being salt and light to this dying world. We never know how important our actions are to the kingdom of God.
