In 1945, that star of stage, screen, and radio, Jack Benny, hit on one of the strangest publicity campaigns of all time. After spending seven episodes building context and suspense, his listeners were presented with a contest. They had up to fifty words to finish a sentence. At that time, such contests were common. Both regional and national products would give prizes for the best answers to "I like Product X because…" Why shouldn't Jack Benny sponsor such a contest? Only his contest was different. Instead of giving answers for why they liked Jack Benny, from December 2nd to 24th of 1945, his audience had to complete:
I Cant's Stand Jack Benny Because …
It turned out that an astonishingly large portion of his audience couldn't stand him. Several hundred thousand letters were received, and the panel of judges, which included Goodman Ace, Peter Lorre, and Fred Allen, needed over a month to select the best answer. Finally, on February 4, 1946, America learned what made Jack Benny so obnoxious:
He fills the air with boasts and brags,
And obsolete obnoxious gags.
The way he plays his violin
is music's most obnoxious sin.
His cowardice alone, indeed,
Is matched by his obnoxious greed.
And all the things that he portrays
Show up my own obnoxious ways.
Carroll P. Craig, Sr.(1945)
Winning entry in the 1945 "I Can't Stand Jack Benny Because. . ." Contest.
Odd, isn't it, that the best reason why we can't stand him is the same reason we love him?
On February 14, Happy Birthday, Jack Benny!
Monday, February 13, 2012
On Loving Geeks
Although I'm the last of the Little Old Ladies at my church (a funny story for another occasion), I'm only starting to try on my Red Hat. I am old enough, however, to have spent many Sunday School sessions bellowing with the rest of the class that venerable childhood chorus:
Jesus loves the little children!
All the children of the world!
Red or Yellow, Black or White,
They are precious in His sight!
Jesus loves the little children of the world!
And I learned to care about the children (and the grown-ups) who didn't look like me. After all, the Apostle Paul had said "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11)
But there are people groups who do look like me, and whom Jesus does love, yet, from the reaction of other church-people , you'd hardly know it. I'm speaking of — and I use the term respectfully — The Geeks. The children who choose The Clone Wars over Veggie Tales, the teens who prefer science fiction to sports facts, the adults who fix your computers in your home, but who wouldn't go near God's house. Have you ever wondered why?
I think it's us. Last year, I heard a Christian broadcaster talk about an email he had received. His program that day was to have been about male bonding, or something of that nature, and the email had suggested that the men who participate in Star Wars-related costuming might be interested in hearing what he had to say, because that was one reason they joined such groups. Evidently, the broadcaster had not understood the message's main point, because he proceeded to belittle reenactors, Star Wars and Star Trek reenactors in particular, concluding with a remark that the program would be about real male bonding (or whatever it was).
I pray that no member of the 501st Legion heard that. Those of you familiar with this galaxy's manifestation of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, know that the 501st is a society of costumed Star Wars reenactors, primarily stormtroopers, who are noted for their participation in charitable, benevolent activities. They are not maladjusted misfits living in their mother's basement, but professional men and women, who have real jobs, live in their own homes, with their own families (who often enjoy "trooping" with them). Some of the acts of sacrifice they have made for each other I have held up as examples to my Sunday School class. But, while they all know Obi-Wan Kenobi, a lot of them may not know Jesus Christ. And knowing Jesus is eternal life.*
Someone must have told that broadcaster as much, because I understand he later apologized. Still, the point remains: prejudice is still a barrier to making God's truth known, and God's love felt, to geeks, who are just as needy spiritually, as any tax collector, prostitute, or pharisee.
Joe Stowell, former president of Chicago's Moody Bible Institute, once addressed this issue in a lecture he gave on the story of the Prodigal Son.**He had used it to show how Christians need to see people who aren't like them (and who may be hostile to them) the way God sees them. They are His wandering children who need to come home. The next thing to do is to pray for them. Pray that they will pay attention when God speaks to them; that you, or someone they will listen to, have an opportunity to show God's love to them. Dressing up like stormtroopers, or speaking Klingon, or knowing the number of regenerations Doctor Who has had, may not mean anything to you, but it's important to them. Instead of ridiculing them, your time might e better spent finding out why those activities are valued. Geeks most often associate with other geeks, because they don't make fun of each other.
Perhaps showing respect is the most effective way to reach geeks. I'm reminded that the highlight of Dr. Stowell's lecture was an illustration from Star Wars: A New Hope. In it, a couple of droids, Artoo Detoo and his buddy, walk into a bar that is filled with "the weirdest, Weirdest, WEIRDEST – I can't tell you how weird they were" characters. As they come in, the bartender shouts that they don't serve "their kind"— and they're the only normal-looking things in the place.
Remember: that may be how your geek friends will feel when they visit your cantina —er, church.
========================
Notes:
* John 18:3
**My copy has no air date or product number, but it was broadcast on Moody Presents during the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Jesus loves the little children!
All the children of the world!
Red or Yellow, Black or White,
They are precious in His sight!
Jesus loves the little children of the world!
And I learned to care about the children (and the grown-ups) who didn't look like me. After all, the Apostle Paul had said "Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11)
But there are people groups who do look like me, and whom Jesus does love, yet, from the reaction of other church-people , you'd hardly know it. I'm speaking of — and I use the term respectfully — The Geeks. The children who choose The Clone Wars over Veggie Tales, the teens who prefer science fiction to sports facts, the adults who fix your computers in your home, but who wouldn't go near God's house. Have you ever wondered why?
I think it's us. Last year, I heard a Christian broadcaster talk about an email he had received. His program that day was to have been about male bonding, or something of that nature, and the email had suggested that the men who participate in Star Wars-related costuming might be interested in hearing what he had to say, because that was one reason they joined such groups. Evidently, the broadcaster had not understood the message's main point, because he proceeded to belittle reenactors, Star Wars and Star Trek reenactors in particular, concluding with a remark that the program would be about real male bonding (or whatever it was).
I pray that no member of the 501st Legion heard that. Those of you familiar with this galaxy's manifestation of the Galaxy Far, Far Away, know that the 501st is a society of costumed Star Wars reenactors, primarily stormtroopers, who are noted for their participation in charitable, benevolent activities. They are not maladjusted misfits living in their mother's basement, but professional men and women, who have real jobs, live in their own homes, with their own families (who often enjoy "trooping" with them). Some of the acts of sacrifice they have made for each other I have held up as examples to my Sunday School class. But, while they all know Obi-Wan Kenobi, a lot of them may not know Jesus Christ. And knowing Jesus is eternal life.*
Someone must have told that broadcaster as much, because I understand he later apologized. Still, the point remains: prejudice is still a barrier to making God's truth known, and God's love felt, to geeks, who are just as needy spiritually, as any tax collector, prostitute, or pharisee.
Joe Stowell, former president of Chicago's Moody Bible Institute, once addressed this issue in a lecture he gave on the story of the Prodigal Son.**He had used it to show how Christians need to see people who aren't like them (and who may be hostile to them) the way God sees them. They are His wandering children who need to come home. The next thing to do is to pray for them. Pray that they will pay attention when God speaks to them; that you, or someone they will listen to, have an opportunity to show God's love to them. Dressing up like stormtroopers, or speaking Klingon, or knowing the number of regenerations Doctor Who has had, may not mean anything to you, but it's important to them. Instead of ridiculing them, your time might e better spent finding out why those activities are valued. Geeks most often associate with other geeks, because they don't make fun of each other.
Perhaps showing respect is the most effective way to reach geeks. I'm reminded that the highlight of Dr. Stowell's lecture was an illustration from Star Wars: A New Hope. In it, a couple of droids, Artoo Detoo and his buddy, walk into a bar that is filled with "the weirdest, Weirdest, WEIRDEST – I can't tell you how weird they were" characters. As they come in, the bartender shouts that they don't serve "their kind"— and they're the only normal-looking things in the place.
Remember: that may be how your geek friends will feel when they visit your cantina —er, church.
========================
Notes:
* John 18:3
**My copy has no air date or product number, but it was broadcast on Moody Presents during the late 1980s or early 1990s.
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