Jesus is Not John Wayne
The mood in the sanctuary was somber.
After quickly getting some snacks in the dining room and saying hello to some friends, about twenty people returned to the sanctuary for a post-service “talk-back” about the sermon.
The sermon was titled, “Jesus was a white guy holding a lamb” as part of the “Unlearning” series. During Lent, our pastor is preaching about some unhelpful concepts that we probably picked up along the way in life, and this week it was about unlearning the mental image of Jesus as a light-brown-haired, blue-eyed masculine-looking white man.
The Head of Christ by Warner Sallman, 1941
This mental image is often based on a 1941 painting by Warner Sallman that has been shared in literally hundreds of thousands of churches, and which has “become the basis for [the] visualization of Jesus” for “hundreds of millions” of people.” [1] This image of Jesus was created specifically because church leaders of the time felt too many images of Jesus were “too effeminate.” [2]
The more we shared at the talk-back, the more we realized that we all have been carrying ideas – and images of Jesus – that maybe need to be unlearned. The mood was somber because we were all feeling the weight of knowing the problems created in our culture when such misunderstandings of Jesus are perpetuated… including – and especially – with many Christians.
This is essentially the core of the book, Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything by Bobby Duffy. We think we know what we’re talking about, or we think we know what we know, but it turns out that much of what we think we know is an implicit bias. We need to be willing to unlearn what we think we “know”.
Duffy points out that “rather than a neat delineation, there is a spectrum of false belief from ignorance to delusion. People are moveable and unsure of their certainty in many cases. The distinction shows us how difficult it is to change people’s delusions simply by giving them more information, as though they are an empty vessel just waiting to be filled with facts that will fix their mindset and behavior.” [3]
He goes on to encourage the reader to ask why we believe what we do. “This is the real value in understanding the perils of perception. Our delusion can provide clues to what we’re most worried about – and where we’re not as worried as we should be.” [4]
The discussion reminded me of the book, Jesus and John Wayne, which describes the historical basis of Christian nationalism. The author, Kristin Kobes Du Mez writes, “Christian nationalism – the belief that America is God’s chosen nation and must be defended as such – serves as a powerful predictor of intolerance toward immigrants, racial minorities, and non-Christians.” It has resulted in a “nostalgic commitment to rugged, aggressive, militant white masculinity [that] serves as the thread binding them together into a coherent whole.” [5] With this as one strong path of American Christianity, it’s not a coincidence that the white, masculine Jesus appeared in 1941.
Du Mez explains that her book traces one of the strongest paths of American Christianity as it changed during the 20th century. “The story that follows is one of world wars and presidential politics, of entrepreneurial preachers and theological innovation, of blockbuster movies, sex manuals, and self-help books. It does not begin with Donald Trump. Nor will it end with him.” [6]
Without going into all the details about Du Mez’s book, the idea is that the Jesus of the Gospels has been replaced by a white idol of rugged masculinity. We don’t teach our children – and we too rarely show – that Jesus was a dark-skinned Palestinian, who probably had short hair to contend with lice. [7]
Duffy writes that our misperceptions “fit with long-identified theories that facts struggle to cut through our partisan beliefs, or our ‘perceptual screen’.” [8] Unfortunately, facts don’t seem to hold much weight in today’s public discourse.
As Duffy explains, there are two primary culprits to explain the depth of our delusions: How we think and what we’re told.
With regard to how we think, Daniel Kahneman (in Thinking, Fast and Slow) explains that we allow our System 1 – the fast-thinking system – to create mental shortcuts for us. He writes that it “generates impressions, feelings, and inclinations; when endorsed by System 2 [the slow-thinking, analytical system] these become beliefs, attitudes, and intentions” and it “links a sense of cognitive ease to illusions of truth, pleasant feelings, and reduced vigilance.” [9]
The Chinese-born artist James He Qi’s ”Peace, Be Still” (1998) depicts Christ stilling the waters in bold colors that recall stained-glass window. He blends Chinese folk customs and modern western art.Credit…James He Qi
As one aspect of what we’re told, it’s a very concerning problem that through the images we choose, we are teaching children – and ourselves – that Jesus was a light-brown-haired, blue-eyed macho white guy. Not only does that image then pervade our politics, and therefore our national priorities, but it leaves out the experiences of people who don’t look like “us” (if “us” is a white person). It reduces our compassion for and identification with all of God’s children. It causes us to forget that every human being is the imago Dei, made in the image of God. We are all image-bearers.
Duffy provides some important ways we can overcome our delusions, including, “accept the emotion but challenge the thought”; recognize that “other people are not as like us as we think”; “figure out what’s real”; and “facts aren’t cure-alls, but they still matter.” [10].
I believe Trinity’s timing is always perfect, including the timing of the incarnation. Not only because the Romans had created a vast system of roads that made it possible for the gospel to spread. But also because only high officials had images made of themselves. Average people like carpenters and fishermen and shepherds… no. So we don’t have any images of what they looked like… including Jesus. That means we can all imagine Jesus as our Brother, sitting next to us, putting his arm around us. We can all relate to a Jesus who is, in some way, like us, even as he is like all other image-bearers, and even as we endeavor to become like him.
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Image: Head of Christ. (2023, August 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_Christ
Image: “Peace, Be Still”, James He Qi, artist. From article by Andy Newman, “The Easter Image of Jesus Christ Is Getting a Makeover.” The New York Times, April 10, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/arts/design/jesus-christ-image-easter.html.
1 – Wikipedia contributors, “Head of Christ,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Head_of_Christ&oldid=1169922064 (accessed March 19, 2024).
2 – Sermon preached by Rev. Emily Goodnow, First Congregational Church of Bridgton, Maine, March 17, 2024.
3 – Bobby Duffy, Why We’re Wrong About Nearly Everything; A Theory of Human Misunderstanding (New York: Basic Books), 2018, p. 8.
4 – Duffy, p. 8.
5 – Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne; How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation), 2020, p. 4.
6 – Du Mez, 14.
7 – Goodnow, March 17, 2024.
8 – Duffy, 99.
9 – Kahneman p. 105.
10 – Duffy, pp. 231-237.
About the Author
Debbie Owen
Deborah C. Owen is an experienced spiritual director, Neuro-based Enneagram executive and life coach, disciple maker, professional writer, senior librarian, and long-time church Music Director and lay leader. She has earned the award of National Board Certification for teaching excellence, and a podcasting award, and is pursuing a Doctor of Leadership degree through Portland Seminary at George Fox University. She lives in the backwoods of Maine with her husband and flat-coated retriever. She spends as much time as she can with their 3 grown children, daughter-in-law, and 2 small grandchildren. Find her online at InsideOutMinistries.info.11 responses to “Jesus is Not John Wayne”
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Thanks Debbie. I love your summarising statement – “We can all relate to a Jesus who is, in some way, like us, even as he is like all other image-bearers, and even as we endeavour to become like him.” Profound.
“How can recognising and challenging our inherited visual and cultural perceptions of Jesus influence our personal faith journeys and our relationships within a diverse global community?”
Glyn, I think your question answers itself. In order to view every person as a beloved child of God, I think it’s necessary to view God in many “colors” and from many perspectives. Not that the core of who God is changes – God is love – but that that core of love is available to everyone, no matter our backgrounds (ethnic, racial, economic, etc.). We need to recognize that Jesus is for everyone. Not just for those who look like that 1941 image.
Debbie,
I agree that the rising trend of Christian nationalism is concerning and is entirely a wrongly held view of Jesus. The challenge our society finds itself in now is more and more seem to be holding to these beliefs. Beyond the sermon and question period, are there other ways your church is combating the American centered Christian nationalist agenda? How do we challenge this on an individual level?
Adam I love your question. How DO we combat the Christian nationalist agenda?
We struggled with that in our talk-back. I think we’ll continue to struggle with it.
The only answers I see: vote like Jesus would vote (assuming Jesus is all about love, especially for people in the margins of life); and make a difference in your personal sphere of influence. That may mean serving food or visiting the sick or those in prison (Matt. 25 stuff). Or it may mean standing up and speaking truth to power (like MLK Jr. etc.).
The problems feel a bit overwhelming, to be honest.
Debbie,
I enjoyed Du Mez’s book. I also enjoyed listening to her on a special Holy Post Podcast series, https://www.holypost.com/post/jesus-john-wayne-episode-1-cold-warriors-the-50s-60-s
If you listen to the first minute you’ll hear the theme song Phil Vischer wrote for the series, I find it amusing. As you read Du Mez’s book, was there anything you had to unlearn, and how uncomfortable was the book for you to read?
Jeff, I listened to it about 2 years ago while a friend and I were spending a good part of a week painting her new house (inside painting).
We often had to turn it off and discuss what we’d just heard. We found it very discouraging.
However, it did explain how we got to where we are today. I had to unlearn the idea that it happened right around when Trump first ran for office. I learned that he was simply capitalizing on a strand of Christianity that had been present for decades (even if he didn’t understand it that way).
I also learned that I have to be careful myself – in the images of Jesus that I choose, and in the stereotypes that I have unconsciously adopted – so as not to perpetuate some of the baser instincts of self-preservation to which we can all fall prey. I learned that I must be vigilant.
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for making the application to how we think about Jesus.
I also enjoyed Du Mez’s book.
What was a bias that you had about Jesus that has changed in the recent years?
Christy, I have always “known” that Jesus was a Palestinian Jew. But I also grew up with that 1941 image in my Sunday school classrooms. I’ve had to stop thinking subconsciously that Jesus looks like that. I know he didn’t! But the image fixed itself in my brain. I am now more vigilant about seeking other representations of Jesus, not only for what he may have looked like, but mostly for how he loved others.
Thank you for your thoughts here, Debbie. I was fairly old before I realized that Jesus was not white, and while it made sense if I thought about it, it was still quite a shock to how I always viewed him—pretty much like the picture shows. But Isaiah 53:1 says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” People tend to forget that or skip right over it.
I often wonder what people would think or feel if they saw a picture of what Jesus really looked like in his day. I honestly think we would lose a lot of people.
No questions… just liked your post.
Thanks Chris. Unfortunately, I think you’re right. If certain segments of our society knew what Jesus looked like, they’d probably not be so open.
It’s like the story of a pastor who preached the Beatitudes, who had a couple of people come up to him afterward to say, “I don’t know where you’re getting that stuff about turning the other cheek and loving your enemies, but knock it off.” The pastor said, “It’s in the Bible. It’s what Jesus said!” “I don’t care. That stuff doesn’t work anymore.”
We talked about that in yesterday’s talk-back. And my pastor said she had a similar experience. She preached about the Beatitudes and some people (no longer at the church) called her to account for it.
Frightening. They don’t get it. Church is a social club.
Hi Debbie, thank you for this thought-provoking post. Living in Mauritania and studying the ancient Near East has really given me different perspectives on what Jesus and his disciples looked like. There are many times I have shared a meal with Mauritanian friends and we always eat and recline on the floor. I have also seen a few shepherds who look like they stepped out of the Bible. It has been a joy to learn their culture which I believe looks very similar to the ancient world we read about in scripture.
The ‘Unlearning’ series sounds very interesting. What are some other unhelpful concepts that have impacted you? It’s incredible to stop and consider that one day we will stand face-to-face with Jesus.