Much talk continues to be waged over the opening ceremonies of the thirty-third Olympiad in Paris. Many within the Christian community were offended by what they viewed as a slight against God. The controversy began over what has been perceived as drag queens eating at the table of Leonardo da Vinci’s creation of the Last Supper.

     The artistic director for the 2024 Olympics, Thomas Jolly, has defended the unusual display as a depiction of Dionysus, the Greek god of Celebration. Even still, a substantial number of Christians remain unconvinced and are voicing their displeasure on social media. Some are even calling on the church to boycott Olympic programming altogether.
 
     Sadly, I view this international dispute as a distraction from the church’s primary mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Even if the Paris performance was intended as a slight against Christ, the passage from Revelation above indicates that source of the blasphemy comes from the beast. (The beast is the human representative of the devil who misleads the inhabitants of the earth into worshipping evil.) The beast is described as cunning and deceptive, but highly effective in turning the masses toward evil.
 
     Unfortunately, those who follow Jesus are expressing their contempt at the wrong party. Our defensive reactions should be directed at the Source of evil rather instead of those who are being duped by evil. Rather than expressing our angst at those who allegedly are disparaging the Christian faith, we instead should be focusing our energy on winning them to Jesus.
 
     In my own experience, I have discovered that the more defensively I react to someone, the less able I become in assuaging my distractor of my convictions. Retaliating against those whom we perceive are disparaging us has little to no chance of converting them to Christ. As the poet, Edwin Markham wrote:
 

He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In!

 
If your goal really is to defend Jesus, then strike a more conciliatory tone. Remember, the more kindly your tone, the less likely they groan.