Mohammed Superstar

So I was singing with Josiah at tennis today (because that's what we Brainerd Warriors do at tennis meets: we sing), and lil' Will Henningson asked us what we're singing. "Why, Jesus Christ Superstar," we replied. Will gave us a "Whaaaaaaaa?!?" look, and his incredulity only increased as we explained that is was a rock-opera about the last days of Jesus Christ. I sang a few parts (okay, a lot of them), and he had nothing to do but laugh. He asked us if it was a comedy, and I told him "No, it's a tragedy. He DIES in the end."

He honestly thought we were joking. To him, it was absolutely inconcievable that Jesus could ever be anything as accesible and trivial as a subject for a musical. His hard-wired Christian mind was blown by the idea. He couldn't see how anyone would have the gall to play Jesus Christ in any setting other than "The Passion of the Christ," much less a rock-opera.

My aunt (a rehersal pianist for the CLC production) had described this "reverse generation gap" to me before, but I had never really seen it in action. Perhaps Will is just an exceptionally devout young man, but I worry that this is a wider trend. Jesus becomes too remote, too untouchable, and pretty soon he's our Mohammed and we're banning political cartoons. Ugh.

So everybody just listen to some JC Superstar and keep an open mind, okay? Okay.