I have a confession to make. I like the John Lewis Christmas advert. I know it's a sales vehicle but it's cute, sweet, brings a tear to your eye, features a boy, his toy and his Mum and Dad, has a happy ending and has resisted the inevitable push to be politically correct and have homosexual couples or a single parent family. What's not to like? What I don't like is the way that Christians are falling over themselves to remake it. I've seen two 'christian' versions of the ad and I don't like either of them. The first is by Central Church, Edinburgh entitled "Don't get your hopes up" - well that's a turn off for starters. The video lives down to the title. In fact, Central's Christmas theme is don't get your hopes up. Someone really ought to have a word with their marketing guys. Talk about negative! I just don't feel like going to one of their services to find out what I shouldn't get my hopes up about!
The second remake is by St Thomas Norwich and features a tiger instead of a penguin. Shades of Calvin and Hobbes .... except that Hobbes gets discarded .... *sniff* (gets hanky out but not for the reason the video makers intended) ...
I think what some Christians are forgetting, in their rush to point out the inevitable disappointment of Christmas when kids don't get half of their wish list (because John Lewis has run out of penguins) and the turkey is underdone and we fall out with the in-laws over the sherry trifle, is that it's just an ad. Adults enjoy it while knowing that it's trying to sell us something and kids need to learn to do the same. And it's OK for a kid to have a cuddly toy as their best friend. Of course Jesus is the ultimate best friend who will never leave or forsake us and it's the job of parents to teach this to their children along with the real meaning of Christmas but ... give me a break! And give me some hope! There's enough sadness and disappointment in the world without adding to it with penguins who don't hit it off and tigers who get dropped and forgotten.
Merry Christmas!
