On July 26, the highly anticipated 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony took place. While many acknowledged and praised the artistic elements of the ceremony, several scenes, such as the parody and desecration of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper," were deemed blasphemous to the Christian faith by global Christian communities and conservative groups, including the Chinese Christian community.
Numerous pastors and believers within the Chinese Christian community voiced their direct criticisms of the blasphemous scenes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on social media. Some pastors explicitly described these scenes as "truly disgusting," stating that "these performances not only go against the European background but also do not align with our excellent traditional Chinese culture." One pastor quoted Acts 13:41, saying, "When faith becomes a joke, respect turns into mockery; when civilization is trampled by vulgarity, solemnity is replaced by garishness." Another pastor pointed out that this also reflects the so-called decline of those Western Christian countries, attributing it to the corruption of the church. "The church has become a den of thieves, and if it does not repent, it will inevitably be torn down."
A pastor from a Three-Self church wrote: "If freedom and inclusiveness lack truth as a baseline, the freedom and inclusiveness advocated by people will only become tools for indulging desires and manifesting human pride. Ultimately, it will only lead people into shackles, bound by sin, and become chains. People will inevitably become slaves to sin!"
In addition to criticism, some Chinese Christians believe this incident should provoke reflection. In Western society, the influence of the church in cultural aspects is increasingly waning, which is related to churches' "high walls" and Christianity becoming more religious. European churches need to move towards the world, emphasizing the cultural mandate, and fundamentally, Christ should be the center of Christians’ lives, they added.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
