Jesus is my Homeboy

Every now and then a Christian fad comes along and gets everyone all stirred up. For example, there was the rush on WWJD bracelets; there was also the incessant longing to own anything in relation to the prayer of Jabez. Whenever I see a fad like this my critical radar goes up, and yours should as well. When the world embraces something Christian you can bet the house that something fishy is going on. There is another fad that just won't die; it is the, "Jesus is my Homeboy" T-shirt movement. This isn't a new movement, in fact if I was to give it a date on the calendar I would place it around the same time Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ came out. I'm not absolutely certain about the date, so don't give me any flack about it. Anyway, I have always disliked the T-shirt because it seems so phony and superficial, but now I have decided to print my dislike for the world (by world I mean the 2 people who read this, thanks Ashanti lol) to see.
First off, let me describe what a homeboy is. A homeboy is simply a friend; some might argue that it is a close friend, but at the end of the day it is 2 people in an informal relationship that have mutual respect for one another. Some people might be ignorantly thinking it has something to do with home, sorry, you're wrong. If I actually used the word homeboy, or homie, I could honestly say that I have several of them that have never been to my house. So we have established that it is simply a friend you have an informal relationship with. It is important that the relationship is informal because if it's a formal relationship you are no longer homeboys. For example, I would consider myself to be friends with a few professors at my school, but it is a formal relationship. That means there is a separation between us. They are the teacher, I am the student. So when they say, "Meshach, turn your assignment in tomorrow." I cannot dismiss them as I would my friend Jeff. I have to turn in the assignment or receive whatever the punishment is. If it was my homeboy I would just say, "Who do you think you're bossing around?" The informality of our relationship would give me the space to make such a response.
I am currently taking New Testament with Dr. Tom Watson; he assigned a book by Bruce J. Malina titled, Windows on the World of Jesus: Time Travel to Ancient Judea. Malina makes a striking claim that, "Informal teacher-student, master-disciple relations do not exist as a rule." He goes on to say, "Note how throughout the Gospels, Jesus is addressed with a title, both by his disciples and by others. The titles 'Lord' (equivalent to 'Sir' and 'Master,' distance indicators of respect) and 'Teacher' (a recognition of a status role) are the most common. The point is that there are no informal relations between Jesus and anyone in the Gospel narrative."(Pg. 38) I am sure there are some out there that would argue against Malina's point of view, but it seems spot on to me. So here is my question; if Jesus was not a homeboy of anyone when he walked the Earth, how come all of a sudden he has a whole following of people who are eager to let the world know that they are "cool" with the Christ? Ok, you must be thinking, "But Jesus did call his disciples friend." Good point, lets look at it. John 15:15, "I no longer call you servants, because servant's do not know the master's business. Instead I call you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (NIV)" If this scripture stood alone I would not have a reason to be writing this blog; but I purposely left out v. 14 which says, "You are my friends if you do what I command." That doesn't sound like the homeboy relationship does it? What if you met someone today, you had a great conversation and decided to exchange numbers. Before you exchanged numbers they say, "We can only be friends if you do what I tell you to do." I don't know about you, but I would say something rude at that point that would kill all chances for friendship. Why? Because nobody wants a homeboy that has authority over them; in fact, if they have one it is not their homeboy. It's their boss.
Well, I'm pretty sure I have rambled far to long so let me wrap it up. The type of relationship we can have with Jesus is a friendly relationship; but the lines should never blur. When the lines blur it is because we have stopped viewing Jesus as the Lord that he is. Some people might read this and think it's no big deal. Maybe it isn't a big deal, but when I look at my own generation, and those behind me, I see a lot of young Christians without a Lord. And instead of a Lord they have a homeboy. That, in my opinion, the beginning of trouble. When you have such a low view of Jesus the Lord your witness will follow suit. Instead of looking like a follower of Jesus, you will resemble those that simply hung around Jesus; the ones that listened to his great sermons, saw his miracles, but refused to become his servant so that he could make them his friend. When I let my imagination wander, I picture the huge crowd from John 5:25-71 wearing T-shirts that read "Jesus is my Homeboy." When Jesus gets too demanding of them they display their true feelings by deserting him. Read for yourself, can't you picture it?
Well, I think I have gotten myself in too much trouble, so let me get back to my school work. As a last word of advice, be on the look-out for the next Christian fad. I guarantee you that it will be nothing but trouble.