The 2024 Paris Olympics have faced substantial criticism after one performance during the event’s opening ceremony seemed to mock “The Last Supper,” a famous painting by Leonardo DaVinci that portrayed the final meal Jesus Christ shared with the twelve apostles before his crucifixion and subsequent resurrections to atone for the sins of humanity.
During the controversial performance, a woman could be seen surrounded by what appeared to be bearded men dressed as drag queens in a similar setup to “The Last Supper.” Subsequently, famous Christians across society have weighed in on the seeming jab at the faith, taking to social media to offer their opinions to their followers.
For example, Candace Cameron Bure uploaded a video message to Instagram, blasting the ceremony for openly “blaspheming” and “mocking” the Christian faith in such an egregious manner. Bure also cited a verse from the book of Galatians that explained how God is never truly mocked. The actress also offered a message of encouragement to keep sharing the Gospel and not to be “lukewarm.”
“So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that’s going to take place over the next two weeks, and see the opening ceremonies completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting, and it made me so sad. And someone said, You shouldn’t be sad. You should be mad about it. And I’m like, trust me, it makes me mad, but I’m more sad because I’m sad for souls. I want my heart, I pray for my heart to break over what breaks God’s heart. And I just think about all the people that have rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or don’t know the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Bure stated.
Bure further drew on Scripture from the book of Galations, “And in the Bible, in Galatians, it says God is not mocked for whatever a person sows, he will also reap. Because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So what do we do with this?”
Bure maintained that as Christians we should continued to share the Gospel for all of mankind to hear. “I want to continue believers with what Paul is saying here, he continues and says, Let us not get tired of doing good for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith. So this is my encouragement to you. Don’t get tired of doing good. Keep sharing the gospel.”
Bure wrote a lengthy caption for the post, which read, “You asked me to make this shareable on story, so here it is. My take on the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. Since posting, many have tried to correct me saying it wasn’t about an interpretation of DaVinci’s The Last Supper, but a Greek god and the festival of Dionysus; who is a god of lust, insanity, religious ecstasy, ritual madnes etc. I still don’t see how that relates to unifying the world through competitive sports and acceptable for children to watch. In any case, I’m not buying it. I hope you’ll listen all the way through. God loves each and every one of you and His desire is for you to know Him. I won’t stop praying and calling on Jesus’ name ✝️. Share the gospel message. Let this be an encouragement to be bold in your faith❤️. Let us rend our hearts back to God, father of Abraham. Let us pray. And pray for the Christian athletes to shine their light for the glory of God.”
Watch Bure’s video statement below:
Featured image credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Candace_Cameron_Bure_(40033849434).jpg