Once again the Meat and Livestock Australia Association has shocked and divided opinion among Australians last week with the most recent installment in their iconic lamb ad, entitled “Lamb Side Story.”
The summer lamb ads have become somewhat of a tradition on Aussie TV screens, with “lambassador” Sam Kekovich playing the defender of the Australian spirit, berating those who act un-Australian, often sparking outrage.
In West Side Story fashion, the ad shows the political left and right battling over last year’s hottest political and cultural topics, such as same sex marriage, global warming, the definition of Christmas, gender theory and religious freedoms. In true form, the campaign’s strategy is essentially to divide opinions by touching on soft political satire. As Scott Nowell, Chief Creative Officer behind the ad suggests “There’s nothing like lamb and dancing to bring people with various levels of outrage together.”
The story centers on the unifying aspect of enjoying a summer BBQ, and of course, eating lamb. As both sides battle it out over political opinion, our lovely lady in yellow’s attempts to bring common ground are ignored while the political fence sitter is literally pushed off the fence by Kekovich. The ad shows us more than ever that Australians have to take a side in an increasingly hostile and polarising political and cultural climate. The Political “Right” is uniformly depicted as intolerant and tone-deaf: “If you’re right, you think equal rights are wrong—it’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.”
The ad shows us more than ever that Australians have to take a side in an increasingly hostile and polarising political and cultural climate.
Here the ad portrays the church as it is increasingly regarded by the cultural mainstream—as simply part of the Right: ignorant, intolerant, divisive and against equality. Which begs the question—how can I as a believer express my views without being understood in such trivial and superficial categories?”
Avoiding the Divide
As this challenge persists, Lamb Side Story can help the church calibrate its response to public sentiment. If the political right are simply on about digging-in and rejecting change: hanging on to Christmas, rejecting global warming, ridiculing homosexuals and queers etc.—then churches must work hard to show that they have more to say.
Chris Watkin has suggested that mainstream culture will often present complex debates and problems as reduced dichotomies. Is it A or B? Right or Left? Yes or No? With little space in the middle or on the fence, Lamb Side Story suggests that there cannot be openness nor engagement in discussion between sides, which is far from a biblical understanding of division.
Jesus shows us a better way. He spends time with people on both sides: with pharisees (Luke 7:36) and with tax collectors and shamed women (John 4:1- 26). And he also calls his church to engage with those who think differently to us in ways that are generous, understanding and ultimately loving (1 Peter 2:23). The one single dimension that this ad offers in its commentary is that of opposition, without space for nuance, grace or an invitation to understand those who hold a different worldview. Watkin’s helpful idea of diagonalising—cutting across party lines by applying a biblical perspective—helps us understand that the Christian’s place in the ad is not the fence sitter, nor the political right, it’s something else. As he explains:
“To diagonalise, then, is neither to be a cultural refusenik—assuming that any cultural idea must be straightforwardly opposed. Nor is to be a cultural echo-chamber—sticking a biblical label on the latest cultural fashion. It is constructive, but critical; positive, but probing. It contributes to important debates rather than denouncing them, and does so in a way that brings genuinely fresh and innovative thinking to the table.”
(Christopher Watkin)
Indeed, when we allow the God’s word to guide us in our political, social and cultural contributions, we often find that our views cannot be categorised as easily as the Lamb Side Story would suggest.
Salt and Lamb
As Christians we are called to have our words seasoned with salt when interacting with those who hold contrasting political ideas (Col 4:6). Although Christ promises that following him will still cause division (Matt 10:34-36), his example challenges us to be generous and patient with those who may want to part ways with us. Instead of the Lamb ad’s superficial take on some of our nation’s most polarising issues, Christ calls us to love and serve our “enemies” (Matt 5:43-44 ) and this starts by listening, engaging-with and working hard to understand those who hold different views.
As the ad comes to a close the peacemaking woman in yellow points to the lamb on the barbie as the best hope for coexistence. “It doesn’t matter if you’re left or right, there’s not right or wrong and no reason we can’t all get along” she says, as she calls both sides to lunch. The depiction of unity here is as superficial as it is uniquely Australian: trivialising last year’s most critical political and moral issues with an equally trivial solution; sweeping important issues under the picnic table.
Yet, ironically, the idea of gathering around a feast of lamb is almost right. God calls all nations, tribes and tongues to put aside their divisions and come together before true Lamb. And he calls us to be people who are willing to sit down and share a meal with those who think differently from us. He calls on us show the glory of Jesus through words and actions that display a gracious and understanding posture—loving and listening to those with whom we disagree.
