Jesus Goes Macho

He fed five thousand people in one afternoon, caused a riot in a bustling market, and in a coup de gras that Chuck Norris would be proud of, even death couldn't stop him.

Yet Jesus is commonly portrayed as a man with flowing locks, a long soft gown and doe eyes. He doesn't really look like a leader of men, and some Christians have looked to change this, creating the 'macho Jesus' movement to address concerns that the Church has been overly-feminised - a theory backed up by the ratio of women to men UK churchgoers being 65:35.

Artist Stephen Sawyer, from Kentucky, has created a series of images of the Messiah more in tune with what he believes he actually was: a working-class hero who wasn't afraid of a hard day's work. Sawyer describes his image of Jesus as "a surfer guy who's built like a brick sh*thouse".

Being a carpenter by trade, Sawyer's Jesus would certainly have had the muscles, and he wouldn't even need a surfboard, what with the whole walking on water business.

The movement is backed up by various books including No More Mr Christian Nice Guy and The Church Impotent – the Feminisation of Christianity along with the Christian lads mag, Sorted.

However, maybe a macho version isn't needed: men worship David Beckham and he's worn a sarong and an alice band - maybe the Messiah just needs to return and score some good free kicks.

Image: Stephen S. Sawyer