The Gospel in Blue Jeans

Juyoung Lee is a Master of Divinity student at Dio, pursuing ordination in the United Church of Canada. Raised in Seoul within a conservative evangelical church, he once vowed never to work in ministry. Yet through encounters with diverse Christian traditions, theological studies, and a transformative exchange at St. Andrew’s College, he found hope in theology and a calling to ministry. Since January 2023, he has been at Dio, committed to serving wherever God leads, especially in a church reshaped by the post-COVID era.In this sermon, Juyoung Lee takes a viral jeans commercial and flips it inside out, exposing how casual advertising can carry dangerous ideas about race, beauty, and belonging. Speaking as someone shaped both inside and outside church walls, he asks what it means to resist toxic cultural narratives and imagine a community that values people for more than their “genes.” This isn’t a sermon about religion as you knew it — it’s about how faith can call out injustice and create space for those who feel shut out.This sermon answers the following:Why should I care about how ads or popular culture talk about identity?What does Christianity have to say about racism, exclusion, and “perfect” bodies?Is the church just about rules, or can it challenge the world I actually live in?