A video of a group of Christians singing in the middle of a flight went viral and got mixed reactions from the public.
The video showed a musician playing an acoustic guitar in the aisle of an Easyjet flight bound to Germany, reports The New Zealand Herald. He was joined by other singers and sang “How Great is our God.” Within 48 hours, the TikTok clip got more than 30 million views. The uploader, Jack Jensz Jr. captioned the post: “We are taking this flight over for Jesus!”
Some of the passengers of the flight joined the group while others watched or took photos and videos of the performance.
Many praised the flashmob on social media. “So bold! Blessings!!” said one user on Instagram and another said, “Dream team!” Many loved the video when posted on Facebook, with comments such as “Praise God!” “Love this.” and “Love you bro! This is fire.”
With the video going viral, expect that not everybody appreciated the impromptu performance. One viewer said the choir was disruptive to passengers who just wanted to take the time off before arriving at their destination. “I don’t care what someone’s faith is. Just don’t be obnoxious about it.” Another user said it was unacceptable and the group should have respected everyone on the plane.
User @cmclymer tweeted, “As a Christian, I despise this. It’s inappropriate, selfish, and deeply insulting to other communities. This is the kind of arrogant behavior that repulses people away from the church while enabling those who shamelessly discriminate against religious minorities.”
As a Christian, I despise this. It’s inappropriate, selfish, and deeply insulting to other communities. This is the kind of arrogant behavior that repulses people away from the church while enabling those who shamelessly discriminate against religious minorities. https://t.co/HSvwPO2BeO
— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️⚧️🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) April 16, 2022
Politicians even joined the narrative. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota reacted on Twitter: “I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane. How do you think it will end?”
I think my family and I should have a prayer session next time I am on a plane. How do you think it will end? pic.twitter.com/5696Erwsl5
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 17, 2022
Omar, who is Muslim, called out a double standard since many wouldn’t be that tolerant of Muslims worshipping on a plane. One user claimed Muslims would be on a no-fly list should they do something similar.
The congresswoman’s tweet was criticized, with some accusing Omar of hating Christianity. Cicely Davis, a candidate running against Omar, responded: “Qatar — a country you’re very familiar with — plays Islamic prayers on the intercom before takeoff on their planes. The issue is you hate Christians & Jews & lots of Muslims.”
Qatar – a country you’re very familiar with – plays Islamic prayers on the intercom before takeoff on their planes. They have a designated prayer area & coordinates for Mecca are posted on the screens.
It’s no problem. The issue is you hate Christians & Jews & lots of Muslims. https://t.co/wBX1ycl5nv
— Cicely Davis (@CicelyDavisMN) April 18, 2022
The viral video brought up issues of anti-Semitism and discrimination. The videomaker, Jensz Jr., responded to the backlash and issued a statement on Instagram. He revealed that he and his team came from helping Ukrainian refugees. They have been at the Ukrainian border in Poland providing food, humanitarian aid, and prayers. He said there were many Ukrainians on the same flight and the team just wanted to show their thanksgiving and praise to God for using them in helping those affected by the conflict.
“We were filled with thanksgiving of what God did in our time there. Our heart was to bring joy and hope as there is so much pain with what’s going on in this world.”
The Christian influencer said they asked permission from the flight hosts and the pilot. “If they said no, we would have honored that. They even made an announcement to all passengers letting them know who we are and what we did in Ukraine and introduced us and allowed us to get the guitar out! People then clapped and welcomed us.”
Jensz said the group sang for three to four minutes. He claimed that everyone onboard welcomed the performance. The statement ended with, “We are so thankful for the full permission we received to bring joy to this flight with a song!”
