Jesus Also Came to Disrupt the Political Status Quo

I remember hearing in Government Class that there was a separation between church and state. The state couldn’t interfere with the church and the church wasn’t supposed to interfere with matters of the state (government).

BY CEDRIC NELMS

In learning more about Jesus and the Gospel, it is apparent that Jesus was very much involved with matters of the state. His involvement was based on justice, righteousness, and showing that the last will be first and the first will be last in the Kingdom of God.

ONE IN A SERIES:HOW WOULD JESUS VOTE?

On June 5th, we will go to the polls to elect people into governmental office and to affect policy. There has been this misnomer that politics and our beliefs don’t mix. For those of us that are followers of Christ, there has always been this intersection of politics, faith, and the church.There has been this lens of looking at politics from the perspective of: “What would Jesus do?” This level of tension was seen in our last Presidential election, where white evangelicals and black evangelicals were divided between the context of who would collect their vote. Black evangelicals were questioning if their pastors were voting and leading their congregations to vote along faith lines or from a posture of privilege. This caused some evangelical churches to see an exodus of their African American congregants.For the church of today there has to be those hills that we will stick our sword in the ground as a testament of what we have been called to do and who we follow. As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to not forget that there are some issues that are non-negotiable when it comes to our walk with God. In the Book of Amos 5:23-24...Take away from me the noise of your songs;to the melody of your harps I will not listen.But let justice roll down like waters,and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.Amos reminds us that we have to be mindful of not getting too caught up in the activity of our way of living (power, money, privilege) and lose the heart for justice and righteousness. Justice and righteousness need to be the bookends to WHO we are as Christ followers and WHOSE we are as children of God. If we are voting based on our status, privilege, or prejudices, then we are forsaking the least of those amongst us.As voting followers of Christ there has to be a compassionate attitude that is taken beyond the veil of the booth, that is not concerned about voting along cultural lines but voting along what is in the best interest of the marginalized. So, when we ask the question of ‘is there a way to vote as a Christian?’ The response is yes! Yes, we should be voting with the mind and heart of Christ. We should remember that God is not a respecter of person. We should remember that Jesus was not connected to a political party but was sold out to the establishment of the Kingdom of God.Politics encompasses ALL of society, culture, race, economics, age, and gender to name a few. When we think about politics and our faith, we should look at examples from the life of Jesus. Jesus was one that came to disrupt the political climate. Jesus was one who disturbed the status quo. One of the ways that He did that was by speaking truth to power. Jesus was speaking truth to power during his turning over the tables moment in the temple. Jesus was speaking truth to power when he told the men, those of you who are without sin cast the first stone. Jesus was speaking truth to power by detouring his agenda to have a life changing conversation with the woman at the well. He gave her the living water of righteousness instead of the contaminated water of system. Jesus was speaking truth to power when He called Zacchaeus from the tree to build a relationship with him. He looked pass his height restriction to transform his condition. Jesus was speaking to truth to power when he met the woman at the well. He loved her for who she was and was not prejudice against her.Jesus came not to be like those politicians at that time, but to redeem them through the work and attitude of the Gospel. Our politics can’t be converted to God and not be converted to the least of us. When we vote we have a responsibility to remember Luke 4:18-19.The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,because he has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captivesand recovering of sight to the blind,to set at liberty those who are oppressed,to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.Remember we have some people like Zacchaeus’, some like the woman at the well, some people like the woman that committed adultery, some people that are imprisoned like Paul was, that need us to remember our faith and the one that we follow when we vote.[ictt-tweet-blockquote hashtags="#HowWouldJesusVote" via=""]Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. - MLK, Jr[/ictt-tweet-blockquote]Rev. Cedric J. Nelms is Lead Pastor at Chosen Generation Fellowship Church. On the web: www.cjnministries.com

The Politics of Jesus and the Color Purple

My belief and thoughts on the politics of Jesus would take more than just one blog article to make my point but this is an attempt to give a general overview.

BY PETE WATTS

This past election cycle was challenging for African American Christians who wanted to be faithful to their Christian values and faithful to their neighbors who are marginalized and maligned by an American Christianity that sometimes doesn’t have the same viewpoints and approach to solving the world’s problems in practical ways. This is what I believe that one Christian hip hop artist tried to express in an article in Christianity Today a couple of years ago.

ONE IN A SERIES:HOW WOULD JESUS VOTE?

I find it interesting that Franklin Graham is going on tour with this campaign “Decision America,” encouraging Christians to vote when in the past much of mainline evangelical Christianity said politics and religion shouldn’t mix. In the historic African American church and amongst mainline black evangelicals they have never separated the two. They understood there needed to be engagement with biblical values AND social justice.Let me start by saying that I don’t believe that people who voted for Trump and were Republican are all racists just as others on the right shouldn’t believe that anyone who voted Democrat supports abortion. At the end of the day, where I draw the line is at the same ledge that James Baldwin did when he said, “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”If Jesus were to vote today he wouldn’t be on the side of the Republican ticket or the Democratic ticket. His agenda would be and always has been a Kingdom agenda. Today’s politics and climate of our American culture and Christianity has led us to take sides based on our own flawed interpretation of scripture to confirm our own agendas.Two issues in particular I’d like highlight to prove my point. There has been documented and historical evidence proving the reality of voter suppression. This is played out in both Texas and North Carolina most recently. Coincidentally, both of these states were in violation of federal law. This was the Republican Party’s attempt at subverting the Voting Rights Acts by enacting what has been termed as Voter ID Laws. Yes, on the surface it sounds legitimate but when you dig deeper there is something more nefarious that targets specifically African American communities in poor areas.If Jesus were to vote I’m quite confident he wouldn’t vote Democrat but would be in line with the Democratic party on the issue of Voter suppression.Quite interestingly, just as vigorous in defending the right to vote, Jesus would also defend the right to religious expression and fight against religious exclusion. This idea of exclusion plays out in different ways, including the far left’s launch of an all-out attack on those who have Christian beliefs that are contrary to the agenda of Democratic party. There are examples and reports of many people who are running for office and who have run that received threats on their lives because they supported the right to life, or stood against same sex marriage. Some of these pastors are leading predominantly African American churches, too.Jesus dealt with similar trappings and issues in the gospel. One pericope that I point to specifically is when he was asked by the Pharisees and Herodians in the gospel of Mark about paying taxes. The Bible said he saw their hypocrisy and how they wanted to trap him in his words. Jesus responded as one who is about the Kingdom of God and not the politics of the Pharisees or any other religious or political group of his day. He said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.” When you look at his response it doesn’t say that he was on either side of the issue exclusively.This shows us that the politics of Jesus doesn’t land on one side of the coin but both. In considering how Jesus would vote, we should consider the perspective of the Kingdom and what an upside-down Kingdom looks like when fighting for the poor, disenfranchised, the privileged and the outcast.Unfortunately, I think Franklin Graham got it wrong when he encouraged Christians in California to vote because they need to penetrate the “blue wall.” I think if Jesus was preparing his people to vote, it would be because the wall he wants people to penetrate is purple.That’s the color of the Kingdom. It’s the color of royalty.Rev. Pete Watts oversees World Impact’s mission for all of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities. Born and raised in Southern California, Pete holds a Masters in Communication and Education. After serving as an elementary school teacher, he opened the Thurgood Marshall Entrepreneurial Academy Charter Middle School in 2007. Pete has also felt God’s calling him to preach. After being ordained by Missionary Baptist Church in Compton, he and his wife Didi launched The R.O.C.K. Church in 2008.To find out more about Rev. Pete Watts, check out his blog.