I have decided to write a follow up post to Jesus the Socialist. This post comes in the wake of much chatter (more so through other online outlets than through the blog itself) about my loose, and seemingly flippant use of the sociopolitical system of Socialism.
My point was not to make a case for Jesus being the new face of Socialism. I thought I made this clear when I said:
In Scripture, we get no indication that Jesus was the least bit interested in what the Empire of Rome was up to. When pressed, he encouraged the Jews to pay their Roman taxes to Caesar, and to be faithful with God’s things to God…Jesus’ point when asked about paying taxes was, We don’t belong here. If we define ourselves and our existence by the flag flying overhead, we have lost sight of the Gospel.
and especially when I said:
Now before anyone gets too upset, I don’t claim that we need government to redistribute wealth for us.
By referencing the flag flying overhead, I was speaking about government, any and all kinds of government. It is not the kingdom to which we belong. God’s kingdom is one that can’t be contained inside of a governmental system. Not even in the U S of A. And I think that thought is what gets people riled up.
I also feel some misunderstanding came about by how I ended the post:
Socialism does not fit well with red-blooded democracy, which also doesn’t fit well with the American Dream. Maybe that’s because Jesus, the socialist, didn’t come up with the American dream…
This comment was, again, not my claim that Jesus was a socialist. That statement was made after I opened with this question and conjecture:
I have often wondered how Jesus’ actions would be viewed in our contemporary culture. Imagine with me for a moment that Jesus was traveling around, teaching in Bible studies, raising up a ragtag group of leaders in 21st century America…
I even think if Jesus were to come hang out in our culture, people like (Glenn) Beck would call him a socialist, and warn us of the danger inherent in his message. He may even encourage us to run away from him as fast as possible.
I believe we need to always be wrestling with our faith. The Gospel is a message that is alive and moving in our culture. Jesus doesn’t need our defense, but rather our effort to tend to his message of hope.
My challenge then, is for us all to lean deeply into Jesus’ message, responding to our culture with grace, mercy, love and generosity. It makes no difference what you believe until you live it in front of others.