A Word from Pastor Lisa: The Politics of Jesus
"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”
—Matthew 22:21 (KJV)
Jesus was political. When he ate with tax collectors, sinners, and “unclean” types, he rebelled against the religious ethics of the day. When he reached out to people who were poor and marginalized, he broke cultural norms. His nonviolent resistance in the face of death challenged the powers-that-be of the Roman Empire. Jesus was, by his very nature, political.
Jesus, however, was not partisan. I imagine if he registered to vote in America today, he would not be a Republican or a Democrat. He would not watch only Fox News or MSNBC. He wouldn’t exist in one ideological bubble, be a single-issue voter, or fall prey to conspiracies on social media. Rather, he would espouse an ethic of love for God and neighbor and resist systems of domination and injustice. Why do we who seek to follow Jesus try to claim his blessing on our particular views?
Theologian N.T. Wright in his speech “God and Caesar, Then and Now” describes how we came to the bifurcation of Jesus and politics as 21st century Western Christians. The 18th century Enlightenment led us to believe we live in a split-level world where “faith and religion” belong upstairs and “society and politics” are on the bottom. When people hear “God and Caesar” in Matthew 21, they believe it supports this divide.
What’s more, the Enlightenment leads us to think that political beliefs and attitudes come in two packages, and everyone must be on one side or the other. The Right offers rigid social structures, law and order, a tough-minded work ethic, a social hierarchy, and a strong view of national identity. The Left offers freedom and revolution, overthrowing social hierarchies, blurring old lines, and doing things in new ways. It has been assumed since the French Revolution that you’re either in one camp of the other.
Some Christians respond to these divides by ignoring politics altogether, writes Evangelical activist Shane Claiborne in “Jesus isn’t on the ballot.” They spend their time focusing on saving souls and getting people into heaven. They claim politics don’t belong in the pulpit (unless it’s their politics, of course). Jesus came to establish a kingdom not of this world.
Another group of Christians buys into partisan politics wholeheartedly and is married to their favorite party or candidate, seeing them as the savior of our nation. As Rev. Tony Campolo says: “Mixing our faith with a political party is sort of like mixing ice cream with cow manure. It doesn’t mess up the cow manure, but it sure messes up the ice cream.”
As followers of Jesus in America, we deeply need a brighter political imagination that’s not limited to partisan politics or social media wars, but grounded in our faith, says Claiborne. We need to be peculiar and political because Jesus was both. Jesus was a brown-skinned Jewish refugee born into a particular time and place. He focused on the politics of his day – widows and orphans, the poor, unjust judges, the religious leaders, and the Roman Empire that crucified him. Nailed to the cross, the sign above him read: “King of the Jews.”
Jesus triumphed over this political execution by rising from the dead. The word “Savior” in his day wasn’t only used for Jesus, but also for Caesar. When we render to God what is God’s, we are declaring Jesus Christ is Lord, and Caesar is not.
That’s why 2,000 years later, we still trust Jesus is the Lord who saves us and our elected officials are not. Following the politics of Jesus is about being part of God’s plan for the healing of the world.
We aren’t going to find a Savior on the ballot this year. Our hope remains in Jesus, and we cast our ballots with him beside us. We cast our ballots for the candidates who will do the most to eliminate suffering. We vote on behalf of those who are poor. We vote for immigrants and children still in cages. We vote for those who lack health care. We vote for victims of mass incarceration. We vote for those with COVID-19 too sick to cast a ballot. We vote for victims of racially motivated violence. We vote out of love for our neighbors, for those are the politics of Jesus.