There’s a sector of Christianity bent on taking Jesus public, crowning Him king over everyone and forcing their version of Christianity on the world.
It’s most obvious in Christian nationalist movements, but it also shows up in the rhetoric/posture of Christians who are engaged in culture war, defending their way of life by opposing things they view as inconsistent with Christ.
Let’s talk about being consistent with Christ, with the Jesus Way. The rhetoric of war permeates the Biblical story, and literalist readers carry that forward as applying to the way of Christ. But it doesn’t. Leaving the literalist reading of Scripture aside for another discussion[1], let’s look at Christ (the true Word of God) and how He comes across to the world. By implication then, how are we His followers to show up in the world?
For brevity I’ll refer to one story from Isaiah 42:1-4 where God the Father describes the posture His servant (Jesus) will take with the world. And I think that as you read about the life of Jesus, you will see how consistent He was living according to this ‘way’…
“Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight. I will put my spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice. He will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on earth.”
Perhaps Robert Service, in his poem The Call of the Wild, sums it up best how we change the world:
“…the simple things, the true things, the silent men (sic) who do things…”
Harv
