Following The One We Call the Christ

There are not many things about which I consider myself an expert. I took economic and political theory classes in college and I think I have a pretty good working knowledge of how that fits into current events, informs my voting decisions, and impacts my general outlook on life. But, it is not my area of expertise either educationally or vocationally, so I try not to pontificate on such matters over much. It's good to know one's limitations.

On the other hand, I did study theology quite a bit and did a 10-year stint as a pastor and another 6 as a theology teacher, so that is an area where I feel like I have a bit better footing, as it were.

The reason for this little preface is that what I am about to say comes from my knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is, what he teaches, and what it means, so far as I can tell, to claim to be a follower of this one that we Christians call the Christ. It is not, conversely, a political plan or policy, so, I'm fine about being taken to task if I have misunderstood something about Jesus or the Good News, but if you tell me that my politics are a bit janky, the best I can say is that I may have to agree with you since, as was already noted, that's not my particular gig.

So, here are the things that I know about Jesus:

1) Just before he was born, Mary and Joseph traveled a great distance and arrived at their destination tired and without anywhere to stay.

2) Just after he was born, he, Mary, and Joseph (according to one Gospel narrative) fled to Egypt as refugees in order to ensure his safety.

3) He said that all of the law and the prophets (so, essentially, the better portion of the Hebrew Scriptures) can be summed up like this: Love G-d and love your neighbor. When pressed for a definition of "neighbor," he used as an example someone who would have not only been considered the least of the least, but an actual enemy of those to whom he was speaking.

4) Many of his followers believed him to be the Messiah and they therefore thought that meant he would do politically what they wanted him to do. He did not. It wasn't that he was apolitical, because he definitely reached out to the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized ... but he didn't try to overthrow the Romans, or set up his own power structure, or even to keep the Jewish people safe by political means.

5) He said that if we want to be disciples that we need to follow him and he said that whatever we do for the least among us, we do for him. He also mentioned that what we are not willing to do for one another, it is as though we are unwilling to do it for him.

6) He told his disciples to not be afraid. He promised to be with them and with us always. And, he went to the cross.

Now, there is a lot of stuff that we don't know about Jesus' life and quite a bit that he never said anything at all about. Of those matters we have to speculate, interpret, wonder. There is some biblical study and theological work that can be difficult because of that. Clearly, that's why theological types get paid the big bucks ... or not.

But the stuff listed above, it's pretty clear cut. We can disagree. We can not like it. We can think it is silly or naive or impractical or whatever. But we can't get around the fact that Jesus either said or did it, if we give any credence to the biblical account at all.

And, in the end, I guess that's why I felt the need to remind myself of these six tidbits. I don't claim to know the answers to the world's problems. I do not fancy myself as either a political or an economic theorist. Shoot, most days I'm lucky to make it through to bed time. But it seems to me that those of us who claim to follow this Christ need to be honest about how we're doing that.

If the way of life that he calls us to live is not to our liking ... if we find it impractical, implausible, or otherwise unsatisfactory, I suppose that is okay. We all have to choose which paths we will follow. But, then, let's be honest about it. Let's not preface our political, social, or economic commentary with "as a Christian" and then say or do something that can in no way be reconciled with what the one we claim to follow taught or did.

And, if it is vitally important to us to self-identify as Christians, as followers of Jesus the Christ, then let's really follow, let's at least try to live and teach and speak and love as Jesus did.

It could be that simple.

Love the Sinner - Hate the Sin ... Some Thoughts

 Some rights reserved by qthomasbower

I've heard the phrase from a variety of sources in a variety of venues recently: "Love the sinner; hate the sin." It is the thing that people of faith seem to say when they want to justify their own actions/feelings/thoughts when it comes to other people.

I have never liked the phrase very much. For starters, Jesus never said it ... despite the fact that Christians fling it around as though he did. Not only did he never say it, but he never even came close. When I mention this to folks, it is not unusual for them to bring up the example of the woman caught in adultery whom Jesus told to "go and sin no more." It is true ... he did tell her that, but he told her that at the END of their exchange... after he had sent those who wanted to stone her away ... and after he told her that he didn't condemn her. NOTE: the affirmation of his love for her and the fact that he did not condemn her was not a result of anything she did. He did not say, go and sin no more and then you will be worthy of my love and forgiveness. He simply said, "Neither do I condemn you." Yes, some folks will argue, but then he said to go and sin no more. But, it seems to me that if the transformative love that Jesus extended to the woman was conditional upon whether or not she did or didn't sin any more, we would probably have a second part of the story, but we don't. We don't know what happened next. All we know is that he told her that she wasn't condemned ... despite the fact that she was an adulterer. Much like the prodigal son who was welcomed and embraced by the father even before he could offer up his well-rehearsed apology, the woman has an encounter with a Love that does not seek to condemn.

The second reason that I don't like the phrase about loving the sinner and hating the sin all that much is that I've experienced that kind of love and somehow it has never felt like the love I've experienced when I know that someone really loves me. Instead it feels like a patronizing kind of love that says, "I'm loving you because I'm supposed to, but really there is something about you that is totally unacceptable." And, the bottom line is that it certainly doesn't feel like the all-embracing, totally unconditional love that I experience in my relationship with the Almighty. Why would we even need to say, "I'm loving you, but hating your sin" in order to love someone else. Can't we just love people ... without regard to their (or our own) sin? It seems like we could sure be a lot more loving that way. And, it was what Jesus commanded us to do: "Love one another."

I have a friend who is fond of saying that the one who loves the most wins. The concept isn't original with him, he got it from another friend, but ever since he shared the idea with me, I've been trying to see how true it is. I've actually tried to take this command to "love others" to heart. Now, of course, the reason should be simply that Jesus commanded it, and that is why I think it is important. But, I have to confess that I'm also curious to see what it would look like. What would my life look like if I simply loved ... without regard to who the other person was ... without regard to behavior or status or disposition ... without regard to political, theological, or philosophical underpinnings ... but, just loved because that's what I'm created to do?

I fail at this goal about nine hundred and seventy nine times a day, but my attempts have revealed something that I think is very telling. In those moments when I am successful ... when I simply love ... I don't have either the time or the inclination to worry about hating anything. It is a win-win equation because the other person feels loved and in the act of loving, I too know myself as one who is loved by the Beloved.

It's weird, because it's all a little bit more hippie-esque than I normally tend to be ... but, it is a good kind of weird. So, I've decided to just mentally edit the phrase when it's quoted to me and now every time someone tells me that I should love the sinner, but hate the sin, I simply hear: "Love."