What Would Jesus Do?

Religion is rarely far from the surface when GOP presidential hopefuls convene these days. Values and faith have become staples in conservative politics. This is not at all surprising when one considers the weight protestant evangelicals carry when it comes to the Republican party. Neither is religion a stranger to liberal politics. Liberals have frequently appealed to religion to buttress their arguments for social justice and tolerance. Whether it is to condemn moral turpitude or to advance the tenets of tolerance, religion and scripture provide a useful prop to political arguments. The fact that religious groups citing scripture can be found on every side of virtually every social controversy is no small delight to those inclined to ridicule religion in America.

When it comes to social controversy,  scripture can be thick as the Bible is quoted from Leviticus and Micah through Matthew and Luke. Contradictions, or seeming contradictions, abound. We are reminded that we are obliged to care for the least among us. We are also reminded that we are obliged to obey the law. Atheists no doubt smile as the Bible is often portrayed as a seeming jumble of contradictory injunctions. It is not difficult to find scripture to support virtually any position one might take: especially for amateur scholars and theologians. But there is a thread throughout the New Testament that is all too frequently ignored by those who invoke scripture. That thread is that Christ's commandments and injunctions were addressed to people, not societies or governments.  

There is an ethical imperative to help those in need as religiously inclined progressives like to point out. There is also condemnation of sin and wickedness and a call to righteousness as religiously inclined conservatives like to point out. But Biblical imperatives, at least in the New Testament, do not fall on governments or societies. They fall on each and everyone of us. The Bible does not instruct us to support candidates and policies to further our ethical and moral sensibilities, no matter how praiseworthy they may be. We are to take care of those in need, not the government. We are to love our neighbors as our self, not the government. We are to shun sin and seek righteousness, not society. Jesus was careful to avoid enjoining the state to do any of the tasks or follow any of the commandments He placed before mankind. He consistently refused to be drawn into taking a position on policy. Perhaps the ultimate example of Jesus' refusal to involve himself in the political affairs of men is when He refused Satan's offer of the world. Certainly it was within Jesus' power to effect any political change He thought was merited. But He refused to do so. That is because Jesus did not come to right wrongs, punish sinners, or remedy injustice. He did not come to establish a just state. He came to save mankind, one soul at a time. 

The answer to the question of what Jesus would do regarding immigration policy, abortion, gay marriage, or any other controversial issue confronting the nation is absolutely nothing. He did nothing two thousand years ago and most likely He would do nothing today other than what He did then. He would tell us to love our neighbors as ourselves, tend to the least among us, and give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. If we did as Jesus asked, everything else would take care of itself and that is precisely the point. Nations and politics come and go. Issues come and go. But people remain and people are what it is all about. 

Jesus did not come to fix the world, create a righteous society, or establish social justice. He came to fix our souls. Good laws and good societies come from good souls. There is no other place for them to come from. It is our job to love our neighbor and take care of those in need, not the government's. It falls on each and every one of us to struggle against sin and strive for righteousness, not the government. Voting democrat or republican and paying your taxes doesn't count. 

Jesus didn't go to Rome and lobby the Senate. He did not propose policy or advocate for laws. He did not demand that prayer be taught in schools or that everyone should have equal rights. He stayed in an obscure part of the empire and spoke with prostitutes and tax collectors. It is not a question of what Jesus would do. It is a matter of what Jesus did. We can learn a lot from Jesus. 

Neither the Ten Commandments nor the Beatitudes were intended to be a political platforms. To treat them as such misses the whole point of Scripture. Indeed, it taints the whole spirit of the New Testament and undermines the Gospels by dragging them into the political arena to be bent and twisted for worldly gain.