Jesus for President

Last night I had the opportunity to go up to San Francisco with some friends to check out the Jesus for President tour that Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw are leading. Having read most of the book and hearing Shane speak at different venues numerous times, I was pretty stoked to check it out. After a late start and lots of traffic, we walked into San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral about 40 minutes late, but we definitely were not too late.

Their sharing, based on their recently published book Jesus for President: A Book to Provoke the Christian Political Imagination, was a type of hopeful protest. I would argue it was prophetic in many of the same ways that the ancient Biblical prophets mourned, cried and offered hope to the empires of the day that were blinding people from the love of God and the coming life of Jesus. They painted clear and powerful pictures of what a revolutionary Jesus truly was within the context of the Roman Empire and discussed His role in bringing about a Kingdom that was much greater than the ruling Roman Empire…one that was not greater because of its brute force, military strength, material possession or social status, but one that would turn the other cheek, serve the poor and oppressed and set their swords down for acts of love and kindness.

After a 4th of July weekend that was filled with patriotism directed towards the greatness of one country, I have been wrestling with Christians (myself included) beings so willing to pledge their allegiance to ideals and actions that are often so blatantly counter to Jesus teachings and way of life. Didn’t Jesus come to save the WHOLE world? If that is the case, shouldn’t we be singing “God bless the WORLD,” not just “God bless America?” I believe it is bordering on idolatry and I don’t want to subconsciously grow numb to where I put my hope. Do I put my hope in America to change the world? Or do I more appropriately put my hope in Jesus and His people to change the world? Jesus did say something about serving two masters didn’t He?

All that to say, it’s not that I’m anti America, it’s that I’m anti a nationalism that blurs and distorts my commitment to Jesus and my pursuit to live in His ways. There are alot of great things about this land we live in and I am grateful. At the same time, I am not willing to fall into a way of thinking or acting that reflects more of my nationalism that my Christianity.

Good Quote from Shane: “The Kingdom question for us is not how are we going to vote on November 4th, it is how are we going to live on Nov. 3rd and Nov. 5th? Voting is something to we do every day with our lives…who are we pledging allegiance to every single day?”

This is a good clip to check out on the topic: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SfLdVazh33E