Jesus Beyond Church Walls

My ears perked as I heard a news anchor make an outlandish supposition on a Sunday evening news report. It's Sunday, I said to myself; the anchor is probably trying to stand out and get noticed by other media outlets. It worked. Little did I know that by Monday morning, an odd supposition would become a main talking point across various media outlets. Everyone was asking probing questions and delivering well-scripted news reports, attempting to deliver as fact what began as supposition. The Christian movement is not immune from reports, probes, and suppositions. Suppositions turned into talking points can easily distract us from what is movement critical, proclaiming the good news of Jesus.

Christianity is a movement of different movements. But what kind of movement is Christianity? Is Christianity primarily a religious movement? Or is it a social movement or a political movement? Christianity is one of the world's major religions, so it may seem obvious that it is mainly a religious movement. Jesus' self-declaration of deity (John 10:30) affirms Christianity's religious nature but does not limit the impact of Jesus' teachings, message, and followers to the boundaries of only a religious movement.

The Christian New Testament references the religious nature of Jesus' activity and purpose—including his death and resurrection. For the purposes of this discussion, I am defining religion as humanity's attempt at relating to the divine. Jesus leaves little to supposition. Jesus claims divinity and to be the only way for humanity to relate to God (John 14:6). Jesus places himself at the center of religion, as the divine that relates to humanity. Jesus turned human religion upside down, announcing that God is reconciling humans to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension culminated in God's redemptive plan to restore humanity to Himself, superseding humanity's efforts to relate to the divine. Two centuries later, Jesus remains one of the most significant religious figures in history. Therefore, defining Christianity as a religious movement is reasonable.

However, could Christianity be understood as mainly a political movement? Jesus himself spoke often about the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) and that he is a king (John 18:37). Paul, in his letter to the church in Philippi, also declares that Jesus has authority to rule (Philippians 2:6-11). Yet, Paul also argues in Romans that Christians living counter to and in tension with the primary culture are to respect and submit to governing authorities. Political movements focus on changing the government, ensuring the governed are treated with dignity and respect, giving the marginalized a voice, and facilitating responsibility in relationships. Some political movements are revolutions, as one group takes political authority and power from another. Other political movements are reformations or revitalizations, working within social and legal systems toward greater justice. With two thousand years of Christians creating, reforming, and revitalizing governments around the world, Christians have affected politics. Christianity as a movement worked to increase dignity, respect, advocacy, and the responsible use of governmental power. Given the political impact of Christians through the centuries, there is evidence to affirm Christianity as a political movement.

Some scholarly suppositions argue Christianity is a political movement bent on changing human political structure. Such an odd supposition becomes a main talking point in some theological circles. Yet, the scripture promises Jesus will reign, and God will be king upon the making new of heaven, and earth is complete. Until then, the movement of Christianity existed within and was in tension with the human governments of this age. While Jesus' movement informs and involves the political sphere, we must not turn to Christian nationalism or be distracted from the mission of Christianity's movement—proclaim the good news of Jesus. It may seem popular to turn supposition into talking points, and people changed by Jesus do affect politics. However, Jesus' movement doesn't get distracted by human government. We look to God's kingdom, a kingdom above or beyond human governments, as Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

How is Jesus your hope this Easter season?

How have you seen society benefit from Christians' involvement in politics?

From Revive: Leading Change—Igniting Movement Chapter 3, by Jim Strecker