Newsweek's Politics of Jesus

I picked up the recent Newsweek about “The Politics of Jesus.” I found the articles on the topic to be a fresh presentation of the movement within evangelicalism to broaden the scope of issues they give their voice to in politics. There are growing numbers of them who see that not much has been done by the religious right for the issues it has held dear and there certainly has been no voice from them on issues such as unjust war, poverty, AIDS, and human rights. I would number myself among those who want the evangelical voice in America to be known for what Jesus talked about most and for what he did with his actions. The quote in the article from evangelical Adam Hamilton sums this idea up nicely, “They’ve (religious right) gone too far . . . lost their focus on the spirit of Jesus and have separated the world into black and white, when the world is much more gray . . . I can’t see Jesus standing with signs at an anti-gay rally. It’s hard to picture that.” Indeed.

I also liked the quote from the pastor at the Willow Creek summit this past summer, at which an interview between Hybels and Bono was shown, who said, “I went in there wondering if Bono was a Christian, and I came out wondering if I was.”

The more we look at Jesus and his politics the more we will see our need to move beyond the things that divide us to the things that are close to the heart of God. I’m excited to consider how the emerging generations I’m working with have the potential to one day give a fresh expression to what Jesus intended with the church. May they be generations known for what they do in the world than what they were against while taking up space awaiting rapture.

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