You’re too powerful

by Nils von Kalm

http://soulthoughts.com

 

“When religion is too closely linked with power, the problem is not just that religion underwrites oppression, but that the gospel itself is lost. If Christ is just a baby or a dead body, I can keep on living and not allow Christ’s lordship to shed light on all dimensions of my life.” – Ruth Padilla DeBorst

For most of its existence, Christian faith has been aligned with power. Ever since Christianity became the State religion under Constantine in the 4^th century, there has been a watering down of the radical social ethics that the Gospel of Jesus demands of us.

Anne Wilkinson-Hayes, of the Baptist Union of Victoria, talks about the impact of Christendom on the faith. They include a change in the way the Bible had to be read (more about that below); marginalising of the human Jesus with a focus on his heavenly character; and a sanctioning of warfare by the church. In short, the persecuted became the persecutors.

Recently I’ve been involved in a brief Facebook discussion based on the above quote from Ruth Padilla DeBorst. The question came up about whether or not we can be a Christian in power. A reference was made to Philippians 4:22 in which St Paul sends a greeting from those Christians in the emperor’s household.

One of the problems of being too closely aligned to power is that we lose our prophetic edge. We become numb to the demands of Jesus as we gradually go along with the allegiances of the State.

It takes huge courage to be close to power and still be prophetic. I think of Daniel who worked with the government of the day. He rose through the ranks but when he spoke out and said something that emperor didn’t like, he was thrown to the lion’s den. It was the same with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; when they refused to worship the golden statue that Nebuchadnezzar set up, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.

When you upset power there are huge consequences. Jesus found that out, as did 10 of the 11 remaining disciples after Judas Iscariot (tradition says that all except John were martyred for their faith). And it has continued down through history, notably in the 20^th century when people like Gandhi, Oscar Romero, and Martin Luther King were all cut down for being a threat to the status quo.

Being too closely aligned to power in the sense that Ruth Padilla DeBorst means is to be too chummy with it, such that we lose our prophetic edge. As mentioned above, this is exactly what happened after Constantine became emperor in the early 4^th century CE. In 313, Christianity became the State religion and so became aligned with power for the first time.

The result of this was that passages such as the Sermon on the Mount (which was the guiding framework for the first 300 years of the Christian movement) became spiritualised and were interpreted differently. When you’re aligned with Empire, it doesn’t work to love your enemies and say “blessed are the peacemakers.”

Being closely aligned with power in this way is to go along with the program of the Empire. Anne Wilkinson-Hayes tells us of some of the changes that took place in the Christian movement when Christianity became the State religion. For a start, church attendance and tithing became obligatory; large church buildings replaced small ones; and the clergy became professional and hierarchical. Eventually the Gospel of Jesus, the Gospel of good news for the poor, the outcast and the sinner, became lost as the church joined in the mission of Empire. For Empire to be maintained, for power to remain, others need to be put in their place. This is one of the reasons the Gospel became spiritualised (another main reason is to do with the ideas that came out of the Enlightenment).

Power always resists real change. It has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. This is why we need such movements as Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge to speak truth to power. It is why we speak out about fair trade and unfair work practices. And it is why we put pressure on the powers to force change for the poor.

Power will not make change on its own. History shows that, and it goes against human nature. Hence the need for salvation, for transformation of the human heart as well as of structures and systems that keep people poor. That is why the Christian Gospel makes so much sense, and why Jesus being Lord over all aspects of life is the answer to our problems.

It was because the early Christians worshiped Jesus as Lord instead of Caesar (as Lord) that they were persecuted. They weren’t persecuted simply because they worshiped Jesus; it was because they worshiped him to the exclusion of all others. For the early Christians, if Jesus was Lord it meant that Caesar was not, and that was unforgiveable for the power of Rome.

As affluent Western Christians, we are people in power. We haven’t had a choice really; most of us just happened to be born in one of the richest countries in the world. This has affected our view of the world. Our view of the world is determined by where we stand. Simply because of where we live, we have power, whether we realise it or not. Our purchasing decisions can literally mean life or death for millions of people in the majority poor world.

Martin Luther King made the point that no matter where we live in the world, we are all linked. Our lifestyles all impact on each other. The clothes I buy either keep people in slavery somewhere in Asia, or they contribute in a small way to the betterment of their lives, depending on my purchasing choices.

I believe it is possible to be a Christian in power. Power gives you access to justice; it allows you to advocate. That’s why the first Christians, including Paul and others of his time, didn’t tackle the evil of slavery. It is a common criticism of Christian faith that Jesus and St Paul didn’t say anything about slavery. It’s because they didn’t have any power. That is one of the perks of having power.

Being a Christian in power though is only possible if we remain close to the poor. Western Christians need to constantly listen and be available to the voice of the poor. Otherwise we will contribute to the evils of an unjust world, whether we want to or not.

Tim Costello has said that a prophet definitely needs access to power. But we need always remain closest to the poor, for it is they who are the ones for whom Jesus came. Not that he didn’t come for the rest of us of course, but God definitely has a preferential bias for the poor. God is compassionate and wants all to be treated according to their God-given dignity. Because this doesn’t happen to the poor, God in his compassion gives them special treatment.

The Christians in Caesar’s household that St Paul refers to in Philippians 4:22would have been close to the poor simply because they were Christians and the majority of Christians were poor according to historians. The fact is though that we don’t really know what the term “those in the emperor’s household” means in this verse. They could have been members of the imperial family, or guards, or courtiers, or servants. It is likely that these people didn’t actually wield power even though they were in the household of the emperor himself (Bible Gateway explains this further).

True Christianity is not popular. It inevitably comes up against the status quo, because the status quo has a vested interest in keeping itself in power. It is ultimately afraid, and fear will inevitably be overpowered by love. True Christianity is not the feel-good version that attracts so many people in the West (and alarmingly in much of Africa now as well). As Richard Rohr says so prophetically, “Once we preach the true Gospel, I doubt if we are going to fill the churches.”

The power that followers of Christ are to exercise is the power that Jesus displayed. It is the power of the cross; foolishness of course to those who don’t understand. Jesus shows us the power of love, a love that is displayed in self-sacrifice. It is a power that absorbs evil instead of expressing it. The way of Jesus is not the violence of empire. It absorbs violence and therefore destroys it. Rob Bell is right; in the end, love wins. That is why the ways of power and empire will always be completely incompatible with the way of Jesus.

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More… Ministry as Empowerment - http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/8109.htm