What if the Culture Warriors Have It Wrong?

So I've been thinking..."what if the culture warriors have it all wrong?"  Think about it.  What is the thing that people associate with Christianity in today's world?  Hint: it's not Jesus.  I would say it's conservative moral/political causes.  Do you think I'm wrong?  Take a few minutes and browse the internet.  I was looking up the patronage of a particular saint the other day, and plastered all over the site were political ads against President Obama.  It also had a news updater from a well known ultra Christian right news agency.  You can find these types of things all over many Christian sites.  Left leaning sites focus on this too. It's relatively easy to find a story on a left leaning news site decrying Christian Hypocrisy or at the very least describing all the things that Christians are against this week.  Here are a few things that Christians in today's society spend their time obsessing over:

--Same Sex Marriage
--Abortion Rights
--Availability/usage of contraception
--Availability of health care to poor people
--Deportation of "illegal immigrants"
--"Religious freedom"
--Pre-marital sex
--The ability of a church to spread politics from the pulpit

That's just a sample of things that you can find from a cursory internet search.  Each one of these issues could be an entry unto themselves, but what I'm trying to point out here is that THESE ARE THE THINGS "CHRISTIANS" ARE CONCERNED WITH.  Look at the list again.  Which of those issues would Jesus be concerned with?  I see two that Jesus spoke volumes about: the treatment of poor people and the treatment of "foreigners," or perhaps for the sake of this entry, "people who come from a different country or background than you do."

Would Jesus want poor people to have access to health care that doesn't have them breaking their bank, losing their homes, or having to choose between food and medicine?  Anyone who has spent 10 seconds in any Sunday School class or even given the teachings of Jesus even a perfunctory glance knows how Jesus would feel about this.  When some friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof of a building, Jesus healed him without payment and didn't ask about preexisting conditions.

Would Jesus be for deporting refugee Children back to their home countries, home countries that are torn by violence, war, and drugs?  I think not.  In John Chapter 4 the disciples probably raised an eyebrow when they saw Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman.  Not only that, but he was offering his message to her as well.  A message of love and peace that was as much for Samaritans as it was for Jews.   Jesus had no issues with anyone regardless of race, country of origin, or religious background.

Unfortunately these aren't the views of many "Christians" in today's world.  Many of you that I know, or that will read this, are people that I interact with via social media.  For those of you that aren't Christians or who are not religious, what have you told me that your biggest complaint with Christians is?  Chances are it's the fact that Christians tend to not act like Christ.

Now of course, this does not apply to all Christians, maybe not even to most Christians, but like it or not it applies to the loudest, most active and stringent group of Christians around today.  I'll call them the Culture Warriors.  These are people who feel like their number one calling as a Christian today is to defend their ancient moral codes and doctrines (most, but not all, from the Old Testament) against the evil modern (or perhaps post-modern) society: think liberals. gays, commies, socialists, college professors...you get the idea.

These Culture Warriors are all over, and chances are they have an issue with something you do, something you like, or some particular views that you have.  They are absolutely against the government recognizing committed relationships between gay couples.  They have issues with rated R movies and at least 70% of what you watch on TV.  Alcohol is BAD, in each and every instance.  A woman should definitely not be in charge of her own reproductive system and contraceptives are right out as well.  While you're at it ladies, forget about holding any kind of authoritative position in your churches.  That's a boy's club because God apparently said so a few thousand years ago.  President Obama, the man elected lawfully to lead this country twice?  Forget that guy.  None of us are really sure why we hate that guy, but the Priest, pastor, bishop, or radio show host says we do, so we do.

Sound familiar?  Of course it does.  Now here is my question:  What if the Culture Warriors have it all wrong?  If you're a Christian reading this that doesn't share these priorities, are you comfortable with these people representing your faith in both the public and private sectors?  Like it or not, as we've already seen, they are.  Are regular Christians, people who are just trying to live their lives day by day, comfortable with the loudmouths in the pulpit, on the radio/tv, or behind the blogs speaking for them as they shout down poor people, gay people, and protest refugee children?   I hope not.

Contrast the Culture Warriors to Jesus Christ.  Can you see Jesus toting around an assault rifle?  Can you see Jesus thumping the Bible at gay people and telling them that they'll burn in hell?  Can you really see Jesus shouting down a woman for having an abortion?  Can you see Jesus protesting a bus full of refugee children who were trying to flee their war torn homes?  If you answer yes to any of these above, then I submit that you don't know the first thing about Jesus Christ.

Here's how I see Jesus reacting.  I see Jesus welcoming gay people to his table and into his fellowship, just the way they are, just the way they were created to be.  I see Jesus wrapping his arms around a woman who just had an abortion saying that he's going to be there for her in whatever comes next and through the rest of her life, with no SHRED of judgement.  I see Jesus getting on those buses full of kids and distributing food and water, telling them not to be afraid and that he's going to do everything he can for them.  I certainly could never see Jesus picking up a gun, even in self defense.  If he had a mind to do anything like that, surely he would have defended himself from being crucified.

The Culture Warriors portray Jesus as one of them.  He's a king covered in glory, ready to squash you like a bug if you don't follow his every whim.  That's why they love the imagery from Revelation: Jesus riding a white horse and leading an army to destroy his enemies.  That's why they love the Old Testament scenes of God smiting entire races of people before the Israelites.  Jesus is the conquering hero.

Yet, that's not how Jesus presented himself.  He was born to a lowly peasant girl from Galilee and placed in a stable, not a palace.  He didn't choose to cover himself in opulence and surround himself with rich, royal followers.  He hung out with whores, tax collectors, and a bunch of dirty fishermen while he wandered in a nomadic existence.  He didn't spend his time going from place to place checking on everyone's moral resume, he spent it healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and comforting the poor.  He never asserted a godlike authority over people as a conqueror or a king, even on the day he died when Pilate tried to goad him into it.   In the final analysis the vessel of all that power, as well as the vessel of all that kindness and mercy became the victim of power and was shown no kindness or mercy as he was tortured and executed in front of his friends, his family, and followers.

In the end, Jesus still LOVED everybody.  Even those who killed him.

So where do you sit on this?  Where do I sit on this?  Is the power and sick judgement of the Culture Warriors worth destroying the idea of the humble carpenter from Galilee?  For me it's not, and I'm going to do everything I can to change it.

What are you going to do?