church as...

Last Friday I was sitting in a coffee shop to get some work done. In some coffee shops (this one included) it can be hard not to unintentionally eavesdrop because the space is tight and people like to have loud conversations. The table next to me is having one of those conversations and it took an interesting turn. One of the guys was trying to convince the other guy to come to his church. I think that's a pretty common thing in American coffee shops - we have churches on practically every corner after all. Anyways - one guy is telling another guy about his church and trying to convince him to come. You might be wondering what the primary draw was:

"They never talk about politics or social issues". (dude in the coffee shop)

They never talk about politics or social issues. I got a bit sad about this. I mean, I get the draw I guess. If you are MAGA, you don't want to have to wrestle with any of the actual words or ways of Jesus. And if you aren't, you might be afraid you'll just get MAGA rather than the actual words and ways of Jesus. I'm going to return to the words of William Cavanaugh in Torture & Eucharist:

The malleability of the term "politics" and "religion" suggests, however, that the real theoretical mistake lies in treating them as two essentially distinct activities occupying distinct "spaces" which can be either mixed or kept separate. The true Eucharistic nature of the church challenges this way of imagining "politics"... (pg 86-87)

Politics and religion, at least when it comes to Jesus and the Christianity inspired by His words and ways, shouldn't ever be separated. The Greek word for church used in the times the stories of Jesus was recorded is "ekklesia". It's pulled out of daily life and specifically the politics of the day. It's the word used for assembling people to dig into legal matters. This was a word picked for church intentionally. But this is lost more often than not (and often, where it is not, the church is simply a shill for empire rather than the prevailing voice for liberation).

People that claim Christianity aren't often ready or willing to step into the politic of Jesus. It's a politic of radical love. It's a politic of liberation for the oppressed and disenfranchised. It's a politic that expects the wealthiest to sell what they have to give to the poor. It's a politic that melts the power differentials between people and exposes empire for the sham that it is.

Listen to how Jesus' launches his ministry:

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to set free those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:17-20, NRSVUE)

My hope will forever be that those that claim Jesus will step into his shoes, embrace his politic, his keen awareness of social issues and work towards real transformation in the world around us no matter what the Southern Baptists down the street might say.