{"id":38079,"date":"2024-09-01T22:06:15","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T05:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38079"},"modified":"2024-09-01T22:06:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T05:06:15","slug":"loving-our-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/loving-our-neighbor\/","title":{"rendered":"Loving our neighbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesus and the Powers<\/em> by Tom Wright and Michael F. Bird was not at all what I expected but was a delight to read. Readers journey through the history of God\u2019s people who have nearly always lived under or at least nearby imperial rulers and then dive into the Biblical mandate to bear public witness to and build for God\u2019s Kingdom. Wright and Bird round out their arguments by laying out a case for \u201cliberal democracy and an ethos of confident pluralism.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Wright and Bird\u2019s arguments recalled several authors we\u2019ve previously read. The discussion of communism as \u201csimultaneously too Christian and not Christian enough\u201d[2]<\/a> reminded me of Karl Polyani\u2019s analysis.[3]<\/a> The chapter on submission and subversion[4]<\/a> dovetailed with Mark Livecchi\u2019s perspective on Just War and the role of faith in armed conflict.[5]<\/a> Most of all, Wright and Bird\u2019s assertion that a liberal democracy \u201cmust be rooted in some kind of consensus\u2026about the nature of justice or a shared understanding of the common good\u201d[6]<\/a> had me re-reading several of our cohort\u2019s blogs about Fukuyama and Identity Politics.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

This book even reflects some of what Jim Wallis, whom we will meet in Washington D.C., discussed when he talked about the church\u2019s role as a prophetic voice and a Kingdom vision of politics that prioritizes the flourishing of all people.[8]<\/a> But what\u2019s the point of mentioning this diverse collection of thinkers? I aim to show that Jesus and the Powers<\/em> goes deep and wide, covering the topic thoroughly and deeply. That said, the bit that caught my attention was the juxtaposition of Jesus\u2019 command to love one\u2019s neighbor and the concept of \u201cconfident pluralism\u201d as the authors name it.<\/p>\n

In the context of explaining a Christian justification for liberalism, Wright and Bird say, \u201cIn order to love our neighbour, we must allow our neighbour to be beside us and yet be different from us. Our neighbour has permission to be \u2018other\u2019 than us.\u201d[9]<\/a> This is an interesting take on the parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37. I appreciate its modern sensibility. Most of us are unlikely to stumble upon someone who has been attacked and left for dead by the side of the road, as the Samaritan was in the original story. But you might, like me, live or work side-by-side with people who embrace an ideology that, given our current social climate, makes loving them rather difficult. I needed to hear this challenge from Wright and Bird: \u201cThat requires us permitting and even celebrating the freedom of others to find happiness, fulfilment, flourishing, purpose and meaning in ways that we might disagree with or disapprove of.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

As with many aspects of the Christian faith, there is a tension here. Wright and Bird are not saying that we should not discuss these differences, like giving in to a form of self-cancelling. To the contrary, a cornerstone of the authors\u2019 argument is that Christians have a prophetic role to speak truth and stand up for justice.[11]<\/a> Rather, confident pluralism means \u201cthat people have a right to be different, to think differently, to live differently, to worship differently, without fear of reprisal.\u201d[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a second tension that must be addressed here. Wright and Bird do not neglect to say there are some reasonable limits to pluralism, and it is a liberal democracy\u2019s task to sort those out. The examples they give as not-to-be-tolerated diversity include female genital mutilation, polygamy and racial discrimination.[13]<\/a> Despite these (and probably other) tensions inherent in the conversation, the authors argue that liberal democracy and the concept of confident pluralism offers \u201cthe best opportunity to love God and to love our neighbour.\u201d[14]<\/a> As I reflect on my contribution to building for<\/em> the Kingdom of God, I want to learn more about and lean into confident pluralism as a way to love my neighbor.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. London: SPCK Publishing, 2024. 178.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 127.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Karl Polanyi. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/em>. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. London: SPCK Publishing, 2024. 121.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Marc LiVecche, The Good Kill: Just War and Moral Injury<\/em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021)<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. London: SPCK Publishing, 2024. 155.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Francis Fukuyama, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. <\/em><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Wallis, Jim. God\u2019s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn\u2019t Get It<\/em>. New York: Harper San Francisco, 2008.Ch. 7.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. London: SPCK Publishing, 2024. 159.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 160.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid., 64.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Ibid., 171.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid., 173.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid., 178.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jesus and the Powers by Tom Wright and Michael F. Bird was not at all what I expected but was a delight to read. Readers journey through the history of God\u2019s people who have nearly always lived under or at least nearby imperial rulers and then dive into the Biblical mandate to bear public witness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2489,3210],"class_list":["post-38079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02","tag-wright","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38080,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38079\/revisions\/38080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}