{"id":38114,"date":"2024-09-03T09:12:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:12:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38114"},"modified":"2024-09-03T09:12:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-03T16:12:27","slug":"that-old-rugged-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/that-old-rugged-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"That Old Rugged Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"

The gospels portray the life of Jesus, demonstrating to society the kingdom of heaven was upon them. He was ushering in a new way of thinking about religious and political structures. The full power of the kingdom was displayed \u201con an ancient hill called Golgotha, just outside the old city of Jerusalem, where once stood a Roman cross with the limp body of a Jewish man.\u201d[1]<\/a> The power of man-made structures pale in comparison to the power of the kingdom with Jesus\u2019 defeat over death and subsequent resurrection. N.T. Wright and Michael Bird\u2019s new book put man-made power structures in their rightful place.<\/p>\n

Honestly, this book, Jesus and the Powers,<\/em> went deeper than I expected as the authors addressed different political ideologies and expressed a preference for their own. Often, Christian leaders seem timid, and I appreciated their candor and willingness to call out the false ideologies of both the far right and far left. There is not space to cover all the different topics raised in this book such as Christian Nationalism or synthesizing Jesus\u2019 view of kingdom with the current conflict in Israel. Instead, this blog will focus on two issues raised: the political realities Jesus lived in and the idea of democratic pluralism.<\/p>\n

Political realities of Jesus\u2019 life<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus was born into an empire that boasted Pax Romana,<\/em> as it claimed to be spreading peace on earth. Meanwhile, Jesus, was ushering in true peace (Luke 2) even though he lived in a marginalized community amid Roman power. Wright and Bird state, “Jesus grew up in the immediate aftermath of the failed Galilean rebellions where the physical signs and traumatic memories of Roman imperial violence, including crucifixions, were everywhere.”[2]<\/a> There was a constant reminder that power structures controlled much of Jesus\u2019 life, from the location of his birth to the location of his death. Yet, Jesus was ushering a new kingdom, a heavenly kingdom that was about to topple this earthly structure.<\/p>\n

In an essay on Paul\u2019s gospel Wright quips, \u201cJesus is the reality, Caesar the parody.\u201d[3]<\/a> In a book, Jesus and Empire, <\/em>author Richard Horsley argues that terminology Paul used demonstrates how politically apt Jesus was. He writes, \u201cBy applying this key imperial language to Jesus Christ, Paul was making him into the alternative or real emperor of the world, the head of an anti-imperial international alternative society.\u201d[4]<\/a> To say that Jesus was bringing peace on earth was to say that Pax Romana<\/em> was not. While Jesus was navigating the earthly power structures of temple politics and Roman Imperial rule, he was unveiling \u201cGod’s true kingdom, the true empire. It stands to all other empires, Caesar’s included.\u201d[5]<\/a> This true kingdom is a kingdom where the poor get a seat at the heavenly banquet. It is where justice and righteousness prevail. It is where the realities of the cross powerfully change people\u2019s lives as they seek after Jesus.<\/p>\n

Democratic Pluralism<\/em><\/p>\n

Recently, a local pastor and I were discussing our local school system. While my kids attend the local public schools, his attend private schools and are homeschooled. There is an ongoing public discussion of which holidays our schools should recognize. He whined about how \u201cthey even want Eid to be a holiday!\u201d I was a bit shocked at his statement as this mission\u2019s pastor does not even have kids in the local school system. So, I challenged him by asking if we should only have Christian and secular holidays? Why should we have Christmas off and the large Islamic population in our area not have the holiday of Eid off?<\/p>\n

I certainly do not suggest that I have all the answers for our school system, but Jesus and the Powers <\/em>calls for a democratic pluralist approach to the politics of our day. “Confident Pluralism has a very simple premise, namely, that people have the right to be different, to think differently, to live differently, to worship differently, without fear of reprisal.”[6]<\/a> Are we, as Christians, afraid to recognize the holiday of Eid because it makes us feel like we support Islamic beliefs? Are we afraid that if our schools have an Islamic holiday, it somehow makes us Muslim?<\/p>\n

Allowing for a multitude of ideas and ideologies into society is certainly tough. There will be growing pains as we learn to navigate different perspectives. Opposing views means there is disagreement and that makes most people uncomfortable. However, it is in the plurality of viewpoints that Christianity can take deep root and flourish.<\/p>\n

In a society of plurality, Christianity can stand as a stark contrast to the religions of this world. Wright and Bird state, “In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crisis, Jesus is King, and Jesus’ kingdom remains the object of the Church’s witness and work.”[7]<\/a> It is the people of God who get to work on building for the kingdom.[8]<\/a> This means that the work of the kingdom-centered Christian is to point society to the cross. For it was on the cross that the kingdom demonstrated its true power over the false power structures of our day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Adam Cheney, \u201cJust Outside the City Walls,\u201d August 28, 2024, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/just-outside-the-city-walls\/.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 19.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> N.T. Wright, \u201cPaul\u2019s Gospel and Caesar\u2019s Empire,\u201d Center of Theological Inquiry<\/em>, 2007, 6.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Richard A. Horsley, Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder<\/em>, Kindle (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003). Kindle location 1720.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Wright, \u201cPaul\u2019s Gospel and Caesar\u2019s Empire,\u201d 10.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Wright and Bird, Jesus and the Powers<\/em>, 171.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Wright and Bird, xiii.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Wright and Bird, 176.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The gospels portray the life of Jesus, demonstrating to society the kingdom of heaven was upon them. He was ushering in a new way of thinking about religious and political structures. The full power of the kingdom was displayed \u201con an ancient hill called Golgotha, just outside the old city of Jerusalem, where once stood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"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":[1],"tags":[3249],"class_list":["post-38114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-wright-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38114","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\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39836,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38114\/revisions\/39836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}