Jesus & Political Justice : Then and Now

Jesus & Political Justice: Then & Now

http://www.petitiononline.com/j4bhmacc/petition.html

The Malaysian Church can no longer ignore the political situation in the country

Political justice has to be a part of the Church’s conversation, preaching and vocation (somehow)

4 political ‘paradigms’ during Jesus’ time There were (at least)

#1 The Withdrawers

Qumran Community / Essenes
Focus: Purity, separation, complete withdrawal
Victims: Leave the country! Forget politics!
Good: Holy and set apart
Bad: Totally disengaged and thus irrelevant to the world
Not a threat to the status quo

#2 The Assimilators

Sadducees
Focus: assimilation and accommodation
Victims: Join the government, profit from those in power
Good: Works well with the world and within the system
Bad: Selfish and helps perpetuate injustice

#3 The Fault-Finders

Pharisees
Focus: other people’s faults(!), distinguishing between ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’,
Victims: “I-told-you-so”, “You-should-have-…”, “Your-mistake-was…”
Good: Well-informed and very critical of all parties (except themselves!)
Bad: Creates burdens for people, de-contextualised ‘solutions’,

“ Life is like a forensic lab…”

Modern-day Pharisees?

#4 The Revolutionaries

Zealots
Focus: revolution, violence
Victims: Overthrow the government by force (other means are a waste of time!)
Strongly opposed to injustice, courageous and action-oriented
Bad: Perpetuates ‘violence’ and ‘hatred’, equates worldly justice with divine justice
Threatens status quo

Into the midst of these four worldviews…

WITHDRAWERS REVOLUTIONARIES ASSIMILATORS FAULT-FINDERS “ Behold I make all things new” (Rev 21)

Jesus
Focus: aggressive kindness and love (for all ), self-sacrifice, all-out giving,
Victims: Liberation of the heart, really good news, compassion, hope, peace, joy, promise of resurrection
Oppressors: Sacrifice, radical listening / friendship, forgiveness
Everyone: A New Way of Being Human
A quiet but real threat to the status quo!

Comparing Jesus…
and Qumran? Set apart in order to serve and love the world
and Pharisees? Self -critical (no clear line between good and bad guys) and sensitive to dehumanization
and Sadducees? Holds out hope, forgiveness and reconciliation even for the oppressor
and Zealots? Displays radical and aggressive kindness and love, plots ‘revolutions of mercy’

What about Malaysia? 1957 to late 1980s’
Qumranic (separation)
Sadducean (accommodation)
1980s’ to 2000-ish
Pharisaic (criticism)
2000 onwards
Zealous (revolution)
When shall we enter the Jesus phase?

One final thing…

Bank Name CIMB Bank Berhad Account Number 04120000333528 Account Name Teoh Leong Hwee & Teng Shuw Hoi

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Jesus & Political Justice : Then and Now

by Alwyn Lau on Jul 27, 2009

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Jesus & Political Justice : Then and Now — Presentation Transcript