"Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, 'It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer:' 'but you are making it a den of robbers'" (NRSV Matthew 21:12).
Over the course of the last couple of weeks our bible study class has expanded into two different groups. There is the Sunday morning, 9:30am group - that has been with me since the beginning, and now a Wednesday, 6:30pm group. My 9:30am group is considered my advanced class. We'll see how long it takes for the Wednesday night crew to show up on Sunday morning. I understand for many, Sunday morning at 9:30am might be a little rough, but stay tuned, let's "see what colors Shug Avery g'on put on the wall this time."
As you know we are exploring the life and times of Jesus the Nazarene. The man, Christians have built their entire faith upon. It has been an interesting journey to say the least. Initially, many in the second group found the class a bit overwhelming and, of course, threatening. Many felt their faith was being called into question. Some became disillusioned, and still others are waiting for the seven demons to come out of me. It's like they're scared to be in the room with me, but they don't want to miss the drama! And then there are my inquisitive, critical thinkers - whose life and faith walk has landed them in a space and place where suddenly a light bulb has gone off and they're beginning to see clearer. I now understand more than ever what it is to teach and preach and to be there at the "a ha!" moment. That's Good News! With that, I come to this post. "WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?"
I'm sure most of you think this cute little phrase just showed up in the mid 1990s, but nooo, remember, "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The same is true for this. In 1896, Charles Sheldon penned a book entitled, In His Steps; What Would Jesus Do? The book was based primarily upon Jesus being a "moral" example to follow, as opposed to the pie in the sky Saviour. It really is interesting and quite frankly, rather comical to know that many Christians are walking around with this bracelet, or wearing t-shirts with the acronym on it without knowing that it is based upon "Christian Socialism." That is, the ethos (spirit, ideology) of it is rooted in a left of center Christianity and a politically socialist approach. It is what scholars and progressive Christians define as a "Social Gospel" - applying our moral resources to issues of justice and human rights on a daily basis. How then do we, progressive Christians, answer the question, "What Would Jesus Do?" We have to first get a decent understanding of the WHO he was, and FROM whence he came.
The scriptures tell us, he was Jewish, the son of a carpenter and a virgin mother, Mary - ;) ;). He may or may not have been married, hung out with a rag-tag gang of social misfits, and his ministry of compassion and inclusion lasted for about a year. Not only was he said to be of God, but God indeed. From the outset of his ministry, he presented himself in a way that has been characterized as the imitatio dei (imitation of God), one that reflected the imago dei (image of God) by living and being an example for others to follow. At every turn he challenged the social orders and political structures under which he lived. He challenged his contemporary religious traditions, practices, and beliefs - those traditions that were based upon the purity system. A system Marcus Borg points out as based upon social boundaries that separated persons between "pure and impure, righteous and sinner, whole and not whole, male and female, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile." Jesus, the imitatio dei, on the other hand, introduced a conflicting system, an alternative system - God's system - that is based upon compassion - where there are no social boundaries. Jesus' association and relationship with the outcast of the community, the impure (women, the poor, the physically maimed, those afflicted with illnesses and disease, the homeless, etc.) was a radical departure from the purity system. Essentially, he was replacing the purity system of separation with God's system of compassion.
Our present day purity system is made up of the same types of powers and principalities. We see and hear from the people who have established today's social boundaries based upon a tradition passed down to them by others who benefited from the same system. We, too, are placed in social categories with varying degrees of purity (acceptable, righteous, "normal") that separate and divide us. We are separated by race, gender, religion, economics and sexuality. And each of those are further broken down into even more varying degrees of purity. We, African American people, well hell, most of us for that matter, received our information about Jesus from our oppressors - those who enslaved our ancestors or from those of the dominant group. Certainly, we know, and if we don't, we ought to know, that what we received was an indoctrination and not an education. It was one that would not lead to a theology of liberation and compassion, but one that would lead to a theology of bondage and obtuse subjects. It would work against it's very nature and thus facilitate its own demise. Therefore, like the purity system faced by Jesus, we, too are faced with our own purity system and like Jesus, we, too, must take a stand.
As it was and as it is still the case today, that system is threatened by the MAN and his message. It also explains why this Jesus - this imitatio dei - this Jesus of compassion - this Jesus of equality - this Jesus of inclusion - the Jesus that called the religious leaders of his day "unmarked graves" for their focus on and preoccupation with money over and against justice - is not the Jesus being preached about or talked about in most mini and mega-churches today.
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO about the church's response to the growing rate of illiteracy of our children? About women being treated as second class citizens, raped, abused, and denied access to pulpits? About the elderly? About the poor? About homelessness? About people living with HIV/AIDS? About same-and-both-gender loving people? About our silence when our transgender brothers and sisters are beaten and killed like dogs in the street? About ego driven declarations of war? When confronted with social issues of his day, and the temple/church's response to them, it was recorded, that he "entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, 'It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer:' 'but you are making it a den of robbers'" (Matthew 21:12). Um hmph... You guessed it. I gotta get with this thang according to the black woman's cotton patch version and answer the question; WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? this way;
"Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roof off the mother sucker
Tear the roof off the sucker
Tear the roof off, we're gonna tear the roof off the mother sucker
Tear the roof off the sucker...
We're gonna turn this mother out
We're gonna turn this mother out"
We're gonna turn this mother out
We're gonna turn this mother out"
(Parliament)
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010
THEOLOGIA HABITUS EST!
