Part 6 (1/2)
Several years ago, I had just ended the closing prayer for our church services when a middle-aged woman approached me. She was wearing a tattered, stained, dirty dress that hung like a loose tent over her morbidly obese body. Her hair was greasy and stringy. She reeked of cigarettes, was missing a front tooth, and her breath was so foul I had to discreetly lean back as she spoke to me. Her grammar was poor and her thought patterns-insofar as I could understand them-were simple. For several minutes she incoherently rambled on about a number of things, seemingly oblivious to the line of people behind her who also wanted to speak with me. My several attempts to help her get to her point, if she had one, fell on deaf ears.
At some point I recognized a person in the line that had formed behind this woman to be the well-known president of a very important and influential ministry. I wanted to meet this man badly, especially since I had an idea about how my church could partner with his ministry. But this lady just kept going on and on! I tried to draw her attention to the fact that there was a line of people waiting behind her, but this seemed not to concern her in the least. I eventually interrupted the woman and told her I had to move on to talk to others, but she simply ignored me and kept talking.
The line began to thin out as people grew tired of waiting, and my own impatience started to turn to anger. I was just about to decide to simply ignore this lady and begin talking to the ministry president who was at this point next in line when, for whatever reason, I suddenly recalled Jesus' teaching that the way we treat ”the least of these” is the way we treat him him. This was immediately followed by a still small voice that whispered, ”This lady is my precious daughter and radiant bride. Treat her like the Queen she is.”
I instantly realized I'd bought into the cultural lie that people who look, smell, and talk like this lady are less important than people like the president of an influential ministry.
I privately repented of my cla.s.s judgment and gave the woman my full attention while praying blessings over her in my mind. Whether my blessing prayers helped or whether this lady just ran out of things to talk about, she suddenly got to her point. She wanted money for gas to get home from church.
When I finally managed to speak with the ministry president, far from being fl.u.s.tered from having to wait so long, he was impressed I gave this lady so much time and attention. I explained to him that what looked like virtuous behavior was actually the result of a divine chastis.e.m.e.nt. When the few folks who remained had been spoken to, I took the Queen and her two kids to a gas station and then out to eat at a local restaurant.
Why did I instinctively judge this woman as being less important than the ministry president? It was because I put her in a different cla.s.s than the president. I literally cla.s.s cla.s.s-ified her. In doing this, I failed to carry out my central Kingdom duty of manifesting the truth that this woman has unsurpa.s.sable worth, for she was worth Jesus' dying for. In my cla.s.s-ification, this daughter of the King wasn't even worth the same as the ministry president. The truth of who she was got suppressed in my cla.s.s judgment.
Of course, we who live in American claim to believe that ”all people are created equal.” America is supposedly ”the land of equal opportunity.” So we often pretend we don't cla.s.s-ify people. In fact, we have a long tradition of looking down on societies in which people are born into fixed cla.s.ses, with some destined from birth to reign as royalty and others to be their servants. But our judgment is somewhat hypocritical, for the fact is that we who live in America have our own cla.s.s system. We're just less honest about it. Our judgments are so embedded in our usual way of looking at the world that we tend to not even notice them.
WHICH LADY DO YOU NOTICE?.
Several years ago the ABC news show 20/20 20/20 reported on a sociological study of how perceived beauty affects the ways in which women are treated. The researchers placed two women in a crowded train station at the bottom of a long staircase with a large suitcase. Taking turns, each woman was to act like they were struggling to pull the suitcase up the stairs. The goal was to see how frequently people-especially men-offered to help each woman. The first woman was by customary Western social standards pretty and s.e.xy while the second was average-looking and somewhat overweight. reported on a sociological study of how perceived beauty affects the ways in which women are treated. The researchers placed two women in a crowded train station at the bottom of a long staircase with a large suitcase. Taking turns, each woman was to act like they were struggling to pull the suitcase up the stairs. The goal was to see how frequently people-especially men-offered to help each woman. The first woman was by customary Western social standards pretty and s.e.xy while the second was average-looking and somewhat overweight.
It took the pretty woman only a couple of seconds before a man offered to help her. It took the average-looking woman several minutes. It was painful to watch. The test was repeated many times, always with the same results. On top of this, the researchers measured the amount of eye contact and verbal exchanges made between the women and their helpers. Not surprisingly, the attention given to the average-looking overweight woman was a small fraction of the attention given to the pretty, s.e.xy woman-and not just by men.
What was even more amazing, however, was that all the helpers of the pretty woman were interviewed as soon as they completed their task and, without exception, each one claimed their decision to help had nothing to do with how this woman looked. They also interviewed a number of people who walked past the average- looking woman struggling to get the suitcase up the stairs, and, without exception, the people claimed they simply didn't notice her.
We tend to be unaware of the ways we instinctively cla.s.s-ify people.
HOW HE LIVED AND HOW HE DIED.
While it's undeniable that we're socially conditioned to cla.s.s-ify people, this doesn't mean we're fated fated to do so. There is another, more beautiful, way of living and relating to people. It's the way of Jesus. to do so. There is another, more beautiful, way of living and relating to people. It's the way of Jesus.
Jesus manifested the beauty of what it looks like when G.o.d reigns in one's life by revolting against all of society's cla.s.s judgments. He didn't do this by playing politics or by trying to get Caesar to make society fairer. He rather revolted against cla.s.sism and warred against the Powers that fuel it by how he lived and by how he died.
In first-century Jewish culture, disabled people were often seen as being cursed by G.o.d and were therefore often treated as misfits and outcasts. Most had to survive by begging on the street. People with skin diseases were considered unclean and untouchable. Condemned criminals and impoverished people were generally looked down upon as sc.u.mbags. Certain kinds of sinners were deemed to const.i.tute an untouchable cla.s.s. Women were on the whole considered second-cla.s.s citizens and were generally viewed as property owned by men.
Jesus revolted against this cla.s.sism by touching lepers, healing the sick, treating beggars as equals, treating women with respect, identifying with the poor, and befriending those judged as the worst sinners. In fact, Jesus taught his followers that how they treat these sorts of people is how they treat him (Matthew 25:35 36, 42 43). In he end, Jesus ascribed unsurpa.s.sable worth to each and every one of these marginalized people by giving his life for them.
In living and dying this way, Jesus revolted against every social judgment that oppresses people and revolted against the Powers that fuel this oppression. We who have committed ourselves to following Jesus are commissioned and empowered to do the same.
PROCLAIMING THE YEAR OF JUBILEE.
To appreciate how central abolis.h.i.+ng cla.s.s distinctions was to the ministry of Jesus, we need only examine the sermon that launched his ministry. In Luke 4, we find Jesus visiting his hometown synagogue. At one point Jesus stood up and read from Isaiah 61.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
Jesus then shocked his fellow towns people by announcing, ”Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Most scholars agree this pa.s.sage refers to the ”year of Jubilee” in the Old Testament. Every fifty years all debts were to be cancelled, all land lost through indebtedness was to be restored, and all slaves and prisoners were to be set free. It was, in short, a year in which all inequalities, and thus all cla.s.s distinctions, were to be abolished.
This was obviously good news to lower cla.s.s folks-the poor, the enslaved, the lame, the imprisoned, and the oppressed-but bad news to upper cla.s.s folks who benefited from these social inequalities. It's not too surprising that we have no historical record of this divine command ever being obeyed in ancient Israel.
In this inaugural address, Jesus presented himself as the bringer of this ”year of Jubilee.” He clearly interpreted the ”year” figuratively as referring to the new epoch he was inaugurating with his ministry. He announced that the revolution he came to unleash would be centered on erasing all debts and reversing all cla.s.s judgments. This is why Jesus taught his followers to not expect repayment when we lend to others, even our enemies. It's why he taught that we're to offer thieves who stole from us more than they took. We're to live in ”the year of Jubilee” and, as ludicrous and impractical as it may appear, this is what it looks like.
In the Kingdom, all cla.s.s judgments are to be erased. We're to make no distinction between rich and poor, male or female, Jew or Gentile, free or slave, good citizen or criminal, able-bodied person or disabled person, holy or unholy. Our lives are to manifest the truth that where G.o.d reigns, all cla.s.s-ifications that a.s.sign people pre-established social values are rendered null and void. Where G.o.d reigns, people are to be defined solely by what G.o.d did for them by dying on Calvary, not by their social cla.s.s.
Luke goes on to tell us that the towns people were both amazed at Jesus' ”gracious words” and understandably surprised that he applied this teaching to himself. ”Isn't this Joseph's son?” they wondered. But then they turned against him-to the point where they wanted him dead.
A closer look at the pa.s.sage reveals why this happened, and it tells us a great deal about the cla.s.sless Kingdom Jesus came to establish. Two points are worth mentioning.
AN EPOCH FREE OF JUDGMENT.
First, it's significant that Jesus stopped reading and put the scroll down right after he read ”the year of the Lord's favor.” Had he read the very next line in Isaiah, he would have added ”and the day of vengeance of our G.o.d.” This omission wouldn't have gone unnoticed by his first-century Jewish audience, and it undoubtedly contributed to their offense.
Most first-century Jews were looking for a Messiah who would reveal ”the Lord's favor” toward them them but also bring vengeance on their but also bring vengeance on their enemies enemies. In fact, the vengeance they expected G.o.d to bring on their enemies was a central aspect of the favor they expected the Lord to show them. Their good news was centered on the bad news they antic.i.p.ated for their enemies. For them, therefore, the punch line of the Isaiah pa.s.sage was ”the day of vengeance of our G.o.d.” Jesus left this punch line out!
His refusal to apply this clause to describe his own ministry reveals that Jesus didn't view his coming or the movement he came to establish as having anything to do with divine judgment.
Whatever G.o.d will do at the end of the age, in this present Jubilee epoch G.o.d's favor is toward everyone everyone-even toward the enemies of those who consider themselves G.o.d's favored people. In this present ”year of Jubilee,” G.o.d's reign is marked by unconditional acceptance and favor, not rejection and vengeance. In this year of the Lord's favor, all social distinctions, including the fundamental distinction between friends and enemies, are to be abolished.
This isn't what people who are heavily invested in seeing themselves as exclusively favored by G.o.d and seeing their enemies judged want to hear.
THE INSIDE-OUTSIDE REVERSAL.
Second, Jesus went on to remind his audience of the story of Elijah feeding and healing the son of the pagan widow in Sidon as well as the remarkable story of Elijah healing the leprous military captain of the Syrian army-at a time when Israel and Syria were at war with each other.
Why did Jesus bring up these stories at this point? It's because both stories provide examples of G.o.d's prophets bypa.s.sing Israelites to minister to outsiders and ”enemies.” In telling these stories Jesus was suggesting that the Good News he's bringing would tend to bypa.s.s those who consider themselves insiders and would instead be brought to those whom these people considered outsiders and enemies. In other words, those who consider themselves exclusive insiders will tend to become outsiders, while those who have always been judged as outsiders will tend to become insiders.
The only people excluded from the blessedness of this all-inclusive epoch of divine favor are those who insist that their enemies must be excluded.
The theme of an inside-outside reversal brought about by the year of Jubilee runs throughout Jesus' ministry. As the Kingdom is manifested in the world, Jesus repeatedly taught, the first will be last and the last will be first. The exalted will be brought low, and the lowly will be exalted. The blessed will mourn, and those who mourn will be blessed. The outcasts will feast at the banquet, while the originally invited guests will become outcasts. The sinful tax collector who won't even lift his head to heaven will be justified while the righteous Pharisee who prays and fasts will not. The socially disdained prost.i.tutes and tax collectors will get into heaven before the socially respectable religious leaders. And many who thought they did great things for Jesus will find themselves cast out, while many who didn't know they were doing great things for Jesus will be brought in.
It's important for us to notice that these reversal-teachings are not primarily about what will happen at the end of the age when G.o.d judges all humans. Too often Christians have inoculated themselves from the radical implications of Jesus' teachings by making them about what G.o.d will do in the future instead of how we're to live in the present in the present. The truth is that Jesus' teachings and example are primarily about bringing G.o.d's will ”on earth as it is in heaven” in the lives of his followers here and now here and now. We're now living in the year of Jubilee, so all cla.s.s distinctions are to be abolished in the community of G.o.d's people now now.
True, human society won't be completely free of its fallen ways of cla.s.s-ifying people until the end of the age when Christ returns and the Powers are fully defeated. But our job is to revolt against these oppressive categories now and to put on display ahead of time the beauty of G.o.d's coming Kingdom.
RELIGIOUS CLa.s.s AND THE CLa.s.sLESS TRIBE.
Let's begin to bring this home by asking: To what extent is the Western church today living out the year of Jubilee inaugurated by Jesus Christ? To what extent are we manifesting the truth that ”in Christ” there is no longer any male or female, Jew or Gentile, free person or slave? To what extent is the Church an all-inclusive, cla.s.sless tribe of Kingdom people?
We should first celebrate the fact that there are an increasing number of beautiful Jubilee communities springing up in Western countries, including America. If you attend the Dream Center in Los Angeles, for example, you'll find a marvelous countercultural mix of people. You'll see people who would by normal social standards be seen as ”upper cla.s.s” in community with people who by these same standards would be considered ”lower cla.s.s.” You'll find wealthy people fellows.h.i.+pping (and sharing) with poor people. You'll find a community in which people with disabilities are not only being accommodated but also embraced and set free in ministry. You'll find a ministry in which criminals are being visited in prison and then cared for and transformed once they're released. You'll find an environment where struggling prost.i.tutes, drug addicts, s.e.x addicts, and others are considered no different from struggling greedy people, gossipers, gluttons, and self-righteous religious people.
There are, thankfully, many such Jubilee-looking ministries springing up around the world.
At the same time, if we're honest, we have to admit that the Western church as a whole still has a long way to go. It's my impression, at least, that we Christians in America tend to cla.s.s-ify people at least as much as the broader American culture.
The majority of American churches are as segregated along socioeconomic lines as much as they are along racial lines. Relatively few churches make any effort to welcome, embrace, and equip for ministry people with disabilities. So too, comparatively few Western Christians treat their finances with the reckless abandon required by Jubilee living. We don't generally live as though all debts and obligations owed us have been erased.
Not only this, but in many churches the elderly and prisoners tend to be neglected, despite specific biblical commands to care for them. Many churches continue to restrict the role of women in ministry, as though it was G.o.d's timeless will that women remain within the patriarchal constraints of the first century. The majority of evangelical churches continue to rank people with certain types of sins as further from the Kingdom than people with ”more acceptable sins” (like the good, all-American sins of greed, gluttony, and judgmentalism). And a good percentage of American Christians seem to hate their enemies, especially their national and religious enemies, at least as much as other Americans tend to hate them.