Warrior Jesus

I've been reading a book called Everything Must Change by Brian McClaren. In it, he talks about how we must begin to deconstruct our conventional ideas about Jesus and Christianity and begin to ask the question, "Can Jesus message change the world?" Is his message strictly a spiritual one that only deals with our spirituality and what happens after we die....salvation of our souls? Or does his message not only spiritual, but political, social environmental, economical....salvation of mankind and everything that goes along with it. After all for the Ancient Jews (including Jesus) there was no word for spiritual because it was understood that EVERYTHING was spiritual. So then, does Jesus message apply to all of life and apply to it now?

If we're honest with ourselves we have to admit life would be, and is, rather boring if we believe and act as though Jesus came only to save souls for the afterlife and until then while we're here on this wretched earth we're just supposed to be good little boys and girls and be nice to people hoping that they'll see our niceness and maybe want to follow Jesus too. Isn't there something more? Wouldn't it take more faith to believe in Jesus' teachings about the poor and oppressed, peace, love, justice, acceptance, diversity, forgiveness, grace, mercy, reconciliation, and hope were all tools in providing us with a way to live a better life here and now that's not of this world. The way of this world is all about greed, selfish ambition, exploitation, vengeance, hate, war, separation, bitterness, racism, and injustice.

Wouldn't that be something? I mean, if Jesus actually meant what he said? That "the Kingdom of God was at hand." I mean that's "Good News" for everyone. Jesus is coming and saying to us, "Hey guys! There's a better way to live! It's not like the way of this world that you're used to. And you can live that new way now! It's here and it's for the taking if you just believe in what I say and show you!" This is a way that if lived out by all his followers could actually bring heaven to earth…could actually change the world and make it the place He originally intended. Perhaps that's what Jesus meant when he told his disciples how to pray...."May Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Now I understand that there are a large number of Christians who would say, "well that sounds great and all, Ty, but this world is going to keep getting worse and worse and eventually it's all going to be destroyed when Jesus comes back and slaughters every human being that doesn't believe in him and destroy everything else he created (trees, flowers, birds, mountains, bluejays, panda bears, monkey’s, squirrels, all things that God made and said we're good back in Genesis) in the name of justice, thus bringing his reign of love, peace, hope and justice to this world. Jesus slaughtering people? God destroying the very earth he called good? Why would Jesus come back and completely defy EVERYTHING he taught us and showed us and made new by his message, life, cross, and resurection? Maybe this conventional idea of warrior Jesus is not only wrong, but ignorant and worthy or heresy. This view is taken mainly from one book of the Bible that has multiple different interpretations. ( if someone wants to research something interesting, read about ancient Jewish apocalyptic writing and read Revelations again and maybe you'll read it in a totally different way, they way those first hearers might have understood his "revelation") So why pick this one interpretation and base everything you believe about Jesus and life around it? This fatalistic view point of Jesus and the end of the world completely eradicates us from having any responsibility whatsoever of having to take Jesus seriously and using the tools he provided us with (one of which included his own spirit in us!) to bring heaven to earth. It's so much easier to spiritualize everything and make Jesus fit into our box and just worry about being saved from hell than it is to apply the message of Christ to everything in our life and work inside God's box (if he even has one?).

There have been people that have laughed at me for believing that Jesus could actually save the planet? Why is that so funny? Shouldn't that be what we desperately want? Shouldn't that be what following Jesus is all about? Working together to redeem humanity. I mean that would be life to the full (or as John would call it "eternal life" that starts now!) Is this not what God sent Jesus for? To be an ultimate sacrifice so that we can actually go before God and have relationship with him and work with Him to bring the chaos of this world back to what he meant it to be like thousands of years ago in Eden? Isn’t that what Paul meant when he called Jesus the new Adam or the new humanity?

There are also Christians who believe that the world will just keep getting better and better and then finally Jesus will decide it's time to come back and do the same thing i described above. This deterministic view also eradicates us of having any responsibility to do anything at all to follow the message of Jesus and His kingdom. Are things just going to magically get better? Or will it take some responsibility on our part?

Now I hesitate to put this next part in here because i haven't studied it enough or talked to enough people about it but it's just a thought so bear with me....

But, what if Jesus in his coming and teaching, his life, death, and resurrection provided all the tools necessary for Him to return but it wasn't in the way we've always thought. What if the holy spirit working through us and working through the church is his second body? What if, in essence, Jesus was already "back" like we want to think he will do in the future (and maybe he himself will actually come someday too, but it won't happen until we begin to establish his kingdom here), and ready to bring heaven to earth. What I mean by "Jesus" being back is twofold: Both Jesus in us and working through us and Jesus body as the Church. So we have an individual responsibility to let Christ live through us (no we are not perfect and Christ will not always shine through us but we can work to let him shine through us more!) And we have a corporate responsibility to work together to be the "body" of Christ as the apostle Paul puts it.

He gave us the tools we need, he even showed us how to do it. All that's left is for us to have the faith of a mustard seed to begin partner with him to live it out.


I understand that all of this raises more and more questions. Questions that may not have answers, but they are questions that you should ask yourself and that I should ask myself. Why do i believe what i believe about Jesus? Does what i believe about him line up with his message? Why does church do things this way or that way? why doesn't the church talk much about Jesus and his teachings but yet focus on strictly "spiritual" things that pertain to doctrine or the afterlife? Maybe these questions that i attempted to work through in this blog are futile and pointless and none of what I'm saying is possible? I'm just asking the question and giving it thought. It makes sense to me and it fits the Gospel and the character of God.

If you're interested in any further reading about this idea and others like it check out these books:

Everything Must Change: Brian McClaren
Velvit Elvis: Rob Bell
Myth of A Christian Nation: Greg Boyd
Irresistible Revolution: Shane Claiborn
The Secret Message of Jesus: Brian McClaren
The Politics of Jesus: Obery Hendricks
God's Politics: Jim Wallis
Jesus For President: Shane Claiborn