Square Mile

Did Jesus have a political message? This is a question many Christians have asked as they have sought to understand what Christian engagement with society should look like. The danger for us is that in an effort to avoid the broader political implications of his Kingship we reduce His Lordship to the private and personal dimensions of our lives. Yet it would seem that the people of Jesus' day understood clearly the wider ramifications of his claims. In John 19:12, the Jews shout at Jesus, "Anyone who claims to be a King opposes Caesar," and the crime that was nailed to his cross was just that: "The King of the Jews". By the very nature of who he was and what he claimed, Jesus then had a political message. As Lord of All, all earthly powers and structures were subordinate to Him.

He was of course concerned with individual sin, calling people to the highest standards of living, morality and integrity. But he was also deeply concerned with evil and unjust social systems – systems that for example ignored the poor and the widow, that didn't honour women or said that one race was more important than another. Many of these systems still exist around the world today. This concern for unjust social systems didn't just begin with Jesus. Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets call people to seek justice and fairness. In Isaiah 10 he warns those that don't do so: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people." Ezekiel 16:49 says much the same and in the process gives us a different spin on the sin of Sodom: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."

Through the prophets, God promised that a Messiah would come to usher in the Kingdom of God. Jesus declared that in him that promise was being realised: "The time has come, he said, the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15). This Kingdom, though, will not be fully realised until Jesus comes again, to complete the work he has begun. In the meantime, our task is to continue the work that Jesus has begun by being his collaborators in the great Kingdom project of transforming society. Ronald Sider puts it this way, "So we work for better political and economic systems, knowing that sin precludes an earthly utopia now." How might we work for this? It could be by campaigning, writing to an MP, getting involved in local educational, civil or health structures, buying fair trade products, seeking just systems in our own places of work or educating others. Sider goes on to say, "In this already / not yet period, perfection is not possible but vastly more improvement than we usually dare to hope for is possible."

All of this means that we can't shy away from what is going on in our society. In every community there will no doubt be things that are good and some that are bad. We can affirm the good, but at the same time we cannot ignore what is wrong – and this means speaking out on every issue that is wrong, not just one or two 'hot topics.' We cannot force God's standards on people and we know that in this world, there will always be imperfections. But as Sider puts it, through the power of the Holy Spirit, vastly more improvement than we usually dare to hope for, is possible.

Written by Dr Justin Thacker, Head of Theology & Susannah Clark, Public Theology Researcher