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#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#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• Not a threat to the status quo

#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’,

• Not a threat to the status quo

“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 NameCIMB Bank Berhad

Account Number04120000333528

Account NameTeoh Leong Hwee & Teng Shuw Hoi