Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Jesus Creed

Home
Evangelical
We Must All (by Jason Micheli)

We Must All (by Jason Micheli)

Last updated on: July 1, 2018 at 9:05 am by Scot McKnight

We Must All (by Jason Micheli) 2018-06-29T08:51:50-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Jason Micheli

As Sarah Condon noted in a recent post at Mockingbird, pastors of late seem consumed with the question “Will my sermon be newsy enough this week?” Often, this concern is couched in the mandate for preachers to be prophetic. Thou Shalt Preach This Issue, Sarah rightly observed, is a law pastors have been laying on each other with increasing fervor since the election of Donald Trump to the White House, adding from our pulpits to the chorus of shoulds and ought available 24/7 on our social media newsfeeds and cable channels.

Make no mistake, there is a place for the prophetic in the Church’s worship life. Though, too many preachers seem to have forgotten that the prophetic in the Old Testament is a mantle thrust upon unhappy vessels against their own volition. It is not one happily taken up as a calling. Likewise, I fear that preachers on the left have made the same error as preachers on the right in confusing the Church with America, for the prophetic posture is most often directed today at the ‘Powers’ (the federal government) whereas the Hebrew prophets directed their godly ire at God’s own people and did so, more often than not, for the sin of idolatry of which injustice etc. were but symptoms. It’s true that the Hebrew prophets also prophesied against their leaders, but, again, Israel was a theocracy, made explicitly so by God.

I, for one, am uncomfortable with any use of the prophetic that relies upon the same construal of America as Israel as employed by that charlatan pastor in Texas whose choir sings ‘Make America Great Again’ in Sunday worship.

What seems to be missing, however, in the urgency to prophesy God’s judgement against galling abuses at the border and other issues is the humility that as Christians, we’re supposed to put ourselves first under God’s judgment.

As much as we’re called to be prophetic- indeed perhaps more so- Christians are called to place ourselves first before the rest of the world under God’s judgment.

Because we’re the only ones who know not to fear the Judge.

Christians like to say that every Sunday is a little Easter, but, every day—every day is Ash Wednesday, where we bear the judgment of God on behalf of a sinful world.

The Apostle Peter makes this point when he writes in his letter that “Judgment begins with the household of God.” The household to which Paul writes in Rome was divided against itself over issues of food and worship. It reads in Romans like an obscure, arcane issue, but wipe the dust off their dispute and you discover it’s really the same debate you see spun out all over social media, on CNN and Fox News, and across the front page of your newspaper (if you still trust them enough to read them).

It was a debate over politics and identity. It was an issue of “Us” vs. “Them.” The community in Paul’s Rome had split into factions, drawn lines, created competing tribes whose divisions had calloused and calcified into contempt. Sweep the dust off this argument and you see that the community in Paul’s Rome was no different than the community in the Rome we call America. Carnivores vs. Vegetarians. It’s different in form but not in function from Democrats vs. Republicans.

Meat-Eaters vs. Non-Meat-Eaters—it’s the same dynamic as Black vs. White, Conservative vs. Progressive, Racist vs. Righteous. Every time, in each instance—it’s like Pink Floyd said; it’s Us and Them.

And to them all, the Apostle Paul admonishes: “Do not judge…for we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of God.”

“Judgment begins with the household of God.”

Paul isn’t arguing that there are “many sides” to every issue.

Paul isn’t asserting that every possible practice or perspective is permissible.

Paul most certainly isn’t urging acceptance for acceptance’s sake or tolerance for tolerance’s sake.No, when Paul implores the Christians in Rome not to cast judgment, he’s instead instructing them to bear it.

To bear judgement.

Upon themselves.

When Paul reminds them that we will all stand before the judgement seat of God, he’s not warning them of coming condemnation. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Paul isn’t preaching fire and brimstone. Paul’s pointing to their baptisms. He’s reminding them of their calling, their commissioning. He’s exhorting them to imitate Christ.

We talk all the time about imitating Christ, about being his hands and feet, and doing the things Jesus did. Most of the time we’re talking about serving the poor, forgiving another, or speaking truth to power. But if the most decisive thing Jesus did was become a curse for us, taking on the burden of judgment for the guilty, then the primary way Christians imitate Christ is by bearing judgment on behalf of the guilty.

The primary way Christians imitate God-for-us is by bearing judgment for others.

Don’t you see—that’s how this is good news. It’s us. We’re the good news.

We’re the good news of God’s judgment. We’re the followers of Jesus Christ who, like Jesus Christ, mimic his willingness to bear the judgment of God on behalf of the guilty. We’re the good news in this word of God’s judgment.

In a world sin-sick with judging and judging and judging, indicting and scapegoating and recriminating and casting blame—we’re the good news God has made in the world.

Just as Jesus said, the first will be last and the last will be first.

We who are baptized and believing, we who are saved and sanctified- we who should be last under God’s judgement thrust ourselves to the front of the line and, like Jesus Christ, say “Me first.”

Rather than judging, we put ourselves before the Judgment Seat. Rather than condemning and critiquing, we confess. We bear judgment rather than cast it.

We listen to the guilty. We never stand self-righteously at a distance from them. We never forget that “there but for the grace of God” we’d be just like them, and that it is them, not us, them—the ungodly—for whom God died.

We bear judgement rather than cast it.

We confess: our own sinfulness and guilt, our own racism and violence and pettiness, our own apathy and infidelity and failures to follow.

Knowing that there have been plenty of times we’ve seen Jesus thirsty and not given him a drink, plenty of times we’ve seen Jesus an immigrant and not welcomed him.

Knowing that even when we have seen Jesus hungry and fed him that doesn’t change the fact that even our good deeds, our best deeds, are like rags, for not one of us, really, is righteous and there is no distinction, really, between any of us.

We bear judgment rather than cast it. Because we know we can come before God’s Judgment Seat expecting to hear the first words spoken when God came to us: “Do not be afraid.”

We’re the good news in this word of God’s judgment.

In other words, I would argue that as much as the Church might need prophetic voices in its midst it also needs voices willing to confess their own sins of racism and nativism. Bearing judgement upon ourselves, we’re more likely to see grace as available to the ungodly among us.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 1, 2018

Benedicta Ward about St Cuthbert

Next Post

July 2, 2018 The Final Triumph of Grace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Psalm is often read at funerals: "Even though I walk through the valley..."?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalm 137 Psalm 51 Psalm 23 Psalm 90