Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing: Prophetic Practices over Pious Polity

Last updated on: August 27, 2014 at 4:11 pm by Guest Contributor

Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing: Prophetic Practices over Pious Polity 2014-08-27T16:11:00-05:00 Guest Contributor

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 Earle Fisher

R3 Contributor

I’ve spent the last several months trying to drive home to point of importance with our congregation that the embodiment of God in Jesus of Nazareth matters… especially to people of color. Therefore, when we see Jesus’ actions in its historical context it disrupts the ways in which we have interpreted the activities and attitudes of people of color (who are also people of faith, irrespective of how unconventional) and causes us to take a deeper look in the mirror to find the glimpses of God that we can see in our own eyes, minds and bodies.

Part of the importance of wrestling and grappling with Jesus’ actions and the affirmations of his titles, (re)placing Jesus in his historical context and hue of black embodiment, is that it causes us as minorities to re-value our own humanity. This is a matter of life-and-death in the current racialized climate that attempts to criminalize black bodies while blaming victims for their own oppression. In other words, it brings us back to our relationship with God in spite of the negativity that has been heaped upon our psyche. Dr. Brian Bantum, in an article entitled, “Doing Theology As Though Our Bodies Mattered” says, “If theology does anything should it not at least speak to the realities that mark our lives together as human beings? And if this is the case, how can theology that confesses who God is, not also acknowledge the bodies that confess?”

It matters to black folks in America (and anyone concerned about racial equality, honesty and “justice for all”) that Jesus was black. If Jesus can wrestle in the garden, weep in times of sorrow, protest in righteous indignation (holy anger) and figure his faith out along the way, then we can too can embrace our human frailty and still engage our relationship with God in a way that becomes more redemptive. Salvation, then, is not merely the access to a heavenly afterlife (or an inspirational insurance policy), but also, the working out of our current lot of life, the struggling for justice, fighting for peace and seeking God’s will for the world while we are still in it, as long as we’re still in it!

Therefore, our faith is not just about polity and piety, but also about politics and policies that impact the way we live. And when the politics and policies are enacted and affected by issues of race, class, gender and other social affiliations, then we must do theology, not just learn theology or talk theology. We must resolve ourselves to worship and work, pray and participate in ways the redeem those of us who find ourselves outcaste by the social system that has so much collective human power.

When we have to look at Jesus through the lens of his blackness (his human-be-ing) then we

can reconstitute our focus on socio-political-religious issues that really matter, what Jesus calls, “the more weightier matters of the law.” The exigency (urgency) of social issues ought to guide the way we search for God’s presence and respond in light of God’s power.

Jesus was a prophetic political leader. Jesus ushered in a ministerial movement by concentrating on the various moments that mattered, not so much for his own social status but, for those with pressing spiritual and social needs. Jesus participated in the political system of his day, as somewhat of a conscientious objector (one who refuses to participate in the violent advancement of an imperial power) while being guided, primarily, by his religious convictions/tradition that was interpreted through the lens of his experience. Jesus experiences the world as a working-class-poor-urban-male (read: black man) that lives in a country controlled by rich, white people who cares more about property than people; more about corporations than children and more about money than ministry.

So to live faith effectively in the 21st century it is necessary that we consider what Dr. Obery Hendricks calls, “The Politics of Jesus” and seek to publish a similar theology through our present day actions, because while we are concerned with miniscule matters of religious tradition, people are hurting and need help and healing. For Jesus, ministry was more about healing the wounded and brokenhearted than the place and space of worship service (John 4). His focus is on community uplift more so than consecration and sanctification as we have come to understand it (Matthew 15) because the pivot point of ministry is transformative theology and not traditional technicalities. For Jesus the focus is for the oppressed to be liberated through a transformative encounter with God, “by any means necessary.” This is the type of faith and ministerial representation that ought to be promoted and published in these perilous times.

Follow Earle on Twitter @pastor_earle

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 27, 2014

Doing Theology As Though Our Bodies Mattered

Next Post

August 27, 2014 #RenishaMcBride: The #TheodoreWafer Trial: A Reader

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Amy Steele Andre E. Johnson Book Reviews/Series Brian Foulks Call for Chapters Carol Howard Merritt Classes Conferences Contributors Crystal St.Marie Lewis Daniel White Hodge Earle Fisher Eulogy Fredrick Robinson Guest Contributions Henry McNeal Turner Institutes Interviews Joseph Boston Katherine Whitfield Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Lectures/Roundtables Natalie Bullock Brown R3 Book Series R3 Contributor Rashad Grove Readers Reflections Symposiums Teaching Traci Ellis Travis Harris Uncategorized Video

Select a Month June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 October 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz