Posts Tagged ‘empire’

Colossians Remixed

We covered the first ethic (ethic of secession) a few days ago. The second ethic in Colossians Remixed is the “ethic of community.” Walsh and Keesmaat quote Rodney Clapp, who states that the early Christians “were about creating and sustaining a unique culture…and they were determined to be a culture, a quite public and political culture, even if it killed them and their children” (p. 179; emphasis mine). The last line sticks with the reader. Losing one’s own life for a cause is difficult to perceive but to also put one’s children in harm’s way is seemingly inconceivable. The writer of the paper is indifferent about this statement, but it makes the reader think about his or her family’s commitment to the cause of Christ. The Jesus painted by much of American Christianity, frankly, is not worth dying for and especially not worth putting one’s children in harm’s way.

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Colossians Remixed

Part 1.

Jesus is no longer worth following, or, at least, the Jesus painted by twenty-first American Christianity is not worth following. He is not exciting. He does not energize. Many in America have made Jesus into a prosperous, white-collared North American in order for anyone to pay interest. On the other hand, the Jesus, who Paul espouses, is exciting and challenging. Through Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, Brian Walsh and Sylvia Keesmaat in their book Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire bring to light a first-century Jesus, who is the Lord of the whole world and an alternative to Caesar and his empire. Based on this type of Jesus, the authors do well to remind the reader of a few things that he or she should take into account. They take this first-century, subversive message of Jesus and apply it directly to followers of Christ today. This Jesus is worth following.

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Caesar Augustus

Many of my recent studies have been focused around Rome and the New Testament (as with my post on Warren Carter’s book). After doing much research, I have put together a document comparing Caesar and Jesus. We must remember that many (if not all) of these titles/topics were dedicated to the Caesars before Jesus so the New Testament’s critique on empire should not be missed. I know I left off some other important titles such as “son of God,” but this should be a good starting point. Also, I must state that I am indebted to Richard Smith from Biblical Seminary as his lectures have assisted me in these studies.

View the document “Comparison between Caesar and Jesus” here (.pdf).

Is there anything I missed?

What are your thoughts after viewing this document?

Memorial Day was this past Monday, and, like most Americans, I enjoyed my day off of work. I spent time with friends and family, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. If anyone saw me, you’ll notice I didn’t wear anything with red, white, and blue. I didn’t wear anything that said, “Support our troops” or “Pray for our troops.” I didn’t wave an American flag. It’s not that I’m not proud to be American (in the same way, that I may be proud to be English if I was born in England). I am proud of many things America does, and, on the other hand, I’m not proud of many other things. The thing is, as Christians, we are called to salute a different Commander-in-chief, that is, Jesus Christ. He is our King, and I do not and will not compromise my allegiance to this King. However, even though the premise of Memorial Day is a dark one (in that, it surrounds the death of individuals), I believe it provides us with many reminders.

1. Memorial Day is a good reminder that Death, though wounded, is alive and still strong. Christ has defeated Death, wounded it, and it will one day be eradicated. However, Memorial Day reminds us that Death still…err…kills people. American troops over many years have died because the problem of Death still exists. Any thoughts to the contrary are contested on days like Memorial Day.

2. Memorial Day is a reminder that the Christian family is trans-national. Christ, who is my brother and my God, has shown me that his family is anyone who does the will of the Father, and, so Christians, no matter our national boundaries, are brothers and sisters of one another. As Christians, it is not America versus the rest of the world. It is not “God Bless America” only, but it is, as one bumper sticker says, “God bless the whole world. No exceptions.” I do pray that God blesses America, but I do pray that God bless Iraq, England, France, and the rest of the world. Lord knows, we need his blessing. But what would it be like if the one firing the bullet thought that his or her brother may be on the other end? Wouldn’t that change his or her perspective?

3. Memorial Day is a reminder that those who live by the sword, die by the sword. It is likely no secret to many of you that I align myself with non-violence, and it sickens me (and I believe the heart of Christ) when the sword, no matter who is wielding it, kills someone. The Roman Empire was a clear-cut example of living and dying by the sword. They took over “the world” through massacring and waging war against other nations, spreading their ideals throughout “the world.” Their fall was also by the end of the sword. Barbarians took over parts of Rome (which was already weak from violence and betrayal in other areas) by wiping out its rulers.

4. Memorial Day is a reminder to love those even those who disagree with you. One could easily withdraw from society on Memorial Day. One could easily say, “No, thanks,” to the multitude of barbeques. However, Christ calls us to love the people of the world even if we don’t agree with what they celebrate. [To other Christian, non-violent “ordinary radicals” (Shane Claiborne reference), Memorial Day is a good reminder to love people where they are, not what they have been. It would be un-Christlike to treat soldiers in any other way than with the love of Christ.]

5. Memorial Day is also a good reminder to follow the Church calendar, which is not focused around things like consumerism and Empire, but a reminder to shape our lives around the story of Christ and his Church. Reminder: Pentecost (in the West) is on May 31st and is the single, most important day for the celebration of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, many focus their churches and lives around the American calendar and won’t even acknowledge these things.

I really liked this blog post called “No More Sex with the Great Whore” on another blog called Evangelical Political Analysis. It made me really think. It involves how we should “come out” of the Great Whore, the Empire (cf. Revelation 18v4-5).

Feel free to read it.