Jesus for President Review: Part Two

Ordinary radicals need something to be radical against. In the second section of Jesus for President, titled "A New Kind of
Commander-in-Chief," Claiborne and Haw describe the political powers empire and
imperialism as that which Israel,
and then Christ, is supposed to be rebelling against. As Christians, we are called into a struggle
that touches our physical, emotional, verbal, and spiritual lives. The Empire has its own language and way of
doing things. They have created a
dominant culture bent on maintaining the status quo, i.e. their power, at any
cost. This is one of the big reasons
Christ died: he stood in the way of Empire.

Where does standing in the way of Empire get us except
killed? More importantly, why should we
stand in the way of Empire? The authors
answer is because Christ did, so we should do the same. Christ has called us to an alternative
community, a place where we are citizens of the Kingdom, his Kingdom, the one
he mentions in his lesson on praying ("thy kingdom come.") This is greater than the kingdom the Adversary
tempted him with, a kingdom of majesty and power that bows down to no one. The gates of Hell cannot stand against it. Neither should Herod’s or the Caesar’s.

That’s why standing up against Empire and Imperialism is so
important: we are greater than they are.
We are the true Kingdom, they are just shadows. Though they try to kill us and place us in
darkness, we find the way, the truth, and the life in Christ’s death and
resurrection—the turning of darkness into light, a light that lives in us and
will last forever in Jesus’ Kingdom. As
Claiborne and Haw write:

Making disciples meant that they were teaching the world to
do the things Jesus did. To wash feet.
To proclaim Jubilee. To love
enemies. To welcome strangers. And they would become known as the Way. Their community was more than just a group of
people who shared religious beliefs. They
were a group of people that embodied a new way of living, the way out of the
empire, where slavery, poverty, war, and oppression were normal. They were to become the salt and the light of
the world. The credibility of their
gospel would rest on the integrity of their lives. For they were now to be the body of
Christ. Jesus would live in them. (137)

The authors believe that we gain the license to be ordinary
radicals rebelling against Empire because Christ himself did on the cross. He said no to Empire, he refused to let it
kill him.

When we look around our world, do we see Empire trying to
kill us? Look around, and out of the
shadows of the media, the government, the advertisements, the pressures of
suburbia, the struggles of urban and rural areas, the tribalism, the war, the
suffering, the injustice, the sorrow, and the darkness shines the light of an
alternative community, a city on a hill, the Kingdom of God.

For part one of this review, click here.