Fighting for the Oppressed

I've been reading a bunch of books lately relating to the concept of Jesus as a revolutionary figure for social justice for the needy and defenseless of his day and how he promises the same in this day, yet many people take Jesus as the ticket taker into heaven. Many people seem to have the idea that Jesus would be doing speaking tours in churches if he were around today. I think closer to the reality would be a Jesus more like the Martin Luther King, Jr. who said hard things that needed to be said, cried out for justice where there was none, and was persecuted and killed for going against the established, comfortable ways of his time.

Most people will tell you that Jesus can "save you from your sins," a statement which, while not untrue, I think leaves out the most important part of his message. I see Jesus' message as saving the world from its own self-destructive tendencies, on a personal and social level. Did Jesus tell the people of his day (who faced intense poverty imposed on them by the roman Empire) "Just accept Jesus as your personal Savior and deal with it!" No, that type of wording doesn't exist in the Bible, rather he said things like "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice/righteousness." (according to those more knowledgeable than I, those two words are the same in Greek) . When Jesus is given an opportunity to speak in the synagogue of his time, he chooses to read the following: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Not only Jesus, but at other points in the Bible, like Isaiah, there are cries for social justice: "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause." (these words come right after God tell the people he doesn't care about their religious sacrifices and religious deeds as long as they weren't caring about these issues that God-followers should truly care about.

Those are just a few words I threw out there without much logical organization, but if any of this sounds right/Biblical/desirable/confusing/blasphemous, then spend a few bucks and buy this book, which puts Christ in (what I and many other believe to be) his proper place in history and in the 21st century: Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope.


In the reading of that book, I found the following anecdote to be especially powerful:

When addressing white Christian leaders, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was known to use the following quote by Jomo Kenyatta, the first Kenyan president:
“When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. The said ‘Let Us Pray.’
We closed our eyes, and when we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the Land”

Then, Tutu would add to the words of Kenyatta by saying:

“Now, my brothers, based on this Bible you have given us, I call you to give us back our land!”

For an at-length review of the book, go here.