Talking Politics and Religion – Part 2

I know that “Politics and religion don’t mix” (as they say), but I’m talking about it again anyway. The question I want to consider is: Was Jesus a liberal or a conservative? What do you think? In my first post in this series (Talking Politics and Religion – Part 1) I said that, “Of course, Jesus wasn’t a liberal. How could He be? Jesus was a conservative.” And then I gave examples of our Lord’s tendency towards conservatism. In this post I want to turn it around 180 degrees and say, “Wait a minute. What do you mean Jesus wasn’t a liberal. There are a number of Bible examples that show just the opposite.” Like the times when He allowed “work” on the Sabbath. In one instance Christ said it was okay for his disciples to pluck grain which it was unlawful to do (Mt. 12:1-8). In another instance Christ healed someone (Mt. 12:9-14). If that isn’t liberal (breaking the law of the Sabbath), I don’t know what is. His liberalism goes even further than this. Like the time when Jesus told a rich guy to give all his money away to the poor (Lk. 18:18-23). (Sounds a little like raising taxes to purchase universal health care.) And then there was the incident where Jesus visited Samaria (cultural “no no” #1) and then had a conversation with a woman no less! (cultural “no no” #2). You just don’t do that sort of thing if you’re a conservative. Lastly (but not least), our Lord touched, not just a person who was considered “normal”, but a leper (of all people) to heal him (cultural “no no” #3) (Mk. 1:40-42). (A leper is the equivalent to a crack addict with AIDs in our day.) Again, if that isn’t liberal, then you tell me what is. And so Jesus couldn’t possibly be a conservative. Right? Do you agree with me? Jesus couldn’t possibly be a conservative based on these examples. I understand I said He wasn’t a liberal in the first post of this series. Thus we have the dilemma. Jesus wasn’t a liberal AND Jesus wasn’t a conservative. And so what was He? Being the nice guy that I am, I’m going to leave it for you to think about for a bit. (Watch for Part 3 of this series to come soon.)