An interesting article by Jon Swales. Many of my posts echo ideas contained, and stated rather better, in the article. Rather than stating 'I follow Jesus' I prefer to state 'I follow the teaching ascribed to Jesus by the authors of the synoptic gospels'.
Jesus’ central mission revolved around preaching, proclaiming, embodying and enacting the Kingdom of God.
In a world marked by domination and injustice, he announced the imminent rule and reign of the Father.
This divine government, an alternative Empire, offered, among other things, a social, political and economic reordering—a great reversal in which those rejected and pushed to the margins would now have a place at the table.
Meanwhile, those who held the seats of power and hoarded wealth, acting as gatekeepers of the status quo, would be called to repentance and find their assumptions about privilege and power turned upside down.
We need to be reminded that Jesus, who said, ‘Blessed are you who are poor,’ also said, ‘Woe to you who are rich.’
The Kingdom focus, along with its accompanying social, economic and political theology and praxis, should therefore be central for those who have answered Jesus’ call to ‘Follow Me’.
Yet, in some Christian expressions, this vital aspect of Jesus’ ministry is diminished, relegated to a marginal note or gloss—treated as an inconsequential historical footnote that can be safely overlooked by contemporary expressions of Christian spirituality.
The results are neither surprising nor accidental.
We end up with a mutated expression of the Christian faith that bears little resemblance to Jesus and instead sits comfortably alongside consumerism, unrestrained capitalism and the hoarding of wealth.
Given this, and with a growing sense of urgency—for the unholy trinity of individualism, unrestrained capitalism and consumerism is helping propel us towards an increasingly unlivable future—we need to rearticulate the Christian faith in a way that reflects and realigns us with the Jesus of history and the Kingdom he proclaimed.
To follow Jesus is to organise our lives around the Kingdom he announced.
This means more than private spirituality, personal salvation or individual morality. It means allowing the reign of God to reshape how we understand wealth and poverty, power and privilege, community and belonging, creation and consumption, justice and the common good.
In other words, in response to Jesus, who proclaimed, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand,’ we need to be those who hear his call:
Repent and believe.
— Swales, 2023
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