Now both sides are heatedly vying for the Christian vote, with news reports of McCain cozying up to Christian leaders and Obama trotting out the Jesus-talk at every opportunity. Yet in their eagerness to sell voters on their Christianity, the politicians have forgotten one critical fact: you cannot truly practice what Jesus taught and be successful in politics.
After all, it was the politicians of his day who killed Jesus.
Jesus was a politician´s nightmare. He never ran for political office, but he had quite a platform, and these were his campaign slogans: Love your foes. Help those who hate you. Praise those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. If someone punches your cheek, offer the other cheek. If someone steals your coat, offer him your shirt as well. If someone asks you for something, give it to him. Treat others exactly as you would wish to be treated. Love your enemies and treat them well. If you lend money, do it without any expectation of profit. Show favor to ingrates and scoundrels. Do not sit in judgment of your fellow human being. Always forgive.
What politician today could be elected on such a platform? Not even Jesus.
Indeed, the Jesus of the New Testament was about as far from being a politician as one could get. He refused to play power politics. Instead, he challenged the political and religious belief systems of his day. He refused to compromise on his principles, and he preached a message of unity and love, as opposed to the divisiveness that politics relies on.
Jesus was anti-political. He stood against such things as empires, controlling people, state violence and power politics. He saw politics and human governments as inevitably corrupt and set the standard for confronting governmental powers. He taught a new way to govern—one that was spiritually healthy, creative, concerned about the oppressed and the poor and promoted a sense of community. His teachings undermined the establishment and the political status quo, not only of his own time but ours as well.
Jesus advocated love, peace, nonviolence and helping the poor. And he spoke truth to power, uncaring of who he offended, even when all the odds were against it. He constantly inveighed against the rich, the powerful and the exploiters. And his egalitarian treatment of women was so shocking in the patriarchal society of his time that his own male followers could not understand it.
In short, Jesus was a radical.
As author Garry Wills writes in What Jesus Meant, anyone claiming to practice a "Christian politics" other than the kind practiced by Jesus is a usurper. You can´t speak truth to power, as Jesus did, and be the power, because as Jesus showed us, how you change the world is not through government or politics but by raising up communities, bringing people to peace, eschewing power, speaking out against injustice, helping those in need, and loving those around you, even your enemies.
This isn´t to say that religious people should abstain from voting or vote a particular ticket. But if you´re a Christian, you should be doing more than voting for a candidate who promises to be a political savior. As history makes clear, there is no such thing.
Personally, I believe until a politician comes along that actually takes and advocates the controversially radical stands that Jesus did of, loving your enemies, helping those who hate you, praising those who curse you, praying for those who abuse you, turning the other cheek, lending to those who cannot pay you back, treating others exactly as you would wish to be treated, always forgiving, etc, etc, etc, then and only then can they say they're truly practicing the politics of Jesus. And not until then.
Otherwise, they're just the same old opportunistic, self-serving, self-righteous, pretenders that have afflicted our political scene forever.
Yes, by their fruits we will, and have, known them.
