In Luke 4:18-21 Jesus proclaims the beginning of his ministry to bring good news to the poor and liberate the oppressed. "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." However, almost two thousand years after Jesus' crucifixion; hunger, poverty and social oppression still exist in every corner of our world. America (supposedly the wealthiest country on earth) has a staggering poverty rate that is driven by political, social and economic oppression that seem to run rampant in every region of our country. If this was Jesus' inauguration statement for his life's work on earth and if we as Christians are suppose to follow in his footsteps; then what should we really be doing? what should our churches and ministries really look like?
I recently had a conversation with a missional church leader in New Orleans. He wondered what Jesus would be like if he came to earth today and tried to establish his ministry the way it has been done in America. As some of you know I have been wrestling with the idea of the way we "do church" for some time now. This conversation caused me to speculate that this passage from Luke, quoting the prophet Isaiah, might read more like this: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to share "how-to" messages to those most like me. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prosperous and the enabling of self-piety for all, to ignore the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor through my self-made measurements of success.
I’m sure the loose rephrase sounds absurd and almost offensive to people, regardless of their faith. A statement like this can be seen nothing short of arrogant, out of touch, selfish, autonomous and un-loving. But is it far off? Are we behaving this way as followers of Jesus? Or better yet, how do those who do not follow Jesus view us? That would be a better question to arrive at the most accurate answer. Ask someone who does not follow Jesus what their view is of Christians. If you're shocked by their answer then you might be a bit arrogant, out of touch and autonomous from the world. What ever you do, DO NOT respond in an un-loving way.
In truth, when you read through the gospels and study the political and spiritual strategies of Jesus, you will see that he did exactly what he said he would do in Luke 4. He not only ministered to the poor, the sick and the oppressed, but he did it in their environment. He went out to the people. He didn't establish himself as king, plant a local church, construct a building, develop his programs, market his brand. His simple strategy was to go to the people and submerged himself in their lives, embrace their humanity, love them, free them, and fight for them.
As one author puts it, a major feature of Mark's gospel is it's portrayal of Jesus as always en te hodo, "on the way," always moving from village to countryside to village and finally to city, spreading the good news of the
Jesus' parables of the sower and the mustard seed in Mark 4:26-32, in which he describes the kingdom of God, could be seen as his "vision casting" message, or "mission statement" about how the good news was to be taken to the poor and the oppressed in every setting and in every situation. This strategy was realized by his courage during his death and the power of his resurrection, both of which affirmed for all time the truth and transforming power of his message when it is rightly understood and practiced.
One author writes on this subject: Jesus' words and deeds set the kingdom in motion. Through his gospel ministry he sowed the seeds of God's kingdom of justice and peace and wholeness and love that we, his followers, must nurture. That was his mission, not to proclaim himself as king or to bring immediate, short-term results. His charge was to implant the seeds of God's kingdom of liberation and to give his followers the spiritual food to nourish their growth. Jesus held to these principles without wavering, secure in his knowledge that bearing witness to truth and justice and love for God and neighbor was the only lasting way to establish God's kingdom on earth as in heaven.
So what if we, as his followers, really nurtured Jesus' mission? What would our churches look like? What would our ministries look like? What would Christianity in America look like? What if the focus was taken off planting another church? (This only seems to result in the transplanting of other attendees from the surrounding churches) What if we turned the infamous ministry funnel upside down and required all followers of Jesus to suffer from a pathological need to wander and spread the good news of the kingdom of God to everyone they encounter? What if we could not longer rely on the programs, the web-sites, the marketing, and the building to live our faith? What if we had to really live our faith?
