Jesus Is a Liberal?

I saw this bumper sticker on a black Pontiac with DeKalb County plates the other day. At first I wanted to commend them for having 'Is' and not 'Was.' But then I figured that 'Is' probably fared better in focus groups than 'Was,' and so I decided 'Is' is probably not some great statement of faith in the resurrection. I found an interesting discussion of a "Jesus Was a Liberal" bumper sticker by J. Budziszewski of Boundless Webzine. Here's a portion of it:

"Last Sunday, after the service," he said, "I was shooting the breeze with this guy Jason at my church. We were standing in the parking lot, and I noticed his bumper sticker. It said, "Jesus Was a Liberal." So I asked him what that meant. I guess that wasn't such a good move. He seemed annoyed."

"Did he answer you?"

"Oh, sure. He said, 'Jesus had compassion for the poor. That's liberal. He was anti-war. That's liberal. And he said we shouldn't judge others. That's liberal too.' I started to ask him another question, but he cut me off and said 'Look. The political meaning of Christianity is liberalism. Any Christian who isn't liberal is either corrupt, confused or full of hate.' Then he got in his car and drove away."

"Nothing like a guy who knows his mind," I said.

"So what do you think?" said Zack.

"About what?"

"I've never given much thought to politics. Was Jesus a liberal?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then you think he was a conservative?"

"I didn’t say that either. I wouldn't be too quick to associate Jesus with any of our political ideologies."

"Then you’re saying that faith doesn't have anything to do with politics?"

"No," I said, "Faith has implications for every dimension of life, and Paul made it pretty clear that even though our true country is Heaven, we have duties of citizenship in our earthly countries too."

"But when you say that you wouldn't associate Jesus with any of our political ideologies —"

"What I mean is that on the day of judgment, proponents of every political ideology will have to give an account of themselves. Liberals aren't exempt, and neither are conservatives."

"I'm confused. Are you saying a Christian could hold any political ideology, liberal, conservative or whatever?"

"No, some political ideologies are totally incompatible with Christian faith. You couldn't be a good Christian and a Nazi, for example."

"Could you be a good Christian and a liberal? Or a good Christian and a conservative?"

I hesitated. "I suppose it depends on what you mean. Liberalism and conservatism come in more than one version."

"What do you mean?" said Zack. "I thought all liberals were the same and all conservatives were the same."

"Not at all. . . . (click here to read more)

Well, there's a movement of so-called "progressive Christians" out there who "embrace the search not certainty." They are self-described as "liberal." These are their "eight points':

1. Focus: The teachings and life of Jesus provide them with a path to God.
2. Pluralism: They recognize that others follow their own paths to God which are equally true for them.
3. Communion: They view the sharing of bread and wine in Jesus' name to represent "an ancient vision of God's feast for all peoples."
4. Inclusivity: All are welcome to become involved; persons of all genders, sexual orientations, traditions, races, etc.
5. Reciprocity: How we treat others is the "fullest expression" of our beliefs.
6. Search: They find more grace in searching for truth than in accepting certainty.
7. Community: They form communities to support each other in their quest for peace, justice, a restored environment, and to provide hope.
8. Cost: Following Jesus involves a personal investment in "selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege."

Now, to drive home how this works, here is a heart-warming story of a Sunday School class. We all remember a class like this, I'm sure:

On their web site, they have a charming story that symbolizes the methodology of the Progressive Christianity movement. It involves a Sunday school teacher and a class of 9 or 10-year-olds. Even at that age, some were skeptical of the inerrancy of the Bible. They felt that many events recorded in the Bible never happened. Rather then try to convince the children otherwise, the teacher suggested that they read Charlotte's Web instead -- an enduring story of a bashful pig named Wilbur who befriended a spider named Charlotte. The class enjoyed the book. After some great discussions, the teacher interjected the thought that pigs and spiders cannot talk. The kids protested: "Well, it's a story." The teacher asked whether the story was true. They decided that it was sort of true. "In a way, it was true." So the teacher suggested: "All right, well let's look at the Bible in the same way."

I told you it was touching! So, what do you think? Can Jesus in any way be described as "Liberal" or "Conservative"? Is it helpful to even talk in that way? I don't ever remember seeing "Jesus Is a Conservative" bumper stickers, have you? Are liberals trying to convince others or themselves? Let's talk about it!