By Derek Lee

From rising nationalism in many countries, to global inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, to bitterly divided elections in places like Belarus and the U.S., some Christian leaders have decided churches should be a safe space apart from and above talk of presidents, regimes, and political policies. Others have collaborated closely with the powers that be, seizing an opportunity to restore Christian values to their society. And still others have opted to identify their churches solely as a space of opposition.

These divided Christian approaches to politics were familiar to people in the political environment of Jesus’ life. In a time of Roman occupation, many Jewish religious leaders (such as the Sadducees and Pharisees) opted to comply with the ruling political forces. In defiance against them were the Zealots, who violently opposed the rule of Rome. Adding a different view was the large Jewish sect called the Essenes, who prioritized personal piety and purity and established separate communities away from political debate. Indeed, Jewish religious society reflected a divided spectrum with respect to political power very similar to today—unquestioned compliance with, violent opposition to, and piety and purity from.

But what political option did Jesus choose, and what are the implications for the church in the divided politics of our time? The way of Jesus, I believe, provides an alternative political option we might call the church of the descended Christ, the crucified Christ, and the risen Christ.

First, Jesus did not establish the new government many Israelites hoped for. Instead, Jesus created an alternative community of followers who transformed society “from the bottom up” through their whole different way of living – caring for the “least of the least” and building community that bridged divides of Jew and Gentile, male and female, rich and poor, that was no respecter of person and built a shared life of koinonia 1 between them. As Jesus was made incarnate in flesh, taking on the nature of a servant and walking alongside the outcasts and margins of society, this calls us to live an alternative within the public square of our societies as the church of the descended Christ.

Second, while Christ descended into the world, he was not co-opted or appropriated by its politics. Jesus publicly confronted the destructive spirits of the world and the systems of sin and domination, and he was crucified for doing so. Following Jesus, the church is called to humbly bear a moral and prophetic witness, to seek to discern what is right and what is wrong, and the remedy, and to give public voice to this. In the face of destructive political realities like racism, nationalism, inequality, greed, and xenophobia, this requires public sacrifice and courage. This is living as the church of the crucified Christ.

Finally, Christ’s resurrection and reconciling of “all things” (Colossians 1:19-20) creates hope for a better kind of politics in our time. This is the way of prophetic imagination – of envisioning and living out new ways of life in the world not through methods of fear, violence, and greed, but with love of neighbor, peacemaking, and justice for all reflected in the political realm. This is the politics of the church of the risen Christ.

As Christ descended, so too does the church descend into the spaces of the marginalized, outcast, and victim to affirm their holiness and dignity. As Christ was crucified for his witness, so too does the church’s witness bear judgment against the destructive spirits of the world. As Christ was resurrected, so too does the Church live as a new creation, bearing prophetic imagination in its life.

1 koinonia is a Greek term which often refers to fellowship

Derek Lee is the Program and Communications Coordinator of Mennonite Central Committee United Nations Office. His work focuses on amplifying the vulnerable and oppressed, regardless of nation.