Team Jesus...period.

It's pretty well established at this point that humans are motivated by our identity more than our logic. As much as we would like to think we are rational, the fact that we often do things that no reasonable person would do says otherwise.

That's why, when we do something stupid, we shouldn't ask the question, "What was I thinking?" We need to ask, "What was I feeling?"

And what forms those feelings? Our identity...in particular our social identity. Neurotheologian Jim Wilder writes, "Every one-sixth of a second our right brain tries to answer the questions, "Who am I? How do my people act now?" This is why a major goal of Church in the World is to remind believers of our identity in Christ.

This comes from the observation I've had recently that American Christians tend to be more American than Christian. Conservative Christians tend to be more conservative than Christian. And yes, progressive Christians tend to be more progressive than Christian.

The sign for the progressive team.

National and Political identities are so ubuquitous that most of us don't even know we're discipled into them. Social media is an identity-forming medium. Algorithms tell us who our people are. Pithy sayings and short quips aren't great for making arguments, but they are great for convincing us to join a team.

The sign for the conservative team.

As believers we have to remember that we are called to "team Jesus" first and foremost. That may cause us to look conservative in some ways and impossibly progressive in others. It's OK to love the country we live in. It's OK to be a part of a political party. But neither identity should command our ultimate allegiance. We We should be willing to break from a political party or nation when it contradicts the values of Jesus' kingdom.

The reason session 4 on ideologies is so important is that most of us don't even realize we've joined a particular political or national team. This identity formation is largely subconscious unless we are keenly aware of the difference between Christianity and [insert ideology here].

Ideologies

In all my doctoral studies, the one book that might have been the most helpful was the book "Political Visions and Illusions" by Canadian political scientist, David Koyzis. There were two concepts in particular that helped me think well about how Christians ought to think about our place in the world.

I'll write the the other another time, but the one I want to hit on briefly here is his discussion of ideologies. Of course, I had heard the word thrown around before, but I had never heard an intelligent conversation about just what an ideology is.

Koyzis writes, "I view ideologies as modern manifestations of that ancient phenomenon called idolatry, complete with their own stories of sin and redemption...Like these biblical idolatries, every ideology is based on taking something out of creation's totality, raising it above that creation, and making the latter revolve around and serve it. It is further based on the assumption that this idol has the capacity to save us from some real or perceived evil in the world."

So, for instance, the problem with the socialist ideology is not that it get everything wrong. In fact, there are some aspects of socialism that can align with the biblical injunction to care for one another in community.

There are problems with all ideologies.

First, no ideology can explain everything. All the problems of the world cannot be solved by collective or government ownership. Are there some valuable insights from socialism (or conservatism, or liberalism, or capitalism, or even Marxism)? Absolutely! There are grains of truth in each. But they cannot explain everything and they cannot be our saviors.

Second, when ideologies take hold in a society, they often try to take control of it, sometimes violently, and always doing great damage. Ideologies might do some good for a while, but eventually the attempt to solve every problem with one solution will do more damage than good.

This is explained because the vision of every ideology creates its own version of heaven...we usually call these utopia.

Every attempt to create a utopia has ended in a kind of dystopia.

This is true of even "Christian" utopias. Jesus tells his followers, "In this world you will have trouble..." In other words, we will not be able to create a perfect society. We can and should do much good in the world, but we must resist the urge to try to save the world. The Bible tells us that is a role reserved only for Jesus and only at a time in the future.

As believers, we must be clear-eyed about the ideologies we are tempted to embrace. We must be willing to see which parts line up with Scripture, and which parts contradict it. Ultimately, we must remember that Jesus is the only one worthy of being our all-in-all. Only Jesus will save the world and only at a future time when he returns and brings about the new creation.

The Church and Power

Session 3 of Church in the World deals with the Church and power--specifically coercive power. We're probably all familiar with coercive power, even though we don't often use the word. In fact, in our day, it's probably the type of power that first comes to mind when we think of power.

Coercive power is simply the ability to influence someone through the threat of punishment or negative consequences. Coercive power is not a bad thing in and of itself. God can rightfully wield coercive power for good in the world. The Bible tells us that God has also delegated coercive power to governments. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 13:4,

"For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

While we don't like the idea of coercive power because it can be dangerous in the wrong hands, we also understand that its use is sometimes necessary to promote justice in our fallen world.

In session 3 (and again in session 5), we deal with questions like:

• Is it ever appropriate for the Church to wield coercive power?

• Did Jesus leave it as an option? And if so, in what circumstances?

• What happened in history when the Church wielded the power of the sword? (We have a lot of evidence from history!)

• And what other kinds of power does the Church have to accomplish its mission?

These are important questions for us to answer today.