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].