the grassroots

Okay so here's my theory on the Church and politics:

If you want something to change, do it yourself, as a religious movement.

The second week of the semester I presented a paper to a class of politics majors. In the paper, we were supposed to decide whether the US should give legal status to illegal immigrants. Assuming the US to be the Christian nation it so claims to be, I argued that if we are loving our neighbors as ourselves, the debate over the policy would be irrelevant, as hospitality is one of the highest virtues of the Church.

I was criticized by my professor that boundaries had a moral value (even though, in their essence, they separate). I was criticized by my peers for just throwing politics out of the window.

Yes, I am largely throwing politics out the window, and as I stated in my presentation, the reason for doing that is because God does not operate through the schemes of acquiring power in this world.

When Nathaniel inquired about Jesus, he said, "Nazarith?! What good thing could come from that place," perhaps a valid critique for a man born to a refugee family. He was the scum of society.

The first ones to be dubbed "Christians" were said to be from Antioch. Antioch wasn't a huge checkpoint on the early apostles' map. It was a marginal town that they might just so happen to walk through. The movement didn't begin in giant, urban empires, nor is that where it thrives today.

Ethiopia has, throughout history, maintained one of the earliest and holiest forms of Christianity as we know it. These ascetic monastics are poor; they are the bottom class. However, they have managed to maintain doctrines stated from the mouth of Christ Himself: love thy enemy. Do not worry. Blessed are the poor. Africa's more recent missionary movements haven't proved to be as pure, full of slavery, exploitation, murder, and ethnocentrism. Yet among all of the westernization, Ethiopia still has their thing going strong. Few in number perhaps, but maybe a lot of people can't fit on the Narrow Path.

The Old Testament even casts light upon the spiritual power of the scum of the earth to come. Gideon, the lowest of his family, was raised up as a mighty warrior despite a lack of confidence. He was the one God chose, not exactly a Goliath of his day.

Point being, if our allegiance is to the Kingdom, rather than a physically expanding empire, we must chose to use weapons not of this world (Paul's language, not mine), to make change.

A good friend suggested to me that systematic problems require systematic solutions. She went to a meeting in which a group of passionate individuals collaborated to write petitions, hopefully changing government policy.

My take is both the same and different. Yes, we need to use systematic solutions and address the downward spirals of our world, but we do not need an artificial mediator to do this. With personal priesthood (the ability to be in union with God without a human facilitating), we believe we have everything we need. We do not need a government because we are governed by God Himself. We do not need the authoritative approval of another fallen individual. And we certainly cannot blindly assume that government positions are occupied by those purer than ourselves, especially with the increasing gap between rich and poor and the dozens of wars we declare, physically and economically, on outside countries.

Jesus told us to pray for the Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. Can we then accept the total authority of our government?

"State was made for man, not man for the state." When policemen come arresting us for prophesying in the streets or refusing to pay taxes to an evil empire, claiming we did not adequately petition our authorities, we must respond with this statement. Why were the authorities not noticing our plight? Their job is to serve us, to come to us, not vice versa.

I am encouraging you to stand up, to directly implement the action which you believe will achieve the solution. Sometimes (most times?) this is not pretty. When the government of Harrisburg reduces aid to organizations serving the homeless, those organizations cannot come crying to the government - they must prophecy to the Church. It is not the governments business to care for those it considered the scum of the earth. It is the Church's business, rather, to serve those it believes to be the salt of the earth. Instead of crying for the financial resources, let us provide such things from our own pockets, our own pantries, our own homes, our own hearts.

If the government is not using our tax dollars for the community-benefiting things we are asking for, waste no time drafting petitions and documents. Simply do not pay the money. Instead, give the same sum to a local organization working to address the issue under which you suffer. The worst that can happen is imprisonment, and if we all stop paying taxes for unjust causes, prisons will all become closed down anyway!

I'm not out to condemn petition writers or those working toward political justice. I am not siding with one team or another. I am presenting a non-dualistic notion that suggests the overly quoted Ghandi saying, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

There is grace, as much as I am the oppressor, I am also the oppressed. When I look into the eyes of a corrupt politician, I see no one but myself. We are one, and our interconnectedness allows us no escape from each other. Therefore, if one suffers, so should the whole. In order to eliminate the unneeded government (to bring the Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven), we must, at the very least, begin to believe in the Church. I find (and I mean this in the humblest manner possible) that what separates me from many of my peers is the fact that I actually believe the Church is helpful to this world and can offer a huge change. I'm moving past cynicism. I'm not complaining about my local officials because I have no time to do that anyway. It will just blacken my soul. I'm simply trying to empower my fellow believers that confess Jesus not only as God but as Lord to realize the Kingdom that lives within them. This Kingdom, should we dare believe, holds a higher might and strength and grace than all the artificial systems of the world. This is why I have been politically converted, as some may call it, to anarchism. We can not use the means of the world to achieve an end not of this world.

Beloved, realize the power of love in you, the power that conquers and makes change through miracles rather than playing on the turf of the world's game of guns and slandering campaigns and abuse. Realization will not come without pain and sacrifice.

The truth is that I have not yet realized. I do not believe what I am saying: only in theory do I believe it. But I know it's true, and that before my death, I hope to reach it. But that does not mean I can act outside of the Kingdom. Just because I have not yet been crowned prince does not mean that I can act like an oblivious peasant.

I am convinced that creativity is part of reaching this divinity within ourselves. To illustrate this point, take the current debate in world issues over the proposed legislation in Uganda to outlaw homosexuality (among other things like bisexuality, transsexualism, etc) and give its practitioners the death penalty. Before we go thinking about whether or not a Christian nation should pass such a law, let us think outside the box: how could we love those persecuted under such a law? We could hide homosexuals in our homes and provide hospitality; we could help them escape. In the end, we cannot let the government control our actions. Professing followers of Jesus can only allow God to control their actions. Through doing so, we can convert government officials to realize their inner Kingdom, but if that doesn't happen, we should endure sufferings alongside of our needy family of homosexuals and liars and sinners all the same.

When the Holy Spirit, or as New Testament language calls it, the "helper," becomes a part of us, nothing can stop us unless we conform to the patterns of the world. If we refuse to play the same ballgame as those who use a power other than Kingdom power, we will inevitably overcome. It is only a matter of endurance and patience. Again, I am not suggesting a dualism between anarchy and democracy, but I am suggesting a dualism between Church and state. Pure and faultless religion is keeping oneself from being polluted by the world. All things which are not inherently God cannot be relied upon, but His promise that the meek shall inherit the earth will last until the end of ages.