Okay, fine, He is on your side, sort of. But not in the way you think. (Plus, I was looking for a clickbait-ey title to get you to read this and guess what? It worked!). So this past Sunday, in the 5th part on our series about Revealing the Jesus of the Centre, we asked this question about whose side Jesus was on and concluded that He is, in fact, on the side of the “least of these,” as well as those who have self-awareness to realize their own need for Jesus to save them. Being “on your side” means Jesus is for you – for your healing, for your restoration, for whatever adjective you want to add in there that means becoming the person God has made you to be. And before you think I’ve gone off the rails with this stark individualistic gospel message that Jesus just cares for YOU and wants YOUR healing and YOUR best life now or any other Joel-Osteen-esque sentiment, please understand that any work toward healing that is being done in your life is ultimately for the healing and restoration of creation itself. He wants you and I healed of the sickness of selfishness and pride because then we can become outward facing agents of reconciliation and healing in a broken and dark world. 

Anyway, all that aside, I had mentioned on Sunday that Christians have this tendency to align Jesus with “their side” when it comes to political, social, theological, fill-in-the-blank issues. And, unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of time to unpack this thought much or discuss the harm that doing so does to all of us.  I had come across a devotional from Skye Jethani a while back that I think articulates brilliantly the challenges that are presented when we co-opt Jesus for our “side.”

Jethani references a story in Luke 12 when a man in the crowd asks Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” and Jesus’ response is simply, “Man, who made me judge or arbitrator over you?” (vs. 14). Jethani asks, why wouldn’t Jesus, who possesses divine wisdom and authority, judge between the brothers? This man asks Jesus to side with him, against his brother. The man believes he was right, his brother was wrong, and Jesus was just needed as sort of a “checkmate” in the argument. That is, Jesus was intended to be used as a leverage in order to seal the deal against the brother. And Jesus, of course, refuses to do this. 

Here’s what might be at the heart of the reason why, Jethani reasons, Jesus refuses to take a side:

“The impulse to employ Jesus as a weapon against those we disagree with remains common today in our personal relationships, theological debates, and politics. Declaring, “I think you’re wrong and so does Jesus!” is a defensive move that excuses me from doing the uncomfortable work of self-examination. It quickly shuts down the inconvenient possibility that I may be in error, or that my own perspective may be warped in some way. It also prevents me from empathizing with my opponent or recognizing any element of truth in his position. Simply put, if God agrees with me then I never have to change.”

I really like that reasoning. Co-opting Jesus to be on our side allows us to be off the hook from confronting the need to change at all. It removes our ability for empathy. In short, it shuts down the conversation which renders reconciliation much more difficult. And reconciliation, as we’ve been arguing all along in this series, is really at the heart of what Jesus was all about. 

We’ve all faced the temptation to want Jesus to join our campaign, sanction our cause, support our position, but Jethani asks, and I wonder as well, if we’re actually seeking to be instruments of God’s will in these instances or are we merely using Jesus as a means to an end? The end being, of course, our “right-ness” and our vindication. 

Something to think about this week as you interact and engage with others, be they family, friends, co-workers or even your partner!😉