Liberals, Conservatives, Liberation Theology and the Sanhedrin

There’s an old saying that what happens or doesn’t happen in the Church House will have a greater impact on the health of our nation than what happens or doesn’t happen in the White House. Unfortunately, many speaking in the Church House have abandoned the message of the Master of the Church House and have landed upon the short-sighted hope of liberation theology, which is more concerned with the policies of the White House than the Kingdom of God that is supposed to be expanded by those who worship in the Church House.

We must not be fooled into thinking that a liberation theology is held by only those on the left of the political spectrum. Recently, Dr. Russell Moore commented on this reality in a blog found at The Henry Institute, where he wrote,

Liberation theology has been with us since the 1960s, in too many incarnations to count, always offering a version of the same message. The liberation theologians see the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected, the message of deliverance from the reign of sin and death through repentance and faith, as too "pie in the sky." In contrast, liberation theology offers economic and political salvation in the here-and-now, sometimes through pulpit rhetoric and sometimes at the point of a gun... There is a liberation theology of the Left, of the kind of politicized movement we see right now in the newspapers and on our television screens. There is also a liberation theology of the Right, one represented by prosperity gospels and grinning consumer Christianity. Both are at heart Mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barrabas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah
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The liberation theologians on the right and the left are looking for a similar Messiah that the religious leaders during Jesus' day desired to have come and save them. They wanted both political freedom and financial health. They were looking for an anointed king who would wipe out their Roman oppressors and provide an economic stimulus package that would satisfy their every earthly whim.

N.T. Wright in his wonderful book Simply Christian writes of these liberation theologians of Jesus' day, "Not all Jews of this period believed in or wanted a coming Messiah. But those who did, and they were many, cherished a frequently repeated set of expectations as to what the anointed one would do when he arrived. He would fight the battle against Israel's enemy - specifically, the Romans"(p. 106). These people expected to be freed from their oppressors and given the good life.

Instead of doing that, what did the real Messiah do? Again, N.T. Wright writes, "(Jesus fought) the messianic battle - by losing it. The real enemy, after all, was not Rome, but the powers of evil that stood behind human arrogance and violence, powers of evil with which Israel's leaders had fatally colluded" (p.110).

This is what Jesus came to do. He came to remove the power of darkness and bring light. He came to destroy hate and apathy and replace both with love. His work was to overcome what makes things wrong and bring renewal and eternal life.

Liberation theologies on the right and left are short-sited. They only solve one problem depending on their brand. Jesus came to make all things new (Revelation 21:5).

Jesus explains the outcome of liberation theology in Matthew 12:43-45 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Both those on the right and left that hold to a liberation theology seek to remove a single evil only to have more evil come and cause even more chaos. The great need of humanity is to gain a new heart and mind in Christ. With that mind and heart at work the hungry can be fed. The hurting can be helped. Those who are sick can receive treatment. This nation can be renewed.

The heart of Christianity is to make those who are weak strong and change the world. This change will come from the hands of those who serve those who can't. Sacrificial love and service will allow our nation to reach its potential. This is what can make all nations prosper. Jesus makes this possible in His death, burial, and resurrection as those who are forgiven and renewed in Christ live out the life of love and grace their Master has given them.