Original publication via Wordpress: 19 March 2023 | Amended for republication: 11 April 2023
Jesus’ life and message had no false dualism or any separation of ‘faith’ and ‘politics’.
During the late 1980s, while studying towards my BA Honours and a Master of Arts degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT), I became deeply interested in the so-called Historical Jesus. I was intrigued to wrestle with and better understand the context of 1st century Palestine into which Jesus of Nazareth was born and how he emerged as a radical preacher of a new way to God. His message of the reign of God (Kingdom of God or Imperial rule of God) challenged the dominant political, economic and religious status quo and became a threat to the rule of Caesar (imperial rule of Caesar and Rome), and the world of oppressive economics and institutionalised religion. Jesus’ message of revolutionary, non-violent Love cut through the hate, divisions, and elitist agendas of his day. For Jesus, the reign of God was a Way rooted in the harsh realities of everyday political life and offered to bring about its transformation. For this life’s mission and message, the political and religious elite had Jesus executed on a Roman cross, a death reserved as a cruel punishment for those deemed political or religious agitators. Jesus’ life and message had no false dualism or any separation of ‘faith’ and ‘politics’.
A broader understanding of ‘politics’ is essential
By the time I embarked on my post-graduate studies at UCT and my Historical Jesus research, my own critical and creative thinking about faith, spirituality and politics was already in formation for many years. What deepened was my appreciation of the Worlds of the Bible, and my thinking about God, Jesus, faith, the Bible, and what it means to be a follower of Christ in our contemporary world. My exposure to the social-scientific approaches while at UCT also helped grow and develop my understanding of the social world of the Bible.
Around this time, Marcus J Borg (1942-2015) was one Christian scholar and author in the academy who helped to give clearer shape and substance to my way of thinking and practice. Borg understood that taking the Bible seriously should mean taking politics seriously. As Borg notes, “the major voices in the Bible from beginning to end are passionate advocates of a different kind of world here on earth and here and now.” Borg continues:
Many American Christians [and I would add, many Christians across the world] are wary of doing this for more than one reason. Some are so appalled by the politics of the Christian Right [and other politics grounded in conservative and fundamentalist religion] that they have rejected the notion that Christianity has anything to do with politics. Moreover, the word “politics” has negative associations in our time. Many think of narrowly partisan politics, as if politics is merely about party affiliation. Many also dismiss politics as petty bickering, as ego-driven struggles for power, even as basically corrupt.
But there is a broader meaning to the word that is essential. This broader meaning is expressed by the linguistic root of the English word. It comes from the Greek word polis, which means “city.” Politics is about the shape and shaping of “the city” and by extension of large-scale human communities: kingdoms, nations, empires, worlds. In this sense, politics matters greatly: it is about the structures of a society. Who rules? In whose benefit? What is the economic system like? — fair, or skewed toward the wealthy and powerful? What are the laws and conventions of the society like? Hierarchical? Patriarchal? Racist? Xenophobic? Homophobic?
For Christians, especially in a democratic society in which they are a majority, these questions matter. To abandon politics means leaving the structuring of society to those who are most concerned to serve their own interests. It means letting the Pharaohs and monarchs and Caesars and domination systems, ancient and modern, put the world together as they will.
…Not every Christian is called to be an activist. But all are called to take seriously God’s dream for a more just and nonviolent world.
[Source: Marcus J Borg (2014). Conviction: How I learned what matters most, pp165 -167]
Three ‘parabolic events’ which compelled me to come to grips with the social meaning of the Gospel.
So, when I embarked on my postgraduate studies at UCT (1988-1989), I had already come to see how this connection between faith and politics is embodied in the life and mission of Jesus, the 1st-century Palestinian Jew.
In 1979, into the 6th year of my time in a conservative local Christian community, a number of leaders in the Youth group, including myself, (all people of colour) felt an urgent call of God for us to forge relationships across the racial divide in South Africa (SA), with many Christians in the White community. Personally, I had been prepared for this call of God by at least three ‘parabolic events’ which compelled me to come to grips with the social meaning of the Gospel.
The first event occurred in June 1976 during my 1st year of undergraduate study for a BA degree at UCT. It was the aftermath of the black student uprising in Soweto, the sprawling black enclave created for black [African] people on the outskirts of the white-controlled city of Johannesburg. To the present day, Soweto 16 June 1976 remains one of the powerful symbols of black protest against the system of apartheid. Initially, the protest grew out of black dissatisfaction and frustration with white Nationalist Government educational policies which required the use of Afrikaans (considered the language of the oppressor) in the teaching of high school subjects. Very soon the entire community of Soweto, and indeed the whole of SA, was plunged into turmoil as Indian and Coloured schools came out in solidarity with the Soweto students. Predictably, Government policy and Police action were swift and brutal. Scores of students were killed or seriously injured and many hundreds were arrested and detained. This in turn set in motion a spiral of violence that wove a whirlwind of destruction throughout SA. At the time I was driven to ask what it really meant to follow Jesus Christ and what the Gospel really meant in the midst of this crisis? Here began a second conversion in my life. I began a quest for the social and political relevance of the Gospel in SA. This quest still continues today, albeit in a different form and at a different level.
The second event that precipitated my new search for God was when I attended the South African Christian Leadership Conference (SACLA) in Pretoria in 1979. Thousands of Christian leaders came together from a variety of backgrounds, white and black (including Asian, Coloured and African), and from all over SA as well as from other parts of the world such as Africa, the USA, and Central America. The overarching theme of SACLA was the meaning of the Kingdom of God in the SA context. Particularly important among the leaders who addressed plenary sessions at SACLA was the late Baptist and missiologist from Puerto Rico, Orlando Costas. He spoke of the pain, suffering and oppression of the people in Central and Latin America as the result of USA-backed oligarchies in these regions. He also expounded the meaning of Christian mission in terms of the total liberation of God, not only for his own context, but also for the SA context. Perhaps more important for me at the time was not so much the words Orlando Costas proclaimed, but rather the passion with which he spoke about the true and costly nature of Christian missions and discipleship. This has left another deep impression on my life and has been another event that has pushed me to explore the meaning of Christian faith ‘from the underside’, that is, from the perspective of the poor and the oppressed.
The third event occurred midway through 1984 while studying for a Diploma in Theology at a local seminary. I had been challenged by the alternative perspectives of ‘Third World’ theologies and especially by Liberation theology in Latin America and the kind that had started to emerge in SA. I became increasingly convinced of God’s preferential option for the poor and the oppressed, and of God’s unequivocal commitment to justice, peace, and reconciliation in the world, including the world of SA. My theological discovery of God’s commitment to the poor and oppressed in SA found more practical expression in many groups I have been privileged to be a part of. These include the Student Union for Christian Action in 1984-1985 which provided me with the space to study God’s Word contextually and to engage in actions around such issues as justice, peace and liberation; the Baptists for Social Concern in 1985-86 which had a similar focus to SUCA, but mainly within the Baptist churches; and the Non-Violent Direct Action group of which I was an active member in 1987-1988.
But for me, spirituality and politics also continue to give shape and substance to my life and vocation. As I earlier came to understand the inseparable connection of ‘faith’ and ‘politics’, so I now I also accept more and more deeply the inseparable connections between ‘spirituality’, ‘life’, and ‘vocation’. I prefer describing this as my way of life, indeed, my way of being and way of doing in the world.
Two of my poems speak (sing!) to this sense of life and vocation that I am invited to live into:
Sing your song! Open your heart, and let it vibrate with joy, Let the sheer, sacred love of life and living, Flow forth melodious and magnificent, Let the shameless serenity of your exuberant voice, Fill the sunken spirits and touch the downcast dreams, Let your bold and healing tunes transform the craziness of the world! Sing your song! No matter the rhythm or the rhyme, Pay no attention to the deftness or not of the beat, Bellow forth courageously and let your song be heard everywhere, Let it turn so much mourning into riotous rejoicing, May the profound pain of wounds find their holy healing, And may you invite others into the dance of delight! Sing your song! And with sweet, sustaining, sonorous sound, Let your unique and humble being continue to resound. © Roger Arendse 20190407
Show Up!
Your being here is enough,
This is your exquisite gift to life all around;
Embrace the call to be who you are,
Let the gentle tugs of Spirit energise your essence!
Wake up to the glorious outflow of gratitude,
Let the streams of possibility carry you forward,
Breathe in the Life forces of love and compassion,
Open to the incandescent joy of being!
You are enough as a bulwark against what would make you less,
Your life is filled with Divine magnificence,
The past pain and future fear are but false gods,
You are created for the powerful now of your being!
Show up with conscious curiosity of mind!
Show up with attentive compassion of heart!
Show up with awakened courage of will!
Show up to the All of your irrepressible and created being!
© Roger Arendse 20190107
Reflection:
How do you understand the relationship between ‘spirituality’ and ‘politics’?
Set aside quality time to do a ‘life review’, and identify in particular the various influencers on your own life and vocation.
What story or song about your life and vocation do you have to share?
Please feel free to share your own thoughts, feelings, and responses to the above blog. And also, do connect with me should you be interested in any of the above themes, and/or you feel you could benefit from a coaching conversation related to ‘spirituality.'