Unreliable Allies

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom..."
-John 18:36


Last week I was in Washington DC when I bumped into an old friend who reminded me of an amazing quote from Karl Barth. 

We were both there as a part of Faithful Resistance, a public witness for immigrant justice organized by the Methodist Church and led by thousands of clergy and faith leaders from different traditions. I went with some other local pastors. We worshipped and prayed together, and then we walked down to the Capitol to call publicly for reform in how immigrants—both documented and undocumented— are being treated in our country. It was so incredibly hopeful to see thousands of Christian communities represented, working together in the name of Christ's mercy. There were some politicians there, too. 

In fact, after the public witness, a small group of us from Delaware met with our state's congressional offices. We genuinely thanked the ones who had been working to pass laws that supported human rights and due process. We asked them to take it further and resist harm and help shift the very real culture of fear that exists right now. It was a very meaningful day to be a part of.

As I've written before, I have always felt a tension when I'm in environments that can be deemed "political" (though what environment isn't political these days??). Even when I see leaders who support things that Jesus prioritizes, I know that power and money and elections and constituencies are all in the mix. And each of these things can corrupt the moral center that God has given us. So I feel a whisper in my soul to be careful in those environments. Admittedly, that has often kept me away from any civic involvement at all. 

In a brief conversation with my old friend, he felt similarly and reminded me of Barth’s statement. Karl Barth was a Swiss theologian whose work on God's self-revelation in Christ made him one of the most significant Protestant voices of the twentieth century. He was a key leader in the Confessing Church, the Christian opposition movement to Hitler and Nazism in Germany. 

Barth wrote, “If the Church is to practice the teachings of Christ, it must be ‘an unreliable ally’ to every social, political, and governmental order of this world.”

Wow, did that ever resonate. I realized that yes, that's the line that feels faithful. Not just in the political realities that we may find ourselves in, but in ALL realities. All allegiances. All commitments. Anything that could court us for loyalty. 

Our calling to the systems of the world—whether they be countries, political ideologies, political parties, religious traditions, or charismatic leaders— is to be remain intentionally unreliable anytime they stand in opposition to the goodness of God's kingdom.

Jesus came to invite us out of the world's systems, while still living right in them. My kingdom is not of this world, Jesus said in John 18. And yet only a few hours earlier, Jesus had prayed plainly that God would not remove his disciples from the world, but rather that the Father would protect them from evil— evil that pulls at one's identity and tempts one to forsake their integrity. The call isn't to be outside that world, but to function within it in a different sort of way. 

Jesus knew that we'd have to navigate the world's systems, and he knew how tempting power and loyalty and tribalism can be. So he prayed that they would be able to live in the world, but never see themselves as fully belonging to it. I think, maybe, that's what it means to be unreliable allies. We would link up and work together for goodness and mercy and justice and forgiveness whenever we can. And we would never become so fully aligned with any system that we lose our ability to name it when it causes harm. Jesus' prayer in John 17 remains powerful for us today. 

When we find ourselves leaning toward allegiance to a lesser kingdom that isn't reflecting the character of Christ, our support and cooperation should not be given. We ought to challenge anything that does not care about the poor, the mourning, the meek, the hungry, the beat up, the broken down, and the condemned. We learned this from Jesus.

I'm learning to live in the tension—to be willing to partner with systems wherever there is goodness, mercy, and justice—but never to the point of loyalty to anything but Jesus. I want to be an unreliable ally.

Our country has just begun another war. And lives that are precious to God will be lost, and new enemies will be created. Because that is what war does. It creates the next generation of enemies. War is hell. Please refuse to sanitize it. 

I expect that wherever this conflict leads, we who follow the Jesus who weeps for our violent culture (Luke 19:41) will find ourselves in a lonely place. We who follow the Jesus who loves our enemies (Matt 5:44) and died to save them (Rom 5:10) may find no perfect political home. But our God, who takes no pleasure in even the deaths of the wicked (Ez 33:11), will lead us always in a movement of compassion and nonviolent action for all who are suffering. I hope we can link arms with whoever is also advocating for the value of all human life wherever possible. 

So, my friends, let's keep being allies wherever we can, working together to impact the social, political, and governmental systems of the world whenever they can help bring the things that make for peace and human flourishing. But stay unreliable when any system demands your allegiance, because Jesus is calling us to build something far more beautiful than any human system can contain.

Jesus, give me discernment, courage, and love today. 

Peace,
Keith