What would Jesus ask?
TheMIghtyLCUCC
The country is digesting the results of the debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. It is a time when a large part of our country tunes in to listen in on what the candidates for president have to say. This is moderated by someone from the media company that is hosting the debate. CNN was the host of the debate and will moderate the questions.
These debates were meant to be a way for those of us tuning in to make an educated decision as to who we might vote for in the upcoming election. The questions were thought out and the moderator tries to help move the debate along in a sensible manner.
Well…not so much anymore.
For years, ever since I was a little kid sitting with my dad watching Walter Payton play for the Chicago Bears, I have enjoyed watching the games. Even today I still sit down on most Sundays and watch a game or two. We like our rivalries. We like it when our team is playing against the other team we have been taught to dislike. For instance, the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears are not friends. It’s the rivalry between the two teams that don’t like each other that gets our blood moving. We like it when our team wins and hate it when our team loses, especially loses to our rival teams.
A few years ago, I was tuning into a presidential debate. Two to three weeks prior to the actual debate most networks would air ads so that folks would turn their remote to that channel for the pre-debate discussion and the post-debate opinion, spin, debate about the debate, post-debate show. One of those ads reminded me of a pre-game football ad that would beg us to tune in to the rivalry that was the upcoming game of the week on a given channel.
I remember watching one of the pre-debate ads and it reminded me of the pre-game ad that was airing during the week. They seemed to match. But the narrative caused me to pause.
The pre-debate ad was almost as conflict inducing as the football ad. It occurred to me. What are we doing to ourselves with these presidential debates.
They have lost their intellectual appeal. They seemed to have lost all value for the common good of our nation as an informed electorate. These debates have increasingly turned into a sort of reality show instead of an intellectual conversation about the trajectory of our nation.
In a sense we are tuning into a game of the week between two rivalry teams instead of watching to gather information about each candidate for the President of these United States of America.
I wonder.
What would Jesus ask? What if Jesus was the moderator of these debates? What kind of questions would He ask of the candidates? What would Jesus be interested in?
If we want to explore what Jesus might ask, we can turn to His words. If we want to ponder in our spirit what Jesus would ask, we can turn to his ministry.
This becomes relevant when we think about what kind of world do we wish to live in. What kind of leadership are we looking for? Who will guide us as we continue the work of creating a nation of true freedom for everyone.
What kind of world do we want to live in and who will guide us in creating that world?
A deeper question may be, is what do we believe, as Christians, we are called to do and be. Even more important is what we believe we are called to do as human beings. Are we called to care for our fellow humans? Are we called to co-create with God a more just world where everyone can live in freedom and thrive.
Is Jesus interested in every human of every expression living in freedom to be who they are? Does Jesus honor and protect the Divine Spark in all of humanity for all time? Again, if we want to know that answer we can look to the Gospel story.
Some would say that the most concise expression of the ministry of Jesus, the calling of God on all of humanity, could be found in the beatitudes. This might guide us in our wondering.
The Beatitudes were recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke as concise sayings which Jesus expressed in a mountain top sermon with a large crowd listening in on His wisdom.
Again, these become relevant as we ponder the direction of our country. Not as a Christian nation but a nation that holds the value of each human in highest regard and Jesus being one of the many expressions of Divine Love alive in the world.
What would Jesus ask? What is Jesus interested in? What kind of leadership is Jesus expecting from us now?
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
It seems that these beatitudes guided the ministry of Jesus.
If we understand the importance of these beatitudes, we may interpret Jesus’s expectations for us now. From there we imagine what Jesus may ask as the moderator of any leadership debate today, and what does Jesus expect of His church.
How are you treating the poor among you?
How are you sitting with those who are grieving?
How are you tending to the downtrodden?
How are you seeking righteousness, right-relationship with your fellow humans?
How have you shown mercy to your neighbor today?
How are you seeking God’s presence in your heart?
How are you making peace in your community?
How have you put your privilege on the line?
How have you been ridiculed for giving up a piece of your privilege?
What would Jesus ask?
I was thinking about this, noodling on it as it were, while I was on a Zoom call with Christena Cleveland. We started talking about and laughing about what would Jesus do in response to the debate. What types of questions would he ask.
With a smile and a chuckle, we agreed that Jesus would be outside the debate hall feeding those who were hungry. Jesus would probably not engage in the silliness of the debate. Instead, he’d be high on a mountaintop feeding and teaching. To take this a step further, the attendees would then begin to flow from the debate center to see what Jesus was up to. One by one the arena would be emptied as folks realized how hungry they were for a refreshing, abundant filled presence and message. They would realize the foolishness of the event and begin to look for authenticity instead of fake empathy, fear, anger, division, lying and incompetence.
What would Jesus ask if he was the moderator of the debate?
“What are you doing to help my brothers and sisters who live out here in the reality of the world?”
Come on out here. Come on down from your towers and your temples.
Come be a part of this new kin-dom, which God is creating in your midst.
If you follow me, we can all live in the eternal peace of God.
No matter anyones faith practice or even no faith practice at all. No matter if you follow Jesus or any other wisdom teacher. It may do us all good to find a person, organization, book, app, channel, or faith that helps us listen to the best that humanity has to offer.
I cannot thank Dr. Christena Cleveland enough for the influence she has had on my ministry and my life. I have been following Christena Cleveland for a few years now. I enjoy her strength, wisdom, unyielding truth telling, and her connection to and expression of the movement of the Divine.
You can find out Christena Cleveland Phd. here: https://christenacleveland.com