What Would Jesus Do? – Ep. 1

(a special welcome to our very first contributor – ratcliffem)

 

Amongst a group of uni friends I am the resident Christian conservative. Last November I attended an Election Day party with these friends of whom, being uni students, were mostly left-wing Labor voters. I was frequently asked who I voted for with the expected response being the Liberal Party. They were often surprised to hear that as a Christian, though relatively liberal, conservative I put Labor ahead of Liberal on the ballot sheets.

 

 

It’s an interesting idea, the ‘Conservative Christian’, when Jesus clearly held liberal (with a littlelle – Ed.) views. There are conservatives and then there are conservatives, there are Christians and then there are Christians. I consider myself a conservative Christian in the sense that I hold values close to those preached by Jesus. On the other hand, a significant proportion of people now align themselves with Conservative Christianity, that is Christians who hold Conservative right-wing views. In a sense that has been what bearing the title Christian has come to imply these days, that you hold Conservative political views. Many liberal Christians are now simply calling themselves Jesus Followers in order to distance themselves from right-wing Christianity.

Anyway, my point is that, it seems that in today’s world if you are a Christian it is implied you will support right-wing conservative political parties, when Jesus, whom Christianity is based on, quite clearly held left-wing liberal political views. Right-wing parties such as the Liberal Party and Family First seem to drum up Christian support on the basis that they hold conservative Christian family values. Contrary to this notion of family first, Jesus put following himself ahead of family every time (Matthew 8:21-22 and Matthew 12:47-49). And what does following Jesus mean?

 

 

Following Jesus means loving God, and it is clearly indicated in the Bible as to how to show love for God. Following Jesus, showing love for God, means caring for the poor, the hungry, the sick, and those in need (Matthew 25:31-46). These are values more aligned with liberal thinking than conservative. Jesus was about loving others as much as yourself (Matthew 22:39), sharing the wealth around. In recent times at least, conservative governments are known for privatising services, user pays, increasing the divide between the rich and poor. On the other hand, liberal governments are known for increasing community services, better public healthcare, giving people a more equal social standing. (For instance, a dislike of mine is the way the previous right-wing Australian Federal government gave increasing amounts of money to private schools rather than providing for the public schools that desperately need better funding.)

 

 

I’m reminded of the popular 90’s motto WWJD, “What Would Jesus Do?”…

 

Given the choice between a government that is more concerned with business and personal wealth and a government that is concerned with social equality in education and health, I know which one Jesus would choose.