In Our World But Not Of Our World

In Our World But Not of Our World

(Part One of the Give Us Barabbas series)

Our reading this week is from the gospel of John:

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

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“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:33-37)

Let’s unpack the language John’s author uses, of Jesus’ Kingdom being from another place and not this world. Christians have long understood this language in such a way as to discourage them from civic engagement and activity. It is why certain Christians are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good. Let’s consider what the Johannine community thought about “the world” and determine whether we can redeem this language at all.

First, the Johannine Jesus-following community viewed our concrete, material world, including our flesh/bodies, as a negative and something our “spirits” needed to be liberated from. This is how salvation was defined by this community. In 1 John 2:16, we find this community equating our concrete, physical reality and things they considered bad:

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16)

John’s gospel uses this dualistic language when Jesus meets Pilate:

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” (John 15:18-19)

“They [Jesus’ disciples] are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14-16)

“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:18-19)

Again, this kind of language has led to some deeply problematic interpretations. Some Christians completely disregard the injustice, oppression, violence, and therefore concrete suffering people are experiencing now and focus solely on saving their “souls” for postmortem heaven later. Honestly, I’m struggling a bit this week. In the wake of the recent election, I sincerely wish Christians were less involved here and now. If Christians’ civic participation is going to result in harm for women, my LGBTQ and immigrant friends, and so many others, I would rather they do just focus on heaven. Please stay out of the affairs of our society! If Christians do engage society, we must ensure our actions make our communities a safe, more just, more compassionate place for everyone or we end up doing more harm than good.

In John, responding to Jesus’ statement about being on the side of truth, Pilate asks, “What is Truth?” Let’s explore that a bit next.

(Read Part 2)

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