What Side is Jesus on in Minneapolis?

Is Jesus with the local citizens supporting the oppressed? Or with the ICE and Border Patrol Agents enforcing the law?

The answer may be more complicated than it appears at first glance. It’s easy to conclude that Jesus is with those marching for peace, justice and equitable treatment for all. But I think the trap we may fall into is viewing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents as a single homogeneous unit of mask-wearing thugs. Might we actually find Jesus in the space between the two?

First, a reality check: What we know about Jesus and the downtrodden

In the 2019 book The Time is Now, the then 84-year old (she’s now 89) Benedictine nun and activist Sister Joan Chittister reminds us how Jesus lived. This is not the sanitized version of Jesus we hear about in many churches and in popular culture. This is a more progressive Jesus, the one who moves amongst all people, regardless of their race, sex, or country of origin. Chittister tells us:

Jesus moved with drunkards and sinners. He healed the outcast and the enemy. He gathered women as well as men to his side. He chastised leaders who overlooked the poor; he defied the doctrine of sexism that religions use to make male minsters superior. He stood up and in a clear voice declared wrong any policies, sacred or secular, that burdened the backs of the powerless and crushed the spirits of the poor.

Sister Joan asks us to “live as Jesus lived.” During his life, Jesus reached down to lift everyone up and Chittister believes that we should again follow his lead. That means standing up for the persecuted and speaking out for those who have no voice. This is especially true when we see or hear about acts that are spiritually and morally indefensible. (And we’ve seen plenty of those.)

This idea of supporting the downtrodden is reinforced by Jesus in the Bible. In Matthew 25:40, he states, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” In other words, an act of service and compassion for the vulnerable and marginalized, like immigrants, are regarded as service directly to and for Jesus.

What about the ICE and Border Patrol Agents?

 It’s easy to loop all of these federal agents into a single group. ICE = BAD. But the reality is almost certainly more nuanced. Just like every member of an extended family, a pro football team, or even a sewing circle are not comprised of the same people, it’s safe to say there are personal differences in the people (87% men) that comprise ICE and Border Patrol agents. My conjecture is they can be split up into three distinct groups:

• Group 1. Those who believe both in the mission and the ultra-aggressive tactics they employ.
• Group 2. Those who believe in the mission of enforcing immigration laws but not in the tactics being used.
• Group 3. Those who are agents because they need a job with decent pay and benefits to support their families. They are not on board with the mission or its tactics.

For a moment, let’s forget the first group. It’s the second and especially the third group that I wonder about. Do they go to work with a pit in their stomach each day? Do they hope or pray each day that they’ll get home to their families safely? Do some have the creeping feeling inside that what they’re doing is morally wrong?

Before you dismiss these federal agents outright, remember that Jesus engaged with tax collectors, among the most-hated government employees of his time. They collected money for the Roman empire, which was viewed as a foreign occupying power. Jesus was known to share meals with tax collectors (see Mark 2:15-17), as “he came for the spiritually sick, not the righteous.” And Matthew, another tax collector, left his trade to become one of the twelve apostles.

My guess is there are many agents who are morally conflicted when they see families being torn apart and innocent Americans being yanked out of their cars, pepper-sprayed, beat up, murdered. It’s a situation where the system is breaking the souls of the people it employs. It is these agents we should pray for—that they come upon a light in the darkness and find a better, more humane way forward.

 “We have to be about something greater than ourselves.” ~Sister Joan

The “something greater” Chittister is talking about is God, be it in the form of Jesus, Allah, Nature, or whatever you call the supreme force or entity that holds our world together. It is a living, breathing reality. This quiet, persistent voice of out innermost selves may remind us that, in the words of Sister Joan, “the work of God is in our hands.”

Now for the troubling part: Some people in the U.S. see a flawed human being and a political movement as the “something greater” than themselves. That is a shaky and ultimately hollow foundation to build one’s life on. Because what is at its core? It’s definitely not love and instead resembles something closer to cruelty. It’s worshipping power over worshipping God.

Chittister concludes that Jesus would want us to follow his lead—to stand up for the disenfranchised, to speak out for those who have no voice, to take right action when we see or hear about acts that are spiritually and morally indefensible. We can choose to do nothing and claim we are powerless. Or we can ask ourselves, what would Jesus do if he were here in our midst?

In closing, let’s circle back to the question at the top of this story; Which side is Jesus on? It’s a trick question really because there is no single answer. Jesus is with the immigrants who are scared and vulnerable. Jesus is with the citizens who have the courage to act and speak out on their behalf. And yes, he is also with the federal agents who are spiritually suffering. Jesus does not choose sides.