What Would Jesus Do?

Religious leaders recently descended on Washington to weigh in on the immigration debate. Scripture was thick as the Bible was quoted from Leviticus and Micah through Matthew and Luke. Contradictions, or seeming contradictions, abounded. We were reminded that we are obliged to care for the least among us. We were also reminded that we are obliged to obey the law. Atheists no doubt smiled as the Bible was often turned in on itself and exposed as a seeming jumble of contradictory injunctions. It is not difficult to find scripture to support virtually any position one might take: especially for amateur scholars and theologians. But there is a thread through all the injunctions and commandments that is too frequently ignored by those who expound scripture. That thread is that the commandments and injunctions are addressed to people, not governments.

There is an ethical imperative to help those in need as those who descended on Washington pointed out. But that imperative does not fall on governments or societies. It falls on each and everyone of us. We were not instructed to support candidates and policies to help those in need. We are to take care of those in need, not the government. We are to love our neighbors as our self, not the government. Jesus was careful to avoid enjoining the state to do any of the tasks or follow any of the commandments He placed before mankind. He consistently refused to be drawn into taking a position on policy. Perhaps the ultimate example of Jesus' refusal to involve himself in the political affairs of men is when He refused Satan's offer of the world. Certainly it was within Jesus' power to effect any political change He thought was merited. But He refused to do so. That is because Jesus did not come to right wrongs or remedy injustice. He did not come to establish a perfect state. He came for mankind, one soul at a time.

The answer to the question of what Jesus would do regarding immigration policy, abortion, gay marriage, or any other controversial issue confronting the nation is absolutely nothing. He did nothing two thousand years ago and most likely He would do nothing today other than what He did then. He would tell us to love our neighbors as ourselves, tend to the least among us, and give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. If we did as Jesus asked, everything else would take care of itself and that is precisely the point. Nations and politics come and go. Issues come and go. But people remain and people are what it is all about.

Jesus did not come to fix the world. He came to fix our souls. Good laws and good societies come from good souls. There is no other place for them to come from. It is our job to love our neighbor and take care of those in need, not the government's. Voting democrat or republican and paying your taxes doesn't count.

Jesus didn't go to Rome and lobby the Senate. He did not propose policy or advocate for laws. He stayed in an obscure part of the empire and spoke with prostitutes and tax collectors. It is not a question of what Jesus would do. It is a matter of what Jesus did. We can learn a lot from Jesus.