The Decolonized Christian – Helping the Church to decolonize.

Guns, Militarism, and the Myth of Christian Empire

“The gentle depressiveness of so many European and North American churches is their practical acceptance of militarism. They have no hope because they trust in the death-dealing peace of those who build up arms. Money and violence go together: Those who have made money their god must make security their national ideology and armaments their political priority.” — Dorothee Sölle
Dorothee Sölle, “The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality” (p. 18)

This quote comes to mind every time a scripture reference is used to incite violence, as well as each time another mass shooting occurs.

While an issue that surpasses America, (Christian) America’s tie to nationalism and ardent militarism offers a most chilling example of a Christianity that is death dealing—a toxic religion that dominates and destroys rather than heals or restores. It’s utterly terrifying religion; it’s “fruits” are terrorism. When observing the intersection of mainstream Christian America’s obsession with guns, personal “rights” and “freedoms,” and mass shootings, this becomes even more blatantly evident.

The writer of 1 Timothy was on to something when they stated that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (see 1 Timothy 6:10). When considering the lobbying power of the NRA and other such pseudo-military organizations and their tie to Christian nationalism in America, it is evident that money is being prioritized over human lives.

At the heart of the world’s great faith traditions (Indigenous traditions included), life—and particularly, human life—is sacred. All of creation is connected and reciprocal. When a faith tradition is twisted and/or co-opted by dominators as a tool to further their control over people, external factors always get elevated above life and/or human flourishing (this is where many religions address the “problem of evil”). Money, power, and influence are three underlying impulses that easily seduce even the best of us, but are of particular concern to those who seek to further their control over others. This is, in my opinion, the root of the term “idolatry” that many faith traditions warn about. Because of how rampant it is, and the fact that we are all susceptible to it, we must learn to recognize it. I am convinced that idolatry occurs any time an external factor is elevated above human flourishing.

Notably, Empire obsesses over money, power, and influence. It cannot exist without these inclinations. This is where the Way of Jesus is so important—and so scandalous—in the face of Empire. Rome called their expansionism “good news” while using sheer military domination to gain power over people. Jesus offered an alternative “good news” for those on the underside of Rome that inevitably got Him lynched because it was a threat to the powers that be. But that only fuelled the Jesus movement. Communities that intentionally crossed cultural and economic barriers (arguably a brand new development for human evolution) began popping up all over. The Way of Jesus was alive and it was truly good news to those stuck under the bootstrap of Rome!

This movement sadly got co-opted by the same Roman Empire that executed Jesus in the first place. Empire hijacked the Jesus Way and placed the cross within the sword and shield—the terroristic weaponry that Rome’s military used for further expansionism to gain even more control over people. Ever since, there have always been two Christianities at odds: the Way of Jesus and the way of Christian Empire.

How did the Way of Jesus get swallowed up by Empire? It was the allure of money, influence, and control masked as security. Rome ceased its persecution of Christians and granted state power to the Vatican. Empire became Christianized—the very thing the book of Revelation warned against. While they claimed Christ for themselves, it was in fact anti-Christ because they used Jesus as a mascot to endorse warfare and domination over people. The cross, originally a Roman tool of execution (which symbolized Jesus’ willingness to die rather than pick up the sword), once again became used to slaughter people—this time via the sword.

Furthermore, theology became less community-oriented and more individualistic-focused. Liberative aspects of theology were intentionally drowned out; many were deemed “heretical” by the Roman church. Pelagius was one such example. He was at odds with Augustine over the topic of “original sin” that Augustine invented and pushed on the Roman church. Pelagius vehemently rejected it and instead sought the original (inherited) goodness of all creation. “Pelagianism”eventually became a heresy, largely due to Augustine’s relentless pursuit to ensure his theology won over the hearts and minds of those in high places (he did this by placating to powerful people).

America is merely the latest case in point of an empire that uses religion to bolster its control over people. Christian nationalists seek to further Christianize the American landscape using force and manipulation. Its military is the largest the world has ever seen, and its gun obsession has resulted in exponentially worse gun violence. America could slash its military budget in half and it would still have the largest military budget in the world by far. Whether the fervent reverence of the Second Amendment or the obsessive nature of the corporatist lobbying power of the NRA (examples of Americanism and capitalism as sacralized in the fabric of corporate Christian America), there is clearly very little of the cruciform Christ in American Christianity.

Furthermore, guns are an obsession for much of Christian America. Truly, guns are as anti-Christ as it comes. Guns steal. Guns kill. Guns destroy. They are the epitome of violence. And it’s the people who refuse to give up their money, power, and influence who prevent any change from happening. As a result, people continue to die. Children die. It’s abominable.

Christian nationalism is the epitome of idolatry. Christian nationalism is fuelled by money, power and influence with a fervour that is masked as “Christian.” Christian nationalism is a paternalistic energy that claims it has something the world needs—when in fact it’s a continuation of the colonial project, and a forceful interjection of American values. It’s oxymoronic to the Way of Jesus; the two literally cannot coexist.

It’s time to reject the colonizing project of Empire disguised as Christian nationalism and instead seek the nonviolent cruciform Way of Jesus. Christ truly needs to be put back into America (oh, the irony). American Christianity desperately needs saving from its destructive self.

__________________

For further reading:

“The Window of Vulnerability: A Political Spirituality” by Dorothee Sölle.

See her essay titled “Christofascism” here: https://newtranscendentalist.medium.com/christofascism-by-dorothee-s%C3%B6lle-633273379b68

For more on Pelagius, see the chapter titled as such from “Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul” by John Philip Newell.

For a history of the rise of the Roman church and it’s ties to colonialism, see “Unsettling Truths” by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah.

For more on Christian nationalism as idolatry, see “Christians Against Christianity” and “The Politics of Jesus” by Obery M. Hendricks Jr.

For a history of how corporate America sought to create a “Christian” America, see “One Nation Under God” by Kevin M. Kruse and “American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism” by Matthew Avery Sutton.

“Absolute Truth” and the God of the Oppressed

“Truth is a question not only of what is but of what ought to be. What is, is determined by the existing societal relations of material production, with the ruling class controlling the means of production as well as the intellectual forces which justify the present political arrangements. What ought to be is defined by what can be through the revolutionary praxis of the proletarian class, overthrowing unjust societal conditions. Thus the future is introduced into the historical process, wherein thought is shaped by open human possibilities.”
— James H. Cone, “God of the Oppressed”

Many Christians in the West get hung up on the concept of “Absolute Truth.” We have an obsession with “truth” as an unbiased, tangible reality that ought to be achieved or pursued.

First of all, truth is a good thing! Just consider the absence of truth and how problematic that has turned out to be: Our world is rampant with “fake news” and “alternative facts;” conspiracy theories, scientific skepticism, and political biases are at an all-time high. We need truth more than ever. We need something to ground us.

Here is where the lines get blurred. It is frequent that “truth” gets defined by those in power: Those with influence or (as Cone says) those in charge of the means of production. If a ruling class suggests “truth” is their specific way of thinking and being in the world, an entire system ends up being built to uphold that “truth.”

This is what we have in the West. Our Western systems are built using a framework of truth as defined by the White ruling class. Our economic systems, political systems, justice systems, policing systems, incarceration systems, and even faith systems (to name a few) are all built on a foundation of truth as portrayed through the lens of the ruling class. This is White supremacy. This is a skewed perception of reality that dominates over other realities, as it claims it alone possess the “truth.”

Truth cannot be unbiased and absolutized by ignoring those outside dominant systems. Further, truth cannot be absolute if it isn’t true for those who don’t fit into said dominant systems. This system doesn’t merely not work for those it excludes; it is also oppressive towards them. In the West, this is especially true of BIPOC.

James Cone suggests those who are oppressed by the dominant class have a perspective that is vital to any conversation surrounding truth. They deeply understand the ways the dominant system is flawed because these flaws have real-life negative results that directly impact them. This gives oppressed people a unique lens in that they experience how the system doesn’t work for them, yet they know how it ought to be (or how it could be fixed). They experience first-hand the ways the system is exclusive and oppressive. This brings us to an important point: Any conversation about fixing a broken system must begin with and be led by those who are oppressed by said system. If these conversations happen only with people who benefit from a system the way it is, then it will inevitably continue to oppress those it excludes.

Overlooking and ignoring the voices of people who have been under the boot of an oppressive system will inevitably result in some sort of revolt. However, the violence of the oppressed is not the same as the violence of the oppressor. Injustice is perpetuated by treating both as the same.

This is precisely what was happening in Jesus’ day, too. The Jews were a colonized people living under Roman occupation. The Romans were ruthless; they had “perfected” execution to be the most intentionally painful and torturous form of (humiliating) death imaginable in order to discourage insurrection. Crucifixion demonstrated what Rome did to anyone who was deemed a threat to the status quo. This was systemic oppression.

Enter the provocative narrative of Barabbas. Barabbas is arguably the most misunderstood character from the gospel stories. As Western readers of the text, we need to learn to sympathize with Barabbas.

While Jesus was on trial in front of Pontus Pilate, it was customary procedure for Pilate to offer the release of one of the prisoners held captive in exchange for the newly accused individual on trial. According to Matthew’s gospel account, “Jesus Barabbas” is selected by Pilate. He lets the crowd decide: “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (Matthew‬ ‭27:17‬ ‭NRSV‬‬)

You may notice that this account is unique compared to the other gospel accounts in that it uses the prefix “Jesus” in front of Barabbas’ name. “Jesus” is Greek for the Hebrew name Yeshua (or Y’shua), which means “deliverer.” Understood in this light, it is important that we remove any preconceived notions we may have regarding Barabbas.

Barabbas was not a psychopathic crazy man utterly terrifying to behold, as we have often imagined. Barabbas was not an “evil” man. Rather, Barabbas’ intentions were good. Barabbas was a Zealot. He looked and played the part of a militant Jewish messiah. He was also a victim held captive by Rome. We must remember that Barabbas was an oppressed Jew living under Roman occupation as well. Zealots cared deeply for the liberation of their Jewish kin from the brutal colonization of the Romans. But what distinguished Jesus Barabbas from Jesus the Christ was that he was willing to use violent force to do so. In short, Barabbas was willing to fight to the death for the freedom of his people, while Jesus the Christ would rather die than pick up the sword.

The story goes that the crowd chose Barabbas and the path of violence, because the way of Jesus the Christ made no logical sense to them. We can’t blame them. The Way of Jesus must have looked absurd. To the Jews, Jesus’ path would only lead to inevitable death. How could this be liberating? Jesus, however, demonstrates through His death and resurrection a solidarity with all oppressed people. He exemplifies that violence is not the means to true liberation, and that true deliverance could only be achieved through His defeat of death itself. Violence may provide temporary freedom, but nothing permanent because violence always reproduces violence.

Why did I bring this up, you may ask? What does this have to do with absolute truth?

Both Barabbas and Jesus operated within a system that not only excluded them, but colonized them. They operated within a Roman system that told them how to exist in the world. Both were oppressed by this system, and desired freedom from Roman captivity. Both were examples of liberators who used very different means to achieve their desired outcomes. They both saw what was (oppressive Roman occupation), and desired what ought to be—liberation. Rome created the truth narrative, but it excluded the Jewish narrative. This is what empires do. Empires dominate.

Unfortunately, Barabbas’ plan backfired, and in 70 A.D. General Titus demolished Jerusalem, scattering the Jews from their homeland. Roman rule of Judea was not only restored but expanded. Violence begets violence begets violence. When will it stop?

This is why the cross of Jesus the Christ is so scandalous. The cross is Jesus’ way of subverting the narrative of Empire, ending the cycle of violence through the absorption of violence upon Himself. It was a radical act that not only subverted the colonial powers of Rome, but—wait for it—achieved a new reality that prioritized the oppressed. This is the upside-down “Kingdom of God” that Jesus preached, where the last will be first and the first will be last. It is a truth narrative that gives preference to oppressed people. Jesus is saying there’s an even better way than using violence to achieve deliverance from one’s enemies (that even includes forgiveness of said enemies). This is the scandalous good news of Jesus the Christ. It might be bad news to an oppressor at first, but if they are willing it has the power to liberate them as well. The Way of Jesus is truly liberating for all who are willing to see it!

Palm Sunday Reflections

“The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’” — Matthew‬ ‭21:9‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

Today the Church remembers Jesus the Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. It is also a day that the Church has historically used to fuel anti-Semitism, and I must make a disclaimer that I hope what I am about to say does not fuel such sentiments.

The Jewish people clearly believed Jesus to be their Saviour, as they shouted “hosanna” (save us)! The irony here is that the kind of “saviour” the crowd was expecting was much different than the kind of saving Jesus was about to do… which didn’t look much like saving at all. In fact, the only person who was “saved” was Jesus Barabbas (this was his full name as depicted in Matthew 27:16-17).

The first clue that Jesus the Christ was a different kind of Saviour was in His riding a donkey upon entrance into the city. A donkey is not the steed of choice by any military general (yes, you heard this correctly).

The kind of saviour the Jewish people were hoping for was a military saviour to liberate them from Roman occupation. Honestly I don’t blame them; the Romans were brutal. They often taxed conquered people more than they could afford (to the point where many people starved), they saw themselves as far superior over any peoples they colonized, and they had the most torturous forms of execution for anyone who rebelled (the Romans “perfected” execution into the most agonizing, slowest death possible). All this on top of the fact that the Romans were the biggest and most powerful superpower the world had ever seen.

There was also historical significance to Jesus’ theatrics. About 150 years prior to Jesus, Judas Maccabeus led a revolt against the Seleucid Empire—a Hellenistic state—and won.

“The successful revolt against Antiochus made Judas Maccabee a hero. The crowds celebrated his victory by waving palm branches. Judas, called ‘The Hammer,’ stamped the image of palm branches into coins to commemorate the victory”.

The waving of palm branches when Jesus rode into Jerusalem was significant, since the Maccabean precedent had been set before. The people were essentially asking Jesus to save them in the same manner they had previously been saved. This is why Jesus acts out in an epic display of political theatre: riding into the city on a donkey. Donkeys were a symbol of peace.

Jesus had other plans in regard to saving. While deeply concerned about the liberation of His own people, He was about to demonstrate what nonviolent resistance to powers and principalities looked like. Jesus would be arrested shortly after flipping tables in the temple (the temple had become a place where the rich exploited the poor; it had become a “den of robbers”). He was tried by Roman authorities in coalition with powerful religious elites. These same religious elites had a lot of sway in convincing the people to convict Jesus of death (in other words, they convinced the crowd to chose Jesus Barabbas, the insurrectionist who was willing to wield a sword to defeat the Romans over Jesus the Christ). Again, we cannot blame the Jewish people for choosing Jesus Barabbas. As Martin Luther King, Jr. so poignantly said regarding violence: “A riot is the language of the unheard”. The Jews had justifiable reasons to want revenge on their Roman oppressors. Still, only one Jesus is the Christ. Richard Rohr says that “you can tell a lot about someone by what they do with their pain. Do they transform it or do they transmit it?” Jesus Barabbas transmitted pain. Jesus the Christ transformed it and invites His followers to do the same. Christ would rather die than beget more violence.

This Palm Sunday, may we take heed of the warning in this story. What kind of “saviour” are we wanting Jesus to be?

Is He the “saviour” who defends our religious liberty; our personal “rights” and “freedoms”? Is He the “saviour” who upholds Christian nationalism or expansion of Christian empire? Is He the “saviour” who demands piety over all else? Is He the “saviour” who defeats His enemies wielding a sword (or a gun, or the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons)?

Or is Jesus the liberator of the oppressed? Is He the one who is setting captives free, defeating the “enemies” of death and shame? Is He the one “saving” us by demonstrating that true life comes from laying it down; a fullness of life brought forth by laying down privilege and power and prestige? Is He the one who cares more about abundance for all over the prosperity of the few? Is He the one who teaches an upside-down Kingdom where the last are first and the first are last? Is He the one giving oppressed people back their dignity? Is Jesus saving us by saying “no!” to violence, which only begets more violence?

We need the Holy Spirit more than ever to help us discern which religious authorities of our day have authority over our lives. Are these authorities using Jesus to prop up their own agenda for personal gain, or do they recognize the significance of a colonized Jew who was executed by a co-mingling of toxic religion and state? May the Lord give us eyes to see and ears to hear as we discern said voices by their fruit. Many religious leaders are preaching Jesus as Saviour disguised as Jesus Barabbas. Many multitudes continue to be deceived by their perversion of the gospel.

Today, which Jesus will we choose to follow? Whom will we serve? Only one Jesus is the Christ, and Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Which Jesus is willing to transform the pain of the world, and bring forth new life from the shadow of death? May we choose wisely.

Jesus or Caesar? The Way of Non-Violent Resistance

“Peace that comes through the annihilation of the enemy is no peace at all.” — Padraig O’Tuama

Peace through annihilation is the narrative of empire.

In Jesus’ day, the Roman Empire spread propaganda so that conquered people would pledge loyalty to Caesar. Caesar’s preferred term for himself was “son of God”, and every time a Roman army would conquer a people group they would manipulate them into believing the “good news” that they will be “saved” if they confess with their mouth that Caesar is lord. Notice how similar this is to Romans 10:9, which says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This verse, read in this light, is a counter-narrative to empire, exposing the lies empire propagates. This verse begs the questions: “Who is my Lord—Jesus or Caesar?” and “Whose ways lead to salvation?”

Fear, propaganda, manipulation, and force are no means to bring peace. It’s a false sense of peace; a veneer that allows those at the top to remain in power. The empire’s sense of peace comes through force. It comes through having more weapons, more chariots, more war planes, and more nuclear bombs than any other nation. It comes through stockpiling resources for the benefit of those on top at the expense of exploiting those on the bottom.

Walter Brueggemann calls this “pharaoh” economics, where wealth is hoarded, prosperity is individualized, and profits are accumulated at the expense of the poor, oppressed, and exploited. This is the system that the people of ancient Israel were delivered from; an entire nation who had suffocated under the boot of an empire that enslaved them. God delivered Israel from bondage, and intended them to be a people that practiced an economy of abundance. In this economy, resources were to be shared and everyone’s basic needs were to be looked after. They were to be a light to all other nations, putting into practice a particular concern for the poor, widow, and immigrant. At the heart of their economic system was the Year of Jubilee, where every 50 years all land was returned to the original owners, all debts were cancelled, and all slaves set free.

One of the first things Jesus did when He began His ministry was proclaim that the “Year of the Lord’s favour” is at hand (see Luke 4:17-21). The Year of the Lord’s favour was a direct reference to Jubilee. Here’s the catch: Jesus was the fulfillment of Jubilee! He’s taking it to its logical conclusion: Jubilee is here, now, every year.

The Way of Jesus is non-violent resistance to empire. It is standing up for the rights of the poor, in solidarity with those being exploited by the empire and systems that prop it up. It is radical neighbourly love that includes loving one’s enemies. The Way of Jesus is an invitation to humbly lay down our personal “rights” and pick up our own cross and follow Him.

Here is where a distinction must be made. Jesus teaches His followers not to resist an evildoer violently. Resist they must, but without using violence. This is not Jesus guiding His followers into docile passivity; rather it is an invitation into what Walter Wink calls a “third way”. For example, Jesus instructs His followers, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also” (Matthew 5:39 NRSV). Regarding this passage, Wink asks:

Why [does] Jesus reference the right cheek specifically? The answer is both challenging and enlightening. Jesus lived in a right-handed world where left hands were reserved only for unclean tasks. Therefore, we can assume that the person doing the hitting would have used their right hand. The only way to strike someone on the right cheek with your right hand is a backhanded slap. Such a blow connotes an insult, not a fistfight, and was a normal way to reprimand someone over whom you had power (e.g. masters to slaves, husbands to wives, Romans to Jews). To strike your equal in such a manner was socially and legally unacceptable, carrying with it a huge fine.
https://cpj.ca/defiance-not-compliance-turning-the-other-cheek/

In a Greco-Roman context, turning the other cheek gave subversive power to the offended, for it meant that the offender, who was lording power over the offended, was being challenged by the offended to strike again, this time with their (unclean) left hand (which would prove the injustice of the offender’s actions if acted upon). This “challenge” granted the offended person power over the offender in that moment. Rather than cowering away or submitting in fear, the offended now has regained their humanity and reclaimed some of their dignity. In this way, Jesus creatively gave His followers (colonized Jews living under Roman occupation) back their dignity, empowering them to act non-violently toward their oppressors in a world that continued to exploit and dehumanize them. In this way, third way non-violent resistance can strategically subvert the empire, revealing the folly, injustice, and violence of the empire’s own systems.

The Way of Jesus produces the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Spirit-fruits are abundant; they provide a foundation for a flourishing society. In contrast, empires generally propagate a spirit of fear, coercion, manipulation, envy, hatred, control, etc. for their own gain—in order to maintain social order and power. The spirit of empire is antithetical to the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of empire is anti-Christ.

I invite us all to recognize our own tendencies to fall prey to the seduction of empire. May we recognize our own lust for control, power, and prominence. May we learn to subvert the empire strategically by creatively practicing “third way” non-violent methods of resistance. If we are in a position to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves, I pray we would have the boldness to do so. May we learn to humble ourselves in the Ways of Jesus, recognizing that true power comes from laying it down. I pray we learn to be more and more like Christ:

“Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:6-8 NRSV

Remembering the Feast of Adam and Eve

“The deepest dark is not the place where grace goes to die but the deepest dark is the place where grace goes to be reborn.” — Alexander Shaia

Many Indigenous cultures around the world for millennia have celebrated the winter solstice. It is a way to reflect on one’s reliance on the earth and the cycles of the seasons. It keeps one grounded and embodied in oneself; in recognition of one’s connection to the natural world.

The Celts were one such people who celebrated the winter solstice. They were Indigenous to a large region of Northern Europe that extended from Turkey all the way to Ireland, in the land north of the Roman Empire. They celebrated the winter solstice by decorating a large oak tree in the center of their communities with leftover fruit from the harvest season, as this fruit represented the abundance the sun provided from longer/warmer days in the summer (the mighty oak was sacred to the Celts and they’d often build their settlements surrounding one). The Celts celebrated the winter solstice on December 24th because this was the day that they could see with the naked eye that the sun was “rebirthing” its cycle, and that the days were beginning to get longer.

When Christianity eventually spread north to the Celts, they were immediately drawn to the beautiful truth of this celebration. Rather than condemning the Celts as heathens and heretics, Christianity embraced this tradition. They recognized the tree as the Tree of Life from the biblical story of the Garden of Eden. They also connected the rebirthing of the sun to Christ Himself, who resurrected from the dead after laying three days in the grave. December 24th became known as the Feast of Adam and Eve. Eventually, the Christian feast of Christmas was moved to December 25th (it was originally celebrated on January 6th), to be the day after the Feast of Adam and Eve. This was in order to keep it in close proximity to the winter solstice, in order to celebrate the birth of Christ as the light who shone into the darkness of the world. Together, these two feasts represent an anticipation of the light that comes — a light that is to be birthed out of darkness. It’s not an avoidance of darkness; rather one must go through the darkness. It is a labour pain that cannot be avoided, but the promise of new life is on the other side. Creation reflects this wisdom and offers this teaching to those who are willing to observe it.

This Christmas of 2020, in the twilight of an extraordinarily difficult year, we have been swimming in a sea of darkness. Many of us have tried to avoid it; some have responded in anger, or in resistance to the “new normal”, while others have grieved deeply the loss of their personal freedoms. For some people, they may have felt like they were literally drowning in a sea of darkness. Many of us lost jobs. Many of us couldn’t pay bills. Many of us encountered deep loneliness and depression. And many of us lost family members.

The beauty of the Feast of Adam and Eve is that it allows us to be connected to our pain. Whether it is walking through the deepest dark, or the shadow of death, or the darkest night of the soul, we hold onto the knowledge that the darkest days are tied to the winter solstice. And as the days begin to get longer, the snow melts and creation itself comes out of hibernation. We cannot avoid the difficulty, the pain, the anguish, or the longing. But we can go through it, and we can know that there’s light on the other side. Christ Himself endured the darkness, and He overcame the deepest dark of death itself. He walks alongside us through all the darkest spaces of life. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Through the deepest dark, a grace is rebirthed in us through Christ — a new dawn.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”
‭‭John‬ ‭1:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Decolonizing the Gospel

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
—Matthew‬ ‭28:19‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

You could sense their fear confined behind those walls.
The disciples of Jesus has just recently witnessed His death, resurrection and ascension and as you can probably imagine, they were confused. Jesus’ final instructions were for them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them.

Immediately before Jesus’ ascension, the disciples had asked Him, “Is now the time you will restore Israel’s kingdom?” (Acts 1:6) They were anticipating Jesus to overthrow the Roman occupation of Judea and they were ready for action! The long awaited Messiah had come, and He had proven Himself as such through His resurrection from the dead. Surely now Jesus will restore Israel to her proper standing as God’s chosen elite!

Jesus doesn’t bite. He responds to this question with a promise: they will receive power from the Holy Spirit, and they will be His witnesses throughout all the world. Jesus doesn’t seem to answer their question nor clarify what will happen; instead He bestows upon them the promised Holy Spirit, tells them to wait for this promised Spirit in Jerusalem, and then He disappears from their sight into the clouds.

I can imagine the disciples thinking to themselves, “Wait a minute. You’re saying that we are the ones who will restore Israel’s kingdom to its God-ordained position on the earth?” This must have been so confusing!

The disciples are praying and singing songs together when suddenly there is a sound like a rushing wind. What looks like tongues of fire come to rest on them, and immediately they begin speaking in all sorts of languages. They are filled with a boldness unlike anything they had ever experienced before. This commotion stirs up a crowd outside, for these disciples who had been in hiding are suddenly making a ruckus. Some bystanders suggested they were drunk, but Peter quickly speaks up in defence of this accusation (which then leads into a powerful sermon).

The phenomenon of speaking in tongues wasn’t simply random babble; it was a reversal of the confusion of speech that took place in Genesis 11. The gospel message was one that transcended all nationalities, and no barrier could stop this good news from being shared! The gospel of Jesus the Christ started with a particular group of people: the Jewish apostles in the city of Jerusalem, but it could no longer be contained within that group, that city, or even Judea. It was ready to go throughout all the world and be spoken in context to all people everywhere.

This gospel message was not something that was going to be forced down peoples’ throats. It was a message that brought the good news of Jesus the Christ in all particular contexts. Speaking in tongues was the sign to demonstrate this. Jewish customs and religious practices could not contain this gospel message; people did not need to conform to Judaism to receive this good news. The gospel was for the world to hear.

I believe that the disciples who walked alongside Jesus had to experience this miraculous sign of speaking in tongues to finally understand the true gospel message. It seems evident that they still did not get the purpose of Jesus’ mission in the world right up until this Pentecost moment. They were still expecting a violent warrior version of Jesus to suddenly lead a charge against Caesar; instead they heard a violent rushing wind and the Holy Spirit spoke through their lips, Her words sharper than a double-edged sword. Out poured from their mouths words in the native tongues of the people surrounding them. It was in this action that they finally got it, and it wasn’t of their own doing. It was a gift poured out on them that would keep on giving, like a little yeast does in dough. One could make the argument that this was the true moment of conversion for the disciples; up until this moment they seem to make excellent examples in completely missing the point.

What if this is the whole point?

In mainstream evangelicalism, there seems to be an emphasis on Paul’s conversion experience over the disciples’ conversion because Paul’s was instantaneous. Paul has this experience on the road to Damascus where he encounters Christ and is blinded. He then becomes one of the greatest apostles of Christ the world has ever known. Still, it’s ironic how we’ve made Paul’s conversion experience the expectation when he was actually the exception! Jesus’ disciples took years to finally get his message and mission, and they literally walked alongside him.

Early Christian witness resembled the conversion experiences of Jesus’ disciples much more closely than Paul’s. There’s an account in Acts where an Ethiopian eunuch becomes a follower of the Way of Jesus. To this day there’s a large Christian community in Ethiopia and other parts of North Eastern Africa that trace their heritage back to the Ethiopian eunuch who brought the good news of Jesus the Christ back to his people. Another example was India. Legend has it that Thomas brought the gospel message to the people of India and a beautiful, unique cultural tradition was born out of that movement.

Furthermore, the sharing of one particularly specific contextualized gospel message continues to have cultural significance to this day for those of us in the West. As the gospel continued to spread to the edges of the Roman Empire, Christian missionaries felt the need to bring the message of Jesus to the Celts, who dwelt in a large region north of the Roman Empire that spread from what is modern day Ireland to Turkey. The Celts were Indigenous to this region of the world. They were very connected to the land and the seasons, and relied heavily on this connection for their survival. The Celtic calendar was based on the cycles of the sun, unlike the Jewish calendar which was based on lunar cycles.

These early missionaries co-habited with and befriended the Celts. They dwelt among them as equals and learned their language, customs, and culture. They watched and observed for several years as the Celts lived their lives in connection with the earth and the sun, but they struggled to find a connection point to share Christ’s gospel message in a way that would make sense to them.

In December each year, the Celts would decorate an oak tree in the centre of their communities with all sorts of fruits. The mighty oak is a strong conductor of electricity resulting in more frequent lightning strikes compared to other trees. This was one reason the Celts considered the oak tree to be the most sacred of all trees. In the weeks leading up to the winter solstice, they would light a candle and place it on the tree, adding to it weekly until the night of the winter solstice when they would light several candles so that the tree shone brightly in their midst.

This bewildered the missionaries at first. Why would the Celts light a tree and dangle fruit from its branches on the darkest, coldest nights of the year?

The Celts believed in ritual celebration in honour of the sacred cycles of the sun. Over time they had recognized that the sun was responsible for the seasons that were instrumental in their survival. Their crops were their livelihood; their survival depended on sowing and harvesting at the right times of the year or else they would starve during the winter months. Therefore, every year in December, the Celts honoured the sacred cycle of the sun by performing this ritual to help usher in the new birth of the sun‘s cycle. Each year after the winter solstice, the sun would shine a couple minutes longer each day, eventually to the point where the days began getting warmer and seeds could be planted.

The missionaries saw this ritual taking place and they recognized it immediately. They finally had a point of reference to help them understand the good news of Jesus the Christ. They explained to the Celts that Jesus, the Son of God, was born into this world. He was the Light of the world that shines in the darkness, and He dwelt among us. He was the Image of the invisible God made known to us through His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection.

Instead of condemning the Celts for their ritual practices, the Christian missionaries adapted their message to fit their cultural context. This ritual has now been adapted throughout Christianity as the Christmas holiday, where we celebrate the birth of Jesus into the world. This is Christianity at its best. The Christian message in its truest form is adaptable.

Fast forward several centuries. Christian missionaries from Europe, endorsed by the Doctrine of Discovery that suggested that lands could be “discovered” for God, came to the Americas with a gospel message full of threats, fear, and manipulation. They attempted to Christianize the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island by condemning their “pagan” practices and rituals, demanding they repent or else they will burn forever in hell. Later on, colonizers came and stole their lands, burned their villages, spread their diseases, and killed their women and children. Over the next couple centuries mass genocide of Indigenous Peoples ensued. Their lands continued to get smaller and smaller as the colonizers pushed them further and further west. Today, reservations and reserves represent a mere fraction of traditional Indigenous territory. This is Christianity at its worst. This is the kind of Christianity that is destructive; it kills and destroys. Unfortunately it still thrives in the veins of the mainstream Western church today, going mostly unnoticed.

Conversion isn’t instantaneous and we should be very skeptical of anyone who claims this to be so. Western Colonial Christianity tries to force a “Paul on the road to Damascus” experience on people that will somehow magically make them become believers of Christ in an instant. Really this is dangerous, because it is so easy to prop up specific doctrines, dogmas, or ideologies that can prove detrimental to the gospel. Nationalism can easily be intermingled with such emphases; twisting the gospel message into something that comes across as bad news to the receiver. Just consider how much power and control one can have over a person when manipulation and fear tactics are used. Couple this with a lack of discipleship and understanding of what it means to actually live in the way of Jesus and suddenly Christianity becomes no more than a label. Jesus becomes another badge to add to one’s collection of accolades to prop them up, making themself feel more important. People become commodified; mere numbers to add to the an evangelizer’s conversion total that God will reward generously in heaven.

Today, the Western colonial church continues to tell people the good news of Jesus, saying His salvation is a free gift, but then upon conversion throws a list of rules a mile high at them. How is this good news? This is baggage; this is extra weight piled on by religious establishments in order to gain more power and control over people. Fear, manipulation, and guilt are easy tactics to gain more hierarchical power and influence in society, and frankly the church has become far too powerful. All sorts of atrocities have been done in the name of Jesus, from forcing Indigenous children into residential schools, to child abuse by clergy, to systemic racism (to name just a few). Far too many people have suffered physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse in the name of Jesus.

This is colonial Christianity. Christ is not central to this Christianity (or if He is it’s a false Christ). This Christianity is toxic.

The historical Jesus was a colonized Jew, living under Roman occupation. He was from Nazareth in Galilee, a region of Judea that was marginalized by the Jewish people. Consider the words of Nathanael in John 1:46 when he asks, “what good can come from Nazareth?” This part of Palestine was situated far away from Jerusalem, the religious centre of Judea, and was further separated by a region known as Samaria. In other words, Jesus was an outcast. Colonial Christianity has been quick to brush over this reality and has hijacked Jesus to prop up their own nationalistic agenda. This kind of Christianity is dangerous.

Throughout the entire book of Acts, we see time and time again examples of the good news of Jesus the Christ spreading throughout the world in the context of the people of that particular space or region. The apostles never condemn the people they are reaching; rather they bring Christ to them in a language they understand as a reflection of what they already know to be true.

The church in the West desperately needs a better gospel message that more closely resembles lifelong witness to Jesus over mere conversion experiences. It need to take a hard look at the early church’s example as a guide toward a better gospel message that truly is good news for all people, no matter their ethnicity, culture, customs, skin colour, gender, or orientation.

Those of us who consider ourselves Christians in the West must repent of our collective sins as a church, and begin to recognize that what we preach as “good news” is actually experienced as bad news by so many people. We cannot begin to make a difference in the world or practice Jesus economics (in which the last will be first and the first will be last; Jubilee economics) until we deal with these sins. It’s time for the Western church to decolonize! The future of the church in the West depends on it.

Here is a list of books/resources that influenced this post:

Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Willie James Jennings)
Who Will Be a Witness: Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance (Drew G.I. Hart)
How the Irish Saved Civilization (Thomas Cahill)
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News (Brian Zahnd)
The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong Can Be Made Right (Lisa Sharon Harper)
Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision (Randy Woodley)
The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For, and Believe (Richard Rohr)
Heart And Mind: The Four Gospel Journey for Radical Transformation (Alexander J. Shaia and Michelle L. Gaugy)
“The Robcast” episodes 60, 176, 222, and 263 (all featuring Alexander J. Shaia)
“Reclaiming My Theology” podcast with Brandi Miller
“Inverse Podcast” with Jarrod McKenna and Drew Hart

Why Must the Church Decolonize?

“You cannot discover lands already inhabited.” – Mark Charles

The year was 1452. Pope Nicholas V passed a papal bull that laid the groundwork for the Doctrine of Discovery. This papal bull, called Dum Diversas, gave the Portuguese King Alfonso V the power to reduce pagans and Muslims to a state of perpetual slavery. Soon after, Portugal began engaging in the slave trade of West Africans. Two years later, the Romanus Pontifex papal bull was written which gave Catholic nations hegemonic superiority to discover non-Christianized lands for God. As declared by the church, King Alfonso V had the authority to:

Invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all [Muslims] and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his and their use and profit – by having secured the said faculty, the said King Alfonso, or, by his authority, the aforesaid infante, justly and lawfully has acquired and possessed, and doth possess, these islands, lands, harbors, and seas, and they do of right belong and pertain to the said King Alfonso and his successors.
https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/dum-diversas/

Later in 1493, Pope Alexander VI wrote up the Inter Caetera papal bull which was the final foundational piece of the Doctrine of Discovery. This bull states: “Let no one, therefore, infringe, or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation, requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation, decree, mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God.” (Inter Caetera) This bull was also conveniently created one year after Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas. It was largely an effort to validate the missional work of Columbus and his crew. These three papal bulls provided the basic framework of the Doctrine of Discovery, which gave Europeans theological backing to advance themselves over non-Europeans. The European “discoverers” were now backed by both church and state to claim ownership over the land, while the Indigenous Peoples who already inhabited the land were seen as a threat and unwelcome.

The ensuing colonization was inevitable. Christopher Columbus was officially coined the “discoverer” of the new world, the Americas. Of course, Turtle Island (as it was originally called) had already been inhabited for 20,000+ years by Indigenous Peoples. In order to “purify” the land, European Christians came in droves as missionaries, while simultaneously reinforcing European settler stakes in the land.

This practice continued throughout the world over the course of the next several centuries. The United States of America continued to be pushed further west, while Canada was colonized by the British and the French. The British also colonized Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, as well as several other regions, enhancing the British Empire. Missionaries were always a useful tool in the attempt to colonize the “pagan” Indigenous Peoples of these lands. In the words of Stephen Newcomb, “what is generally referred as the doctrine of discovery might be more accurately called the doctrine of Christian European arrival, or, better still, the doctrine of Christian European invasion.” (Stephen T. Newcomb, Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery, 94)

In Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah’s Unsettling Truths, they state that the Doctrine of Discovery “defined the parameters of European imperial greatness [that] arose from an ecclesial treatise rooted in dysfunctional theology. At the foundation of this doctrine was a narrative of European Christian purity and supremacy that negated the value and worth of the other and permitted European Christians to assume their own supremacy and privilege on specious theological grounds.” (Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah, Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, 22)

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived in the “new world” with his crew. To this day over 500 years after the fact, statues of Columbus act as religious icons of American nationalism. Columbus Day continues to be celebrated as a holiday in the United States. The church has typically joined in on the celebrations or has been complacent in it. The myth of America runs deeply in the veins of the church.

Millions of Indigenous Peoples died over the centuries from colonialism. Their immune systems couldn’t handle diseases such as smallpox that European colonizers brought with them. Many were killed by the colonizers, often justified by quoting biblical passages from Deuteronomy, Joshua or Judges. To this day, towns and census designated places such as New Jerusalem, Pennsylvania or New Canaan, Connecticut are a stark reminder of the genocide of Indigenous “Canaanites” that took place under church endorsement.

Furthermore, the Doctrine of Discovery laid the groundwork for the racism we continue to see in the West. It created a dominant white race in which Europeans became entitled to land and power. Many Europeans engaged in dehumanizing chattel slavery of black bodies. Millions of Africans were taken captive by imperial colonizers to work the land that had been colonized. They were treated as less than human, often beaten and raped by their masters. During the years leading up to the American Civil War, the Baptist Church split over the issue of slavery. The Southern Baptist Convention was formed in the South as a result of their stance upholding slavery. Today the Southern Baptist Convention has condemned their support of slavery of blacks, but racism will always flow through the veins of an institution built on it.

Canada was not exempt from colonial sin either. One of the most dehumanizing laws, The Indian Act, still exists to this day. Though it has been amended several times it holds the same basic framework that it did when it was first created in 1876. It continues to allow the Canadian government to control most facets of Indigenous Peoples’ lives. The goal of The Indian Act was (and continues to be) assimilation. From 1879 to 1996, the church in Canada was either complacent to or involved in residential schools. Residential schools were created to force Indigenous children to forget their culture and language, and many of them were abused in the process. This dehumanizing law continues to wreak havoc on the lives of Indigenous Peoples across Canada in the form of trauma, loss of culture and language, and in some cases less access to basic necessities such as clean drinking water.

It is long overdue that the church in the West recognizes its original sins of Indigenous genocide and slavery of black people. The church must repent of these original sins, must seek forgiveness from the people it has hurt, and seek reconciliation/conciliation with those it has colonized. The church must stand up against racism and join the fight against all forms of injustice; for its silence is deafening. The church must actively engage in repairing the harm it has caused in colonialism, while recognizing their historical place in it. Inaction could prove to be detrimental to the survival of the church in the West. Hundreds of Millennial generation Americans are leaving the church every day. The future of the Western church is dependent on its decolonization.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is liberating for all people. White Jesus was brought to the West in order to control and manipulate the colonized into adapting the Western way of life. Currently and historically, threats of hell and God’s wrath were used as fear tactics because of its power to manipulate and control people. The Western church desperately needs a new reformation of its theology. If the gospel isn’t liberating, then people are still slaves to a system of oppression. If the gospel isn’t good news for all people, it isn’t good news at all. A decolonized church will liberate not only the oppressed, but the oppressor.