Somehow, in the midst of all the troubling news last week, I missed this quote, offered by a Republican congressman referring to his party’s disagreement on a short-term funding bill:
“I don’t think the Lord Jesus himself could manage this group,” he said. I groaned inwardly and said out loud, with a dose of attitude: “Oh, I think he could.” Confronted with the present House Republican caucus, I think Jesus would: rely on his habit of speaking truth to power -- no matter the consequences for redemption or re-election; momentarily overlook the way his earthly life, message and ministry have been distorted by those who see themselves as his followers; employ a parable, maybe a variation involving a vineyard where selfish tenants try to cheat the landowner out of his share of the profits; repeat a central teaching of the Hebrew Bible, the divine command that believers must care for foreigners, widows and orphans, for the least of society, and not ignore or turn them away; cast out the demons that may have possessed well-meaning legislators and turned them into selfish, irrational and judgmental representatives unwilling to listen to all the people they serve, not just their perceived “base;” hope that his sincere message would encourage many to convert, again, on the spot, to honor his teachings with action (the Bible says many did when they heard him speak). And after all that, he might be angry, perhaps resorting again (at least metaphorically) to overturning the tables of the money changers outside the temple because they took advantage of the poor. Of course, there may be congressional representatives who would not be moved by Jesus’ teachings, even relayed in person, or the fact that he only quotes the Hebrew Bible, or that he acted to heal deranged souls and did not create or exploit them. There are always a few like the young man who walked away from Jesus rather than give up all he had to follow him. But then, perhaps, those folks really would be fewer and farther apart.
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