9.13.2008

Was Jesus a community organizer?

In recent weeks I have heard at least 3 people, which includes Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Former Algore campaign chair Donna Brazile, and pseudo actress/political agitator Susan Sarandon make the statement that “Jesus was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor.” By this statement they are suggesting at least one of three things, if not all:
1. The role of Jesus being demeaned down to that of a local political activist,
2. Painting Gov. Sarah Palin as nothing more than an uncaring politician who would go as far as killing the Messiah, or…
3. Elevating Barack Obama to the level of the Savior

My first question is what is a community organizer. According to Wikipedia a community organizer is someone who does the work of bringing people who live in close proximity to each other “together to act in their common self-interest. Community organizers act as area-wide coordinators of programs for different agencies in an attempt to meet community needs for various services.” While I can see that this is a valuable tool in inner cities, small towns, or where ever people feel like the government has forgotten about them…to suggest that Jesus was nothing more than a community organizer is nothing short of heresy. Even more so when you consider that modern community organizing is the brain child of Saul Alinsky, the author of the book Rules for Radicals that he dedicated to Lucifer, who he called the “very first radical”

When I look at Scripture and search out the reason Jesus came, I seem to overlook this new idea of Jesus being a community organizer.
• In Luke 19:10 Jesus says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (NASB)
• In 1 Peter 2:24 the Apostle writes about Jesus, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
• And in 2 Corinthian 5:21 the Apostle Paul said of Jesus, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

Did Jesus come to pay the price for the sins of sinful man, or did He come to organize a few members of society who political activists felt were overlooked? To lessen the mission of Christ to that of a political activist is not Biblical, wrong and teetering, if not crossing the line on heresy.

Let’s consider a little more of what Scripture says about Jesus…
• He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the final Amen
• He is the Ancient of Days, the Author of Life and the Author of Salvation
• He is the Bread of Life
• He is the Chief Cornerstone, Christ our Creator, Our Deliverer
• Our Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace
• He is God
• He is the Good Shepherd and the Great Shepherd
• He is the Great High Priest
• He is the Holy One, the Hope of Glory
• He is the Image of the Invisible God, the Great I Am
• He is the Judge of the living and the dead
• He is King of kings and Lord of lords, Majestic and Mighty
• And NO ONE COMPARES TO HIM!
• The Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth
• He is the Power of God
• He is the Resurrection and the Life
• He is the Supreme Sacrifice
• He is the Way, the Truth and the Life
And He cannot be reduced to a political activist seeking a “revolution” at the local government level!

I realize when it is all said and done this is nothing more than a political stunt to glorify one candidate and to put down another…but I refuse to have it done in the name of my Lord and Savior. Jesus is the one who paid the price for my sins, as well as those who are demeaning His name and His mission.

Was Jesus a community organizer? The Scripture gives us a very clear and a very certain NO!
But Jesus is the one who came and lived the life we could never live (sinless) and died the death we deserved to die (for our sins) so that by grace through faith alone we can be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).

(Cross post at Liberal Implosion)