Hello my friends,

I hope this finds you well today. Thanks for being here.

In our time together, I wanted to reflect on Peter rebuking Jesus in Matthew 16:21-28 when Jesus predicted his death and resurrection and what the "why" behind his rebuke might teach us about American Christianity today.

Resources To Consider:

​-Why don’t Christians look to Jesus as a model for masculinity? I wrote this piece a few years ago as I reflected on the kind of masculinity I inherited and witnessed around me growing up in Evangelical Christianity. Given the kind of male leadership we see in very high positions of power, who continue to claim Christianity and be praised by many Christians, it should leave us wondering how much Jesus actually informs our definitions of masculinity.

​-The Cure for Self-Importance by Hidden Brain. When we meet new people, we’re often drawn to those with a commanding presence or a dazzling personality. But it turns out that a very different trait — humility — is important in the long term. As I listened, I couldn't help but think of the humility of Jesus, especially so beautifully described in Philippians 2. I am so convinced that humility is one of the greatest things our world needs right now. Especially within American Christianity. I highly encourage giving this episode a listen.

Rebuking Jesus.

Matthew 16:21-28

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Shaped by our history

Imagine growing up in ancient Israel, hearing story after story of the great battles of Joshua, king David, and Judas Maccabeus. How there would be a messiah that would come and wage a battle to rescue Israel as these great leaders once did, only this time, he would be victorious. He would finally overthrow the oppressive empire and restore Israel to its rightful power.

Then, imagine you believe you found this messiah. A teacher from Nazareth. You immediately dropped everything, even your career and family to follow him. Yet, instead of building a brigade, armed to the teeth to prepare for war, he calls fishermen, tax collectors, women, and children. That was kind of odd to you, but you pushed forward because you believed he had a plan. You may have been a zealot with Simon or you wondered if you would take the seat of power on Christ’s right or his left after Rome was defeated, like James and John thought, the sons of thunder. But then imagine the disillusionment of hearing this would be rebellion leader say, “I’m going to die on a cross.” Imagine hearing that he would die at the hands of the very people you’re trying to overthrow. What whiplash that would be to everything you thought you knew.

As you were trying to process this prediction of crucifixion, you then heard Peter, the one who had just declared Jesus as the messiah (Matthew 16:13-20) rebuke Jesus for ever saying such things. Your heart understood where Peter was coming from, for what good is a dead messiah for the cause of a rebellion? “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Peter scolded Jesus. Yet, in front of all who were following him, Jesus responded to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matt 16:22-23). Modern imaginations of a mythical figure of satan may obscure how Jesus was calling Peter “the accuser,” which is the one who is in opposition to God’s will. You then just stood there stunned trying to take it all in and make sense of everything. It just didn't line up with what you understood the messiah to be.

Later in the gospel, Peter would take up his sword against the guards who came to take Jesus, and Jesus rebuked him yet again and told him to put it away and that “those who live by the sword, die by it.”

Jesus would become king, but not by the way of the sword, but by the way of the cross. Jesus would be king, but not by imposing impersonal commands from a nation’s throne, but on his knees washing people’s feet. Jesus would be king, but not by advocating for the rich and powerful, but by advocating for the poor and powerless. Jesus would be king, but not by riding a warhorse into Jerusalem to lead an insurrection against Rome, but by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the symbol of peace, determined to lead a non-violent resistance by teaching his disciples to be peace makers as well, in Rome and beyond. Jesus would be king, but not by "taking a nation back for God," but by teaching his followers how to embody God's love to their neighbors, and then to all the nations of the earth. Jesus would be king, but not by destroying enemies, but by destroying the power of evil that makes us see others as enemies.

The Same Is True For Us Today

I think this is the crux of so many of our issues within American Christianity today. If you grew up in Evangelical Christian spaces as I did, you were taught the long history of Biblical and American warriors, people who were primed and ready to defeat enemies in battle, no matter if it was physical, spiritual, or cultural. Everything was framed as a high stakes war between good and evil, with no gray area in between, and Jesus was leading the charge on the good side. Leading to a final battle that would decimate all the enemies of God. Our choice was to either be for him or against him. So when we have been shaped by these militaristic and muscular depictions of Jesus, the Jesus of the gospels seems weak, off putting, and even untrue. We can find ourselves with Peter responding to Jesus' call for self sacrificial love, "God forbid it, Lord!"

We so often define power by the way empires do rather than the way Jesus does. We take a given political issue and determine who the “enemy” is and find a way to conquer them in order to gain victory. We define victory by way of force rather than by way of compassion.

The way empires define power and the way Jesus defines power could not be more opposite from one another. Where empires define power through “us vs them,” Jesus defines power through “for and with” our neighbors and even our enemies.

While kings of earthly empires send people to die for their kingdom, the kingdom of heaven is ushered in by Jesus laying down his life out of love for the world.

Jesus shows us that compassion rather than force and control is the way God has chosen to save the world through him.

Jesus also calls those who would follow him to imitate this same way of compassion. Denying the desire within themselves for power over the world and power over others and taking up their cross, the way of compassion, instead.

This has long been the core of my politics as a follower of Jesus, but it has grown even deeper for me in the last several years.

It has made me an even stronger supporter of the separation of church and state. I believe that when the church crawls into bed with the empire, it corrupts them both. What is worse is that it causes the church to lose its prophetic voice on behalf of the poor, the powerless, and the earth, reducing it to a mouthpiece for the empire rather than speaking God’s truth to the power of the empire. It causes the church to pursue power at the expense of all compassion.

I believe that no matter where we are on the political spectrum, seeking political control for ourselves is antithetical to the way of Jesus. The way of the cross is love and compassion poured out for others, not seeking thrones for ourselves.

This is why I am staunchly opposed to Christian nationalism, which inherently seeks power and control for only Christianity within our nation, which is home to more than 300 different religions and many nonreligious people as well. Christian nationalism seeks to impose the ways of God through the ways of imperial power rather than the power of compassion, exemplified by Jesus.

This is why I believe it is so important for us to know the history of the damage caused whenever a Christian sect crawls into bed with the empire, which has brought about such unholy things like the patriarchy, the crusades, the inquisitions, the slave trade, genocide of Indigenous peoples, Puritan Christians burning “witches,” the Christian support of the Nazi movement, the Christian justification of racism and antipathy towards the poor in the United States, and more.

For me personally, when compassion becomes the primary metric through which I define my political engagement, political issues instantly become more clear.

When compassion becomes the lens through which I see the issues facing our world, I am unable to demonize people and dehumanize them, but rather I begin to see them as my neighbors worthy of love instead.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of how I and people like me can gain power over certain groups of people, but rather how can I show compassion to the very people those issues impact the most.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of conquering my enemies but in terms of how I can unite with people who are doing needed and important work to confront those issues in the world today.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of how I need to align with the right thrones of power in my world and start thinking in terms of how I can take up my own cross and hold those who sit on the thrones of power in my world accountable to the needs of the poor, the powerless, the hungry, the sick, the immigrant, the marginalized, the oppressed, and the planet.

I stop thinking of issues in terms of partisan loyalty but through the terms of the politics of compassion.

The Rest Of The Story

Peter didn’t define power the way Jesus did in our passage today, but Peter eventually came around and became one of the most outspoken advocates of Jesus' way of compassion.

Listen to how his tone changed in these words from 1 Peter 3:8-12: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

I believe like Peter, we need a reorientation towards Jesus’ way of compassion and instead of defining the way of power through the categories of thrones and the way of earthly empires, we must allow our minds to be radically transformed by the love that led Jesus to the cross for all of us and the earth itself.

This is how Jesus still rules as our king today. He is still calling us to follow his way of the cross rather than our way of the sword. He is still calling us to have God’s concerns in mind, rather than just the concerns of men. He is still calling us to seek first the kingdom of God, even before our own nation. He is still calling us to center the marginalized and oppressed, rather than the influential and powerful. He is still seeking to establish his kingdom in and through us and its advancement is measured by the love we show to every human being we encounter and this planet we call home. His kingdom grows and is measured by the flourishing and thriving of humanity and creation. May we answer that call, take up our crosses, and follow our king.

Now I'd like to hear from you! Did you find this helpful? What thoughts came to your mind as you read? Feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me. I look forward to reading them. A 30 Day Day Devotional: I wrote a daily devotional in hopes to provide a companion for people seeking to follow Jesus through the season of we are currently navigating together. You can find out more below: $20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now! ​ Ways to support: If you'd like to support this project, you can do so through one-time-gift of any amount you feel is right. You can also subscribe through a $5/mo, $15/mo, or $25/mo. Several others have also asked for a recurring gift option that is different from the ones offered here, like this one. If you'd like me to set up a different option for you, please just send me an email with the word "support" in the subject line. As always, I really want to thank all of you for reading and for all the ways you support me and this project every single week. I'm thankful for the ways we are building this together and hope it creates a lasting, positive change in our world along the way! I sincerely appreciate you all, Ben Remember, you can now view this and all previous newsletters as well as invite friends to join through this link: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page/profile.

​