Christian Nationalism Archives - Renewed Heart Ministries

Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Herb Montgomery

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Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege

Herb Montgomery, October 25, 2024

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Mark:

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (Mark 10:46-52)

Let’s jump right in.

Bartimaeus is a beggar whom Mark places on the road pilgrims took to Jerusalem. Meeting beggars on this road would contrasts a person’s personal piety with any possible commitment to resource-sharing. Today, it would be like passing by someone asking for help on the sidewalk because you were hurrying to get to church.

This story also has social, political, and economic dimensions that are rarely touched on in some sectors of Christianity. Mark’s gospel juxtaposes the story of the rich man in Mark 10 with the story of this beggar. This gospel has presented contrasting stories before. Consider the stories of the woman with the issue of blood and the synagogue leader in Mark 5. Their stories contrast two classes or social locations. And, in the same way that the woman in Mark 5 was “unclean,” the name Bartimaeus also means son of the “unclean.” Mark contrasts class and social location over and over.

There are political meanings as well: Bartimaeus is the first to name Jesus as the Son of David in the gospel of Mark. This title had political meanings tied to liberation and restoration in the time of Jesus.

Bartimaeus contrasts with the rich man in the earlier story, too. Bartimaeus heeds Jesus’ call to “throw his cloak aside.” He would have used this cloak for warmth against the elements, and it is also the cloak he would have spread out to collect alms from passers-by as he sat on the roadside. While the rich man walks away sad because he’s unwilling to give up his many possessions, Bartimaeus throws aside what little he has so he can reach Jesus.

The context around this scene is interesting. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to stand up to injustices being perpetrated by those in power in the Temple State. Whereas the rich young man walks away from Jesus, Bartimaeus joins and follows him, casting his lot for Jesus’ kingdom. Ched Myers comments on what this might mean: “The poor join in the final assault on the dominant idealogical order, and the rich have walked downcast away. The first have become last and the last have become first” (Ched Myers, Binding the Strong Man, p. 282).

As in the story of the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5, the crowd in this story is in the way again. Bartimaeus must overcome all obstructions in persistently gaining Jesus’ attention. Then, once he gains Jesus’ attention, Mark’s gospel contrasts Bartimaeus with Jesus own disciples.

In Mark 10:36, Jesus asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” They want to sit at Jesus’ left and the right hand in the kingdom: positions of status and privilege. That’s not what Jesus is about, however, and so it’s not surprising that this is the same question that he asks Bartimaeus later in the chapter.

In Mark 10:51, Jesus ask Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus’ answer is very different than the disciples’. He doesn’t ask for status or privilege, he simply wants to see, and Jesus responds, “Your faith has healed you.”

I’m not a fan of when the gospels use disabilities as metaphors for something negative. No matter how we try to explain it, using blindness as a pejorative will always define those who live with physical blindness as “less than.” The gospels are a product of their time. And today, when it comes to ableist narratives we may find in the gospels, we can and must do better.

As I consider the disciples’ request for positions of power, privilege, and status, I can’t help but think of many on the Christian nationalists today who are reaching for the same. I can’t help but see the contrast today the goals of White Christian nationalism and Bartimaeus saying that he just wanted to see.

Do we want status, celebrity, fame, or do we want to see? Do we want power to enforce our dogmas or do we want wisdom? Discernment, perception, and understanding rather than imposing our definitions of morality on others will enable us to work for others’ liberation and achieve a world that is safe, compassionate, and a just home for everyone.

How do we gain this kind of shift in our perception and understanding? For me in my experience, this shift came through a forced shift in proximity. Jim Wallis, in his recent book The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy, writes that proximity enables us to expand our understanding and empathy:

“I’ve learned it is proximity that changes us, that teaches us white people the work that we must do in our own communities” (Jim Wallis, The False White Gospel, p. 8).

Proximity doesn’t guarantee change. But it does provide the opportunity for change. Crossing lines that we have created and defined by our differences is the doorway to relationship. Our relationships have the potential, if we allow them, to help us understand more of the experiences of others who are different from us. As these relationships grow, we learn how others live in our society and have experiences different from our own. If we choose to respond to this awareness with empathy, we begin to discern, perceive, and understand broader realities. We begin to look at our world differently.

We create so many lines based on social differences that we must learn to step across.

For me, as a theologian, my journey began through exploring theological perspectives from communities that experience life differently than I do: from Christian feminist theologians to womanist perspectives, to Black liberation, Latin liberation, Mujerista liberation, and Indigenous liberation perspectives. LGBTQ justice, queer liberation, and disability justice perspectives changed how I look at the world forever.

Today, the work of learning to listen continues.

Evolving our society into a richly diverse and genuinely multi-racial democracy is prophetic work, and it’s work we are all invited to join. As Jesus followers today, we all have choices to make, especially those of us who live in more privileged social locations. Will we, because our privilege and status, walk away sad like the rich man, because we, too, have great possessions? Or will we, like Bartimaeus, simply say, “we just want to see”?

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s Podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. If you were asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”, how would you answer? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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You can watch our YouTube show each week called “Just Talking”. Each week, Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking. If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.

And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.

Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

New Episode of “Just Talking” Now Online!

Season 2, Episode 33: Mark 10.46-52. Lectionary B, Proper 25

Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend in the context of love, inclusion, and social justice. Our hope is that our talking will be “just” talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week we’ll be inspired to do more than just talking.

If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out at:

New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice.

This week:

Season 1 Episode 28: Bartimaeus and Christians of Privilege

Mark 10:46-52

“We create so many lines based on social differences that we must learn to step across.

Whether these lines are gender, social class, education, race or culture, or sexuality, when we choose to enter into relationship with those who are different from us, we experience that proximity which has the power to change the way we perceive and act. Proximity doesn’t guarantee change. But it does provide the opportunity for change. Crossing lines that we have created and defined by our differences is the doorway to relationship. Our relationships have the potential, if we allow them, to help us understand more of the experiences of others who are different from us. As these relationships grow, we learn how others live in our society and have experiences different from our own. If we choose to respond to this awareness with empathy, we begin to discern, perceive, and understand broader realities. We begin to look at our world differently.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/bartimaeus-and-christians-of-privilege

Now Available on Audible!

Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

by Herb Montgomery, Narrated by Jeff Moon

Available now on Audible!

After two successful decades of preaching a gospel of love within the Christian faith tradition Herb felt like something was missing. He went back to the gospels and began reading them through the interpretive lenses of various marginalized communities and what he found radically changed his life forever. The teachings of the Jesus in the gospel stories express a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of those in marginalized communities. This book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, and presents a compelling argument for a more socially compassionate and just expression of Christianity. Herb’s findings in his latest book are shared in the hopes that it will dramatically impact how you practice your Christianity, too.

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Category: Esights, Liberation Theology Tags: Bartimaeus, Christian Nationalism, Ecological Justice, Economic Justice, Feminism, Immigration Justice, Lectionary Reading, LGBTQ Justice, Liberation Theology, Privilege, Racial Justice, Social Justice

Faith Based Complicity in Social Harm

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery | October 21, 2022

To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.

“It’s not enough to have our faith community’s stamp of approval on our political engagement. We also have to look at the fruit of our political actions. Are we building systems that give life to those who marginalized and vulnerable or are we engaging in political activity that has our religious community’s approval but is actually deeply destructive?”

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

This week’s reading is most often explained through a religious lens that weakens the contrast in the text. The passage contrasts humility and exaltation, and strictly religious interpretive lenses miss the political context in it. When we restore this cultural context, new dimensions and hues emerge.

At RHM, we’ve spent a lot of time over the years exploring the politics of the Pharisees politically. This religious and political party sought power and influence within Jesus’ society. Their most significant competition was the party of the Sadducees. They were financially affluent, the elite in Jesus’ society, and used a much more conservative interpretive lens for the Torah that kept the masses marginalized because they couldn’t afford more strict or stringent interpretations of Torah faithfulness. If the Sadducees’ interpretation of Torah faithfulness was used, faithfulness fell out of reach for many poor people in Jesus’ society simply because they could not afford the affluence needed to live the Sadducee way. (See Worshiping in Vain.)

On the other hand, the Pharisees used more liberal interpretation, defining Torah observance in a less conservative way so that many more people could live out their desire to be faithful to the Torah. This liberalism is what gave the Pharisees their political power in Jesus’ society: they were popular with the people. They were, to use our language today, a kind of working person’s or “blue collar” religious/political party.

All of this brings us to our passage. This week’s passage is about a lot more than just humility. It’s also about complicity with political harm. To wield any type of collective political power in Jesus’ society, whether Sadducees, the chief priests, teachers of the law, scribes, or even the Pharisees in Luke’s story, a group had to function in some way that made them complicit with Roman imperialism and its economic abuse of those in Jesus society (see Luke 20:19-26).

Consider what we said a couple weeks ago regarding the healing stories in the gospel:

“Jesus’ ministry was not to start a new religion, but to socially and economically renew his own Jewish society. His ministry involved restoring people to communal life in villages in a context where Roman imperialism was destroying communities . . . In these stories, Jesus’ healings represent the restoration of the rule or kingdom of the God of the Torah and the victory of God’s rule over Roman rule.” (See Trading Individualism for Community)

The tax collector in our reading this week was rejecting his complicity with Roman imperialism, occupation, and colonialism, and the harm it was doing to Jewish society. The Pharisee, on the other hand, based their moral superiority on their religious observances around Yom Kippur, the only fast prescribed in the Torah. We know that the Pharisees also fasted twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays (see Vincent Taylor, The Gospel According to St. Mark, p. 209). There were other fasts commemorating significant events in Jewish history too. The Pharisee, though religiously observant in their own eyes was still politically complicit in the concrete harms being committed against the vulnerable in society.

This is a reoccurring theme in Luke:

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.” (Luke 11:42)

The tax collector in our story is more than humble, and he expresses his humility by rejecting his participation in the oppression of vulnerable people in his society. This man goes home justified.

Reading the passage this way causes the language of humility and exaltation to take on a more Lucan flavor.

From the very first time Luke contrasts humility and exaltation, the context is political and systemic, not personal, moral, or individualistic. Consider Luke 1:

“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)

And Luke 14:

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)

As we shared in The Bodies We Inhabit, the rhetoric in Luke 14 of contrasting the humble with those who exalt themselves had a long political/economic history in the Jewish scriptures. In this tradition, the contrast is much more than privatized morality It’s consistently used to critique harmful systems.

“Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among his great men; it is better for him to say to you, ‘Come up here,’ than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.” (Proverbs 25:6-7)

“If they make you master of the feast, do not exalt yourself; be among them as one of their number. Take care of them first and then sit down; when you have fulfilled all your duties, take your place, so that you may be merry along with them and receive a wreath for your excellent leadership.” (Sirach 32:1-2)

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble.” (Proverbs 11:2)

“For you [YHWH] deliver a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.” (Psalms 18:27)

So what does this all mean for us today?

I cannot help but think of the Religious Right and Evangelical groups directly responsible for many harm people are experiencing in our American society now. There is a longer history here to their relationship with the GOP than this week’s commentary allows us to explore. For now, though, we can say that the Republican Party has for decades courted certain religious communities in the U.S. in its bid to stay in power. To get the vote of these religious members and groups, the GOP has catered to the political/religious demands of their leaders. Yet, the Religious Right and these Evangelical groups have also demonstrated that they couldn’t care less about politicians’ moral character as long as these politicians will be tools or conduits to achieve their political goals. We’re now witnessing legislation across the country that represents bigotry toward vulnerable communities in the guise of religiosity. Christian Nationalism has taken root in this power-seeking soil, and is growing into the ugly manifestations we witness today.

Those of old who viewed themselves as religiously or morally superior to others while actively supporting systems of harm—how are we seeing this dynamic repeated in our communities today?

It’s honestly difficult to channel my anger in life-giving ways when I see religiously observant people whose pastors and other influencers have convinced them that certain political actions are their Christian duty, and who are nevertheless engaging in political activities that only produce system of concrete harm for so many. Like the man in our story this week, they feel thankful that they aren’t “sinners” like others while simultaneously being responsible for so much societal harm being done to those our society has made vulnerable.

It’s not enough to have our faith community’s stamp of approval on our political engagement. We also have to look at the fruit of our political actions. Are we building systems that give life to those who marginalized and vulnerable or are we engaging in political activity that has our religious community’s approval but is actually deeply destructive?

There is a lot to consider here. What is the fruit of your political actions? It’s not about which political party or parties you support. Considering the fruit of our actions also means mitigating harm as we engage the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone. Thinking of the fruit means following the Jesus of our sacred stories. Thinking only of the political ends we’ll achieve at any cost is just being a political tool for empowering a few while harming many more.

HeartGroup Application

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.

2. What are some examples of societally harmful policies being presently favored by certain Christians that you are concerned about, today? Discuss some of these with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.

And if you’d like to reach out to us through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.

Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, action, and justice.

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