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Not Reformation.

Not Evolution.

It’s a Revolution in every sense of the word:

“A forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system; a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people’s ideas about it.” Oxford English Dictionary

How else to describe the upheaval? Clearly its followers move from one kingdom into another, from one world to another:

Open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God…’
Jesus, in Acts 26:18 (NASB)

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, Colossians 1:13 (NASB)

Proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Peter 2:9 (NASB)

Overthrow

If Revolution is “a forcible overthrow of a government,” then Christianity is a revolution, because overthrow is the goal, the target, and the outcome of The Way:¹

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
John 12:31-32 (NASB)

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10-11 (NASB)

For it is written, “As I live , says the Lord , every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Romans 14:11-12 (NASB)

If Revolution is an “overthrow of a social order,” then Jesus spawned Revolution, because he turned the “social order” upside-down:

And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
John 9:39 (NASB)

“These men who have upset the world have come here also…and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar…”
Acts 17:6-7 (NASB)

“So the last shall be first, and the first last.”
Matthew 20:16

(Notice his amazing proclamation in Matthew 20:16 is immediately followed by the shocking revelation of his death and resurrection in 20:17-19. Death is the expected fate for a radical revolutionary, but could anyone make sense of his promise of resurrection?)

If Revolution is “a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works” as the OED says, then Jesus and his followers certainly launched Revolution:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

Those were radical, seditious words attacking the fabric of Roman (and local) society. Such notions of social, racial and gender equality were unmatched for almost 2,000 years, until the modern era which tried (unsuccessfully) to imitate the Jesus Revolution.

The Revolution Jesus started brought radical equality from the beginning. Galatians, the letter containing the quote above, is universally-acknowledged as an early snapshot of the most primitive Christianity, written before 50 AD. Christianity was an infant movement, yet embraced dangerous slogans like “neither slave nor free man.” How scandalous and subversive Christianity was to Roman civilization! Slavery was, after all, the economic muscle of the Empire, and slaves out-numbered freemen 2 to 1. If these “Called-Out Ones” (as they were known) championed equality, they were infiltrating the Empire with very dangerous ideas.

Far more scandalous was the worship and reverence these radicals held for their crucified leader: it meant they honored a criminal and dishonored Roman law, even if only in their hearts. And Paul rightly identifies the biggest hurdle to stumble potentially-interested outsiders was the revolutionary, disturbing nature of The Way:

But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a scandal and to Gentiles moronic, but to those who are “the called,” both Jews and Greeks, The Messiah is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:23-24

It meant those becoming Christians could also expect death, even crucifixion! Of course, this is precisely why Jesus warned potential followers:

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  Luke 14:27

He wasn’t trying to be mean. He was preparing them to be revolutionaries.²

Radical

Yet even the OED gives a tame definition of the Radical Revolution Jesus brought: it was not “an overthrow…in favor of a new system” at all. His Radical Revolution is “anti-system”, not a “new system”. He introduced a radical redefinition of all the assumptions, activities and outcomes found in the world around. What human institution or government can still function by the principles of such a radical Revolution?

For example, here’s radical:

And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21 (NLT)

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Philippians 2:3 (NASB)

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
Romans 12:10 (NASB)

Such words describe a flattening of the hierarchy, which shakes the pillars of all human systems. “The Called-Out Ones” were precisely that: a movement against institutional hierarchy.

Yet The Called-Out Ones are not anarchists; they operate by authority, but it is a simple, one-tiered level of authority:

Christ is also the head of the The Called-Out-Ones, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. Colossians 1:18 (NLT)

Holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. Colossians 2:19 (NASB)

Today the Federal Reserve is playing a critical role in rectifying our economic turmoil. I was employed at the Federal Reserve in Cleveland, and I know how complex the bureaucracy is that moves trillions of dollars around the world every day. Consider what might happen if the Chairman of the Federal Reserve issued an internal memo one day like this:

“Henceforth, all employees of the Federal Reserve are equally responsible to oversee the daily operations and monetary management of the Federal Reserve.”

Banks across the globe would collapse overnight!

Yet such a memo is written to The Called-Out Ones, which makes the Jesus Revolution so dangerous and anti-institutional:

“Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” Matthew 23:10 (NASB)

“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” Matthew 23:9 (NASB)

With such a radical mandate, is it any wonder the Institutions of the Church have historically tortured, burned and killed The Called-Out Ones wherever they could be found? What a threat The Revolution poses to the powerful bureaucracies of “The Church”.

The Real Question

It is not “how do we do church?” Such a question assumes it’s only a matter of theopraxy in need of tuning — and perhaps there are times to fine-tune our practices. But not so today. Not with Christianity in steep decline. Not when we’re facing “The Last Christian Generation” as Josh McDowell predicts.

The real question is this: what happened to The Revolution? Is it so distant from our collective Christian memory that we can’t grasp it anymore? Or, perhaps more relevant, what are we doing as Christians in this country to kill The Revolution?

Is it possible American Christians are afraid of Radical Revolution? It is, after all, a stigma and a label often applied to hateful movements, like Communism. But it is fair to ask: why is it left to the hate-filled movements to call for revolution? Are not Christians already at odds with the World System? More important, would Karl Marx have made such progress if the name of “Christianity” was not so deeply-embedded in the oppressive regimes of the World System?

Issues Raised

For discussion and consideration:

1. How is it possible to reconcile “radical, seditious words attacking the fabric of Roman (and local) society” with “honor the king” in 1 Peter 2:17?
2. Do you see the close association between “willing to die” and “resurrection” in this revolution? (Read Matthew 20:17-19) What is that association, and how do we communicate this?
3. How do you reconcile Matthew 23:10 with Paul’s later writings which describe qualified leaders? (See 1 Tim. 3)
4. Does it make any practical difference at all wether Christianity is a “Revolution” or not? In other words, does it change the way you tell others about the Gospel?
5. Is there any difference between Christianity as a “Revolution” and Christianity as a “Spiritual War”? More to-the-point, how important is it to distinguish between “Revolution” and “War” in Christian ministry?

Footnotes:

1. “The Way” — was the name preferred by early Christians, and reflects their understanding of  the exclusivity and “overthrow” character of their movement. See Acts 6:1,2,7; 9:1,2,19,26,38; 11:26, 29; 13:52; 14:20,22,28; 15:10; 18:23,25, 26, 27; 19:9, 19, 23, 30; 20:1,30; 21:4, 16; 24:14, 22. [↩]
2. See “The Crux of Church Growth” – a related discussion of discipleship as a revolutionary’s paradigm. [↩]

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Related posts:

1. Radical Terms