The Jesus of Suburbia

Originally posted - Tuesday, October 18, 2005

"The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie." This quote from Green Day provoked me to finally write on something I've been thinking about for a while. This is likely to be long, so if that matters, you might want to stop reading now. In fact, where I want to get with this point will take so long that I'm already planning on getting there in another entry. Okay, the disclaimer is over.
I don't know how the staunchly liberal group meant that phrase, but allow me to run with it as it struck me. Is it true in some sense? Yes, I think so. Our Jesus is what we make him to be in some sense (Freurbach). Do we really turn the other cheek? The figure the Gospels present is a totally radical one. The Suburbia Jesus isn't radical. He's our "pocket Jesus" that we pull out when we're in a jam. "Oh, something bad just happened, so I think I'll pray." How many rap videos have you seen with the crucifix around someone's neck? Then they proceed to sell us their garbage of materialism and lust. The Jesus of the New Testament, though loving, did care about how we lived our lives. "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." Jesus, the radical, spoke largely to Jewish people saying, "But I say to you." The "but" there is crucial to my point. The Jews followed a religious system set up from the times of Abraham and Moses. Jesus confronts that system or at least, the misunderstandings prevalent in the system. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) does not weaken standards but raises them. Do you realize how radical that was to a people who followed the same Tradition for thousands of years? He tells us to reconcile, not sue. The Jesus of Suburbia solely takes our side. "Jacob have I loved; Esau have I hated." The radical New Testament Jesus doesn't lower standards but raises them instead. Jesus tells us to give to the one who asks (Matthew 5:42). He tells us to love our enemies. He challenges the idea that pain in one's life is the direct result of one's sinfulness, especially in the case of sickness (a commonly held belief at that time and even exists today in the form of the "health and wealth" gospel). He tells the last in society that they shall be the first. Joy is reached not by seeking happiness and pleasure but by "losing his life to find it." Jesus drank wine. While this wasn't radical at this time, Suburbia Jesus has nothing to do with this. Our Jesus just wants us to be happy and have money. Our Jesus isn't Sovereign over natural disasters because this would make him the author. The point is simply this, we aren't radical enough. When society sees a radical, they label them "fundamentalist." That is where I want to go with my next point. I am a fundamentalist (in some sense). But I want to explain where that term came from and how it connects with the Protestant movement and eventually, I want to bring it into a thought about Islam. So tune in boys and girls.