Separation - the Root Cause

Image by Melina Menendez from Pixabay

At the time of Jesus, the problems front and center were: Roman occupation and political and economic division. Many had an expectation that a savior would come to fix it all like when Moses brought them out of slavery in Egypt.

Today we have some of those same problems except on a much grander scale. We used to be able to only have to deal with the problems in our own little corner of the world. Modern technology has brought the rest of the world right into our living rooms and onto our mobile devices. Today's world is characterized by the economic and cultural domination of a few superpowers led by autocrats. Divisions of all sorts cause death and destruction among us everywhere. Extreme poverty and extreme wealth exist side by side.

Autocracy is not a new phenomenon. We have repeatedly made the same mistake the Jews made when they wanted a king as their savior. 1 Samuel 8:11-17 lists all the nasty consequences of relying on the wrong kind of "savior" who is only concerned with their own position of power. The gospel writers introduce Jesus as the Son of God telling the Jews to return to the rule of God who is love and who only wants what is best for his people, a totally different kind of king. "My kingdom is not of this world," they have him say.

I think it is safe to say that one way or another, there have always been people who would impose their will on others. Their powers have taken many forms over the millennia; economic, political, religious, physical, mental power. Jesus exposed the abuse and mobilized the masses to bring the Kingdom of God to earth by feeding the hungry and healing the sick.

Lately, mental health is often listed at the top of the problems experienced by our youngest generations. There are others, but mental health is the most prominent. For a long time mental health was associated with stigma and taboo. Modern science has vastly expanded our knowledge of the human mind. Today the youngest generations have cut through the stigma and exposed the root causes. A new generation of Jesus followers is poised to build a new church that will be for all the people.