Was Jesus PC? Politically Correct?

[BobRyan]

Classic example - the Samaritan woman.

Let's take John 4 as the perfect illustration of how Christ did evangelism outside his own "church" -- "in real life".

Christ asks a favor of the Samaritan woman - then he immediately points her to an aspect of the gospel that makes no sense at all to her. "If you knew who was speaking to you - you would ask me for water such that you will never thirst again.".

It was designed to get her to inquire further - in that it did not seem possible on the surface.

She wanted to tangle with Christ over the popular debate "worship in our town or in Jerusalem".

This was the perfect opportunity for Christ to either say "I am on your side - the Jews are out to kill me. Lets be friends" or to simply say "as far as that one goes - I'm ok you're ok lets all just be happy and get along".

Instead Jesus gives the "in your face" nothing-but-the-truth non-PC answer

"You worship what you do not know - we worship what we know - salvation is of the Jews!"

Notice - Jesus does not tolerate a "no such thing as salvation" or "no need of the Gospel solution because there is no real problem" context. He insists that the Samaritan woman accept the need for salvation - as step 1.

He also holds nothing back when it comes to the error of the Samaritans "you worship that which you do not know -".

He also holds nothing back in clearly pointing out WHERE the truth is - "Salvation is of the Jews".

All this without being drawn into the debate that Samaritan woman offered - "where to worship".

in Christ,

Bob

[phkrause]

I for one don't believe that Jesus was a PC kind of person. And I don't believe he tolerated that in others either.

[SivartM]

Trigger Warning!

I don't know, did Jesus call people f*gs, tr*nnies, sl*ts, wh*res, r*tards, or n*ggers? Did he tell everyone he met that they were going to burn because they didn't believe in what he did? Did he make racist or sexist comments or jokes? Did he mock people with mental disabilities? Did he rant about how your "Mooslim" neighbours are going to kill you if you don't get them first? Did he insist that we put his face on every government building in America?

Political correctness is a favourite target of people who think that the above language is acceptable. It's really only basic human decency; "political correctness gone mad" is a myth constructed from the occasional overreaction. The myth is not nearly as bad as the reality of LGBT children being bullied to suicide, or international and interpersonal relationships being strained because people can't help but insult other cultures and religions, or people who perpetuate racism by "it's just a joke" rationalization.

It doesn't mean that you can't disagree with someone, or voice your disagreement. It means don't be rude. Jesus, in his context, was probably not being that rude in the story; he was a religious teacher being asked a question from someone with a similar religious background. That doesn't give us an excuse today to unabashedly proclaim how wrong/dumb/blind everyone is; that isn't how civilized interactions work now.

If someone asks for your religious views, then "Salvation is of the Jews" all you want!

[John317]

For me, "politically correct" means not being honest about how one thinks or feels for fear of saying something others will not like. For instance, it is becoming politically correct nowadays to say "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" in order to make atheists and non-Christians happy. We're even seeing some politicians refusing to call a Christmas tree by its correct name for fear of offending some group of people.

[Tom Wetmore]

Answered well you have, my young Padawan.

[John317]

Trigger Warning!

I don't know, did Jesus call people f*gs, tr*nnies, sl*ts, wh*res, r*tards, or n*ggers?

No, but is that what "political correctness" is about?

I don't call people that, either, but it isn't because of political correctness.

However, if someone really is "retarded," there's nothing wrong with saying it, just as if someone is a "whore," then there's nothing wrong in calling them a whore. The important thing is to be honest in the use of words. Don't call people names in order to degrade them but to describe them honestly and accurately.

In Mark Twain's and William Faulkner's books, blacks are called "niggers." I have no problem with that because it is historically and contextually accurate.

I myself call black people "black," not "African-American." Political correctness says that I ought to call all black people "African-American." It also says that I should now call all American Indians "Native Americans."

Can you imagine titling a story, "Through Native-American Eyes," instead of "Through Indian Eyes"?

I've spent a lot of time around Indians and I don't think I've ever heard any Indians calling other Indians "Native Americans." On the Navaho reservation in Arizona, I heard one Indian woman telling her kids, "Stop running around like a bunch of wild indians."

Imagine saying "My son enjoys playing cowboys and Native Americans"! Something about that doesn't sound right.

When I worked at a place where most of the people were black, I never once heard them call each other "African-Americans." When a staff reported a black kid missing, they said "it's black kid," not an "African American kid."

[BobRyan]

For me, "politically correct" means not being honest about how one thinks or feels for fear of saying something others will not like. For instance, it is becoming politically correct nowadays to say "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" in order to make atheists and non-Christians happy.

In the example in the OP Jesus tells a person that worships the same God, reads the same Bible, accepts the same Bible stories - that they "worship they know not what" because they are disconnected from Judaism etc.

He tells the Samaritan woman "WE worship what we KNOW and SALVATION is of the JEWS".

Think about what that means for a second.

It would be like a protestant telling a Mormon or a Catholic "you worship you know not what but we know what we worship for salvation is according to our sola-scriptura righteousness by faith model".

His statement gets to the point of "salvation" - in idea that atheist's mock according to CARDW. This means that talking about things like the second death and then the Gospel that opens the door to eternal life, fellowship with God and an eternity exploring the universe in peace and without sin and disease (by contrast to the lake of fire in Rev 20) - is every bit unwelcome to some - yet every bit Christ's method of evangelism.

It means that declaring certain things like homosexuality to be "sin" EVEN in cases where it is not PC to do so - is "IN" when using Christ's model of evangelism.

It means that when Christ warns of the "leaven of the pharisees" - as "the teaching and doctrine" of the Jewish teachers - he is talking about apostasy inside the church - being willing to address it - being willing to say that church members should not go there.

His methods cross a lot of lines that even church members today would not like to see crossed.

in Christ,

Bob

[SivartM]

For me, "politically correct" means not being honest about how one thinks or feels for fear of saying something others will not like. For instance, it is becoming politically correct nowadays to say "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas" in order to make atheists and non-Christians happy. We're even seeing some politicians refusing to call a Christmas tree by its correct name for fear of offending some group of people.