I must state right here and now that my Lord, Jesus the Christ, was most decidedly not a community organizer. What does a community organizer do? Here is the textbook definition:
“One who organizes community groups attempt to influence government, corporations and institutions as well as achieve increased direct representation within decision-making bodies and social reform. Where negotiations fail, these organizations seek to inform others outside of the organization of the issues being addressed and expose or pressure the decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing, boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics.”
Now where in the Bible do we see Jesus organizing groups of people to do the things in this definition? Let us look at these things in the light of Scripture.
Did Jesus organize groups of people to attempt to influence government, corporations and institutions as well as achieve increased direct representation within decision-making bodies and social reform? No He did not. While the multitudes followed Him everywhere, He did not organize them. He did not organize any groups except the Twelve Apostles and the Seventy Disciples. He did not send these groups out to influence the government. He sent them out to deliver the Gospel to the people. What is the Gospel? It is the good news that Christ came to atone for our sins before God and allow us a way to have God forgive those sins.
In fact, when asked what to do about paying taxes to the government, He told them to “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.” In other words, pay your taxes. That is not an attempt to influence government, but to influence the people.
While Christ did bring social change, it was not a top down change. He did not try to reform the government to achieve the change He wanted. Instead, He preached to individuals in order to change their hearts and turn them to God. If that caused social reform, it was from the bottom up. As people heeded His message and changed themselves for the better, then society eventually followed suit. He did not organize protests, sit-ins, picketing, boycotting, petitioning, or electoral politics. In fact, He did not employ politics at all.
He did not participate in negotiations with government or institutions, He simply preached the Good News. He preached the Gospel, healed the sick, raised the dead, gave sight to the blind, made the lame walk, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out demons, and cleansed lepers. What community organizer does these things?
Jesus came to do all of the things listed in the previous paragraph, but, more importantly, He came to provide forgiveness of sin to the world. To do so, He laid down His life for others and died on the cross for all. He was raised to life on the third day and is alive at this very moment. He is the Savior of the world, but He was never a community organizer.
