The Hijacking of Christ: Co-opting Jesus for Self-Righteous Agendas

Throughout history, Jesus of Nazareth's profound teachings emphasizing spiritual equality, love, and social justice have frequently been distorted to serve narrow sectarian interests. Contemporary examples abound of Jesus's name being co-opted to advance exclusionary religious agendas, contradicting his universal message. This betrays a superficial understanding of Christ's ministry and role as a spiritual liberator breaking down tribal barriers.

The baptism passage reveals vital insights. As Jesus emerges from waters open equally to all, a voice declares, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:13-17) Far from affirming superiority, this moment epitomizes Jesus's realization of intrinsic unity with the Divine accessible to all people, regardless of social identity, ritual observance, or creedal affiliation. His ministry put this understanding into practice as he reached across all lines to uplift outcasts, foreigners, women, and other disempowered groups.

Tragically, the implicit equality at the heart of Jesus's revelation has repeatedly undergone distortion for sectarian glorification. Religious institutions organized around His name have frequently perpetrated stunning hypocrisy and harm, from forced conversions and crusades against infidels to witch-hunts and modern-day marginalization of women and LGBTQ persons. Jesus undoubtedly stands appalled at these gross perversions of his teaching. As philosopher and political theorist Jeffrey W. Robbins assessed:
"Jesus performed miracles of healing, exorcism, and feeding for the poor and outcast, but perhaps his greatest miracle was to treat the poor and outcast like they mattered as much as anyone else. All the major institutions developed in his name have explicitly rejected his example."

Contemporary examples include Christian Nationalism movements weaponizing faith in bids to grasp political power and demonize opponents. Such theocratic impulses are opposing to Christ's message, which asserted that, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). His revolution stoked no worldly ambitions, instead serving as a spiritual awakening opening channel to transform human consciousness.

Jesus transcended factionalism, embracing humanity in its diversity while opposing abusive powers leveraging faith for domination. He aligned with the poor and oppressed, repeatedly rebuking self-important religious elites. Analyzing this aspect, liberation theologians like Gustavo Gutierrez explain:
"His witness, in word and deed, repeatedly challenged the powers that kept these social groups subservient...He showed the poor and oppressed the way toward liberation. He attacked the arrogant and oppressive attitude itself, both in its root and in its manifestations."

Jesus's vision allows no room for spiritual pride, gender/racial exclusion, or claiming God's favoritism upon one group over another, directly stating, "All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). He explicitly repudiated such vain superiority complexes as antithetical to genuine faith, connection, and community.

Perhaps Christianity's worst hypocrisy lies in ignoring Jesus' all-encompassing clarion call: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6). He spoke these words not to condone sectarian righteousness and religious exclusivity but to awaken all people to divine presence dwelling innately in every consciousness open to receive grace unconditionally. This universalist interpretation aligns with Christ's ministry dismantling barriers to spiritual freedom and direct experiential knowledge of the Sacred, denoted by his preferential option for society's disinherited.

The vast majority of contemporary Christians, however, actively reject universalism and spiritual pluralism, insisting upon Christ as the sole gateway to salvation. This monopoly on Truth, by definition, disparages the spiritual legitimacy of all other faith traditions. It carries embedded orientalist assumptions, casting non-Christian mystics as backward heathens devoid of an authentic encounter with the Divine. Renowned Hindu philosopher, mystic, and yogi Paramahansa Yogananda challenges this view:
"Many Christians do not understand that Jesus taught the unity of all religious ideals. He not only revealed the Light to those around Him, but ceased not to praise that Light through prophets, saints, and scriptures of the past."

The prolific Christian author C.S. Lewis largely concurs, suggesting that where glimpses of eternal Reality manifest across traditions, an inclusive posture recognizing legitimate Divine encounters beyond church walls may be warranted:
"Here is great room for Christians to be confident believers without being adamant assertors...Where we find supernatural faith exhibited by people who have never heard of Christ and the Bible – people in Mexico before Cortes or in Tibet – we have no right to deny that this is, beyond all probability, genuine faith supernaturally given."

Nevertheless, these perspectives rarely penetrate mainline Christian theology, which continues using selected biblical passages to reinforce an exclusive claim over Jesus as the faith's proprietary vehicle of salvation. This arrogating posture fuels dangerous currents of spiritual pride, sustaining false illusions of privileged access to God used historically to justify cultural imperialism cloaked as evangelism. It further manifests through modern charlatanism, where demagogic preachers anoint themselves gatekeepers before Divine Grace, which ultimately falls equitably upon all.

Perhaps no greater defilement of Jesus's cross-cultural ministry to uplift and redeem humans equally has occurred historically than European colonialists invoking conversionary salvation ideology to subjugate indigenous cultures. This cynical appropriation of Christ for genocidal conquest remains an egregious hypocrisy against the beatitudes, where Jesus declares the poor in spirit blessed and commands care for the least among humankind.

Commenting on this shameful history, Native American academics and activists like Vine Deloria Jr. issue scathing indictment:
"Missionaries were the most bitter of the modern thinkers who contemplated the "Indian problem." Unable to convert the masses of Indians and unwilling to admit that the concepts were too complex or subtle for the ordinary missionary mind, they needed to explain Indian people themselves. Hence, they developed the doctrine that Indians...had no religion because they had no sacred writings."

Such willful obtuseness to the lived spirituality of pre-colonial First Nation communities enabled cultural erasure. It disposed hearts to view indigenous peoples as subhuman "savages" devoid of humanity's innate spiritual yearnings, tragically invoked for centuries to justify campaigns of genocidal plunder and forced assimilation.

Jesus's heart surely broke witnessing his message so utterly betrayed. The Lord who dined with sinners and cut through ossified dogma using teachings and parables accessible to everyday people would likely lay bare similar indictments on much of what passes for contemporary Christian practice.

One imagines he may quote the scathing apostle Paul, who rebuked early Church followers succumbing to empty rituals devoid of Christ-like ethics: "You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?" (Romans 2:23). To preachers obsessing over personal sins of sexuality while ignoring gross injustice, greed and hardheartedness against immigrants and the powerless, Jesus may echo his injunction: "You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Matthew 23:24)

The byzantine complex of denominations, liturgies, indulgences, and formalities codified after Jesus's death appear worlds apart from Christ's scandalous hands-on ministry, fearlessly engaging society's disreputable fringe. He modeled an iconoclastic prophetic consciousness more akin to roving philosopher-activists speaking inconvenient Truth to corrupt Establishments. However, ecclesiastical institutions Claiming Jesus have largely ossified into precisely the types of self-important elite coteries he disrupted and chastised most.

This gap between Jesus's original teachings and much institutional practice invoking him constitutes Christianity's existential conundrum. No more incredible irony exists than glorifying Christ's name while ignoring the core principles that should make Christianity truly radical, inclusive and devoted to empowering the powerless. Jesus remains endlessly invoked to bless the comfortable yet deafeningly silent when existing social arrangements crush the poor and perpetuate injustice.

Liberation theology rose precisely to counter this complacency, re-centering Christ as the herald of a new consciousness boldly challenging oppression. Its conceptual architects, like Gustavo Gutierrez, clarify Jesus's social justice orientation:
"The perspective of the Kingdom leads Christians to criticize, question, and attack the oppressive structures of this world. This is the correct way, the Christian way of setting history right — a history that has been distorted...The struggle against injustice implies that there to question the established order."

Established orders within Christianity rarely question their privilege, cozy relationship with wealth/power, or doctrinal beams blinding vision to social evil enacted by cultural allies. Such worldly entanglements surely prompt Jesus to declare, as he did of the Sadducees: "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined." (Mark 3:23-24).

Perhaps Christianity's worst hypocrisy lies in ignoring Jesus' all-encompassing clarion call: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) He spoke these words not to condone sectarian righteousness and religious exclusivity but to awaken all people to divine presence dwelling innately in every consciousness open to receive grace unconditionally.

This universalist interpretation aligns with Christ's ministry, dismantling barriers to spiritual freedom and direct experiential knowledge of the Sacred.
The vast majority of contemporary Christians, however, actively reject universalism and spiritual pluralism, insisting upon Christ as the sole gateway to salvation. This monopoly on Truth inherently disparages the spiritual legitimacy of all other faith traditions. It carries embedded orientalist assumptions casting non-Christian mystics as backward heathens devoid of an authentic encounter with the Divine.

Hindu philosopher Paramahansa Yogananda challenges this view:
"Many Christians do not understand that Jesus taught the unity of all religious ideals. He not only revealed the Light to those around Him, but ceased not to praise that Light through prophets, saints, and scriptures of the past."
C.S. Lewis largely concurs regarding gleams of supernatural inspiration evident across traditions:
"Where we find supernatural faith exhibited by people who have never heard of Christ and the Bible – people in Mexico before Cortes, or in Tibet – we have no right to deny that this is, beyond all probability, genuine faith supernaturally given."

Perhaps no greater defilement of Jesus's liberating ministry has occurred historically than European colonialists invoking conversionary salvation ideology to subjugate indigenous cultures. This cynical appropriation of Christ for genocidal plunder remains an egregious hypocrisy.

Commenting on this shameful history, Native American scholar and activist Vine Deloria Jr. explains:
"Missionaries were unable to convert the masses of Indians...Hence, they developed the doctrine that Indians...had no religion because they had no sacred writings."
Such willful obtuseness to First Nation spirituality enabled cultural erasure under the Doctrine of Discovery, disposing of hearts to view indigenous peoples as subhuman "savages" devoid of sacred inner life - a worldview tragically invoked for centuries to justify systemic injustice.

Jesus's heart surely broke witnessing his message so utterly betrayed. One imagines he may quote the apostle Paul, who rebuked early followers succumbing to empty legalism devoid of ethics: "You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?" (Romans 2:23)

To preachers obsessing over personal sins while ignoring gross injustice by the powerful, Jesus may echo his injunction: "You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Matthew 23:24)

The ecclesiastical infrastructure codified after Jesus's death appears worlds apart from Christ's hands-on identification with the poor and outcast. He modeled an iconoclastic prophetic consciousness akin to philosopher-activists speaking inconvenient Truth to corrupt Establishments. Yet institutions Claiming Jesus largely ossified into the very elite he protested.

This gap between Jesus's original teachings and institutional practice constitutes Christianity's existential conundrum. No more incredible irony exists than glorifying Christ's name while ignoring the core principles that should make Christianity truly radical, inclusive and devoted to empowering the oppressed. Jesus remains constantly invoked to bless the powerful, yet deafeningly silent when social arrangements crush the vulnerable and permit gross injustice.

Christianity awaits a reckoning. Its revolutionary founder may one day demand of institutional gatekeepers: "Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice'" (Matthew 9:13). Perhaps only through sustained soul-searching can worldly churches realign with Christ's liberation movement to uplift the downtrodden and speak unpalatable Truth - however inconvenient - to prevailing secular powers as well as internal conceits thwarting Jesus's radically inclusive social vision.

Conclusion:

Jesus of Nazareth lived and ministered with an unquenchable vision of human unity transcending divisions. His revelation envisioned no essential separation between rich and poor, men and women, sinners and priests, outsiders, and insiders. To Jesus, cherished beliefs dividing groups stemmed from ignorance of intrinsic Oneness.

His final prayer in John 17 poignantly expresses this spiritual perspective:
"I pray also for those who will believe in me...that all of them may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us." (v20-21)

Jesus labored to model this accessed awareness of nonseparation through loving service unconstrained by group labels and radically inclusive social practice. History testifies that grasping this nondual consciousness proves a challenging feat. Nevertheless, for those claiming Jesus's inspiration, consciously cultivating the spiritual perception that we are all united in one shared Absolute Truth may open channels for wisdom, compassion, and grace to dissolve persistent illusions reifying divisive group boundaries and their violent legacy across history.

Jesus's spreading call for sacred justice and human dignity boundless as divine love itself unlocked by his unfinished ministry. Wherever oppression still cages freedom and inequality crushes potential, metaphysical ignorance separating sibling from stranger Kingdom from emerging on this conflicted Earth. May all taking up Christ's work embody authentic vision rooted in our shared Source till God's dream is fulfilled: no longer Jew nor Greek, male or female, enslaved person or free - but One, forever and always even now. (Galatians 3:38)