Yoder talks about the apparent divide between the ethic of Jesus and the ethic of the New Testament letters. The mainstream church takes the instruction about subordination to authority and sees in it an implicit endorsement of a conservative, status quo supporting ethic. Yoder, however, sees in this call to subordination something Christlike. Instead of seeing Jesus, the prophetic revolutionary, versus the realistic need to come up with a sustainable way of life, we should realize that both Jesus and the ethic given in the epistles are calling for a revolution in the way that revolutions are understood.
Like any other revolutionary, Jesus calls out the supporters of the status quo for what they are: hypocrits. The way things are is bad. Rich oppressing poor. Man oppressing wife. Diginifed oppressing young. Owner oppressing slave. Roman (read: state) oppressing Jew (read: member of nonconformist religion or, simply, foreigner).
Because Jesus’ ethic is so radical, we assume that it must be in contradiction to the call to subordination found in the epistles. That we make such an illogical leap is a testament to the appallingly inadequate education to which most of us Westerners have been assigned.
The (early) Christian revolutionary message goes beyond the shallow revolutions to which we are accustomed. The revolution of Jesus is not simply, “Those in power are bad, so let’s rebel.” No! The revolution of Jesus calls for introspection. The revolution of Jesus calls not just for a change in the world structures but also for the revolutionary to look first at herself. First comes “Repent.” Then he says, “…for the kingdom is at hand.”
Too many conservatives stop at personally repentance.
Too many liberals skip ahead to the kingdom at hand.
To ignore either is to ignore Jesus.
The follower of Jesus walks as Jesus walked. Not only was Jesus’ condemnation of the world’s structures revolutionary. His response to these evil powers was a revolutionary way of being revolutionary. He submitted. He submitted to evil men… even to death.
“By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
