Why Does Your Version of Jesus Ignore The World’s Pain?

Shunning immigrants, ignoring war crimes, and self preservation at all costs – it seems like your version of Jesus ignores the world’s pain.

Mature written content warning.

Palm Sunday has literally just come and gone at the time of writing, and for most of the world it’s come through without a hitch. However, in the Ukrainian city of Sumy, two Iskander ballistic missiles were launched at two major civilian targets while people were on their way to church. Not at military targets, not at Zelensky’s house, not at a NATO transport vessel – women, children, and grandparents, on their way to church. For the Easter season. Timed to the moment most people would be heading there.

Terrorism.

You can say it. It’s called terrorism. I’ll say it if you won’t.

When it happened to America in 2001 and major buildings were targeted resulting in loss of life, the world went absolutely mad, NATO Article 5 was enacted for the first and only time so far in history as America was attacked, and the whole world went to war with Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS.

But on Palm Sunday 2025? Or in Krivyh Rih last week? Or Bucha? Or Mariupol? Or Bakhmut? Or Toretsk? Or everyone living around the Nova Karkhovka dam? Or Kyiv?

Or perhaps more uncomfortable for you – in Gaza, or Yemen? In Myanmar, or Sudan, or Mali? Crickets. Or a description that it’s “really sad what’s happening”.

In the name of God, supposedly. Because the world is supposedly now run by Christian parties and Christian leadership. And apparently, following certain major elections, the Christian voice now must unite in unison behind MAGA, ultra right, ultra nationalists ideals, whether they be, well, MAGA themselves, Australian representatives who have identical policies and beliefs, the AfD in Germany, or whatever your local manifestation of such thought and belief is.

The Australian Christian Lobby recently uploaded a report rating the “Christian-ness” of Australia’s political parties in advance of an upcoming federal election. I mean, some of the policies in there are fair enough. Yes, the Bible does have views when it comes to sex, gambling, looking after children, and there can be cases made for various positions on abortion.

And it’s representative of what a lot of people who call themselves Christians consider the major issues that determine exclusively who they vote for.

Now let’s see, where’s my Christian Voter 2025 Bingo Card… Israel support, with no accountability. Abortion opposition, always illegal and never any case where it may be important. Indigenous issues… ah yep there it is, ACL making sure First Nations’ people have their unique concerns suppressed, because that’s clearly the approved Christian worldview(???). Foreign aid… ah very good, the classic Christian position of keeping the money for yourself and never helping anyone else… and…

Okay, I can’t even keep up the sarcasm here any more.

The short version: what on earth sort of Bible have you read that’s told you that the Christian position is to suppress minorities, deport immigrants, institute medical law with no breathing room or reasonable thought, belittle trauma, and stay entirely self focused?

On some of these issues, sure, there’s a Christian case, although there are Christians on all sides of the political isle (or most of them, anyway).

The previous American administration for instance featured a moderate positioned president who said he wouldn’t change his mind on certain things unless the Good Lord himself came down and told him and had plenty of overt Christian overtones in his speeches and comments.

There are Christians in all the major political parties in Australia. There are Bible reading, church attending Evangelicals and Catholics and Protestants and whatever description you want to apply for your Jesus faith throughout every organisation in our modern world. There is certainly room in Scripture to one or multiple positions on issues, there’s the church vs. state separation conversation and thoughts on how a Christian should represent the needs of their constituents in a democracy, there’s all of that.

But let me tell you what there isn’t – there is not a Biblical case at all for the following:

Isolationalism and unethical treatment of immigrants and refugees

I just can’t even begin on this one. This is ultimately the most disappointing one to me, because it’s just so clear what the Biblical position on this one is.

Where on earth did so many Christians get the idea that it is the Christian idea to oppress and expel immigrants? Your Bible is full of so many charges to champion the widow and the orphan. To love mercy, do justice, and walk humbly with your God. To give a cup of water in God’s name and you’ll receive a prophet’s reward. The New Testament church was full of people literally selling their homes to provide for the needs of those around them. And especially for those who Jesus referred to as the least of these. “When I was in prison, you visited me. When did we do this, Lord?”. Remember? Many immigrants are in these categories, especially refugees.

Justice, compassion, mercy. Not walls, not deportation, not picket lines telling them to go home. Even in the Old Testament there were meant to be cities marked as cities of refuge, where explicit space was made for people who were fleeing war. Let the alien not be a stranger among you. The lineage of Jesus features Rahab and Ruth, two women who were both exiled strangers who were invited into the community as they should have been. That’s true Christianity.

And woe to the nation who attempts to stand on its own. Haven’t we learned enough times in Scripture and in history that he who isolates himself rages against all sound judgement?

Ignoring and laughing at war crimes

I watched so many Christians and “right leaning” media outlets reporting on the bombing in Sumy, including all the comments in response. I almost threw up. Truly grieved in my spirit at the response of people who confess God’s name in one sentence and then in the next ridicule civilian deaths as “you shouldn’t have started it” or “you should have just given up”. It’s rape. It’s abhorrent. It’s the sort of behaviour you cannot possibly make an excuse for. Hitler would be more proud of you for such a position than Jesus would.

Or perhaps turning a blind eye is more your flavour. The thought is that Jesus ignores the pain of the world for 20 minutes to mourn the death of John the Baptist, so why should I concern myself with it? I’ll ignore the part where Jesus saw the crowd and had compassion on them, because I have compassion fatigue and don’t know how to marry my Christianity with care.

Or maybe it’s because we want their oil, minerals, portraits or money that we might stay silent when innocent civilians are murdered. It’s more convenient if we want to maintain certain deals to… how do you word this, JD? Ah yes, the compromises necessary “to forge allegiances with unfavourable nations”.

If you’re a Christian, you have to care. You absolutely have to. Or why should God have cared about any of us at all?

And you must be a lover of justice. Grace AND truth.

The Golden Rule – love God, and love people. Treat your neighbour as yourself. Just… read your Bible fam.

Giving no accountability to “God’s chosen people”

Uh oh.

Maybe it’s time someone showed you in the Bible the number of times God himself held Israel to account for crimes they shouldn’t have committed, for commandments they didn’t follow, for doing the wrong thing time after time and being told, hey, if you keep this up, you’re going to lose your place, you’re going to lose land, you’re going to be exiled. That yes, support Israel, but not without restraint. There’s a lot more “ifs” in the Bible than a lot of Christians are willing to accept or give thought to.

On a side note, I think a lot of Christians blindly support Israel without consequence because they don’t believe “if” matters in their own lives. They view the Christian faith as entirely unconditional, with no expectations or requirements on their own behaviour or their part of the relationship. That they should be entitled to blessing and open doors and continue to live however they want, and we’ll just ignore that part in the parable of the talents where the guy with one loses everything because he doesn’t do his part and look after it. He mismanaged his “if”.

And oh man, I already talked about the war crimes one. Let’s all be clear – Israel being constantly bombed is horrendous and wrong. When I heard and saw what happened to the bodies of those toddlers on October 7, I cried and was utterly disgusted. The number of missiles and numerous attempts to completely destroy the Jewish people is and has to always be labelled genocide.

AND so it is also when Israel does the same thing. Yay we got the Hamas leader, and 200 children are dead, but we don’t care!

You freaking should. The Messiah is close to those who mourn.

Are you?

Even without a religious argument here, Israel is an ally to most Western nations, and there are many Middle Eastern nations who also have trade and allegiance with it. It’s a good thing to have allies, and we stick by their side when they’re in trouble. Absolutely – that’s how allegiances work. I mean, why was Australia involved at all in World War 1 or World War 2? Because we stand by our allies.

But with all our allies, there’s an expectation on their behaviour. Surely it’s not wrong or unbiblical to tell someone when they’ve gone too far. You can support a person or a nation without supporting everything they’re doing.

Having no expectation of the rich

My goodness, have you ever heard Jesus or the apostle Paul talk about the rich? Do you know how much Biblical expectation there is on anyone who has more money than someone else?

In our modern world, we think ah well I don’t earn $289000 a year so I’m not rich. But you have so, so much more than the people around you, and certainly than those who are down and out. You’re supposed to be a cheerful giver, a generous soul, whose world gets larger and larger, who is refreshed because they refresh others, who considers the needs of others above your own. No, not to the exclusion or the destruction of your own needs, but you definitely need to be leaning more towards the “take up your Cross daily” side of selflessness.

You think Jesus walked around loving the oligarchy and keeping all the rich people rich and selfish? Not a chance. Selfless generosity is one of the hallmarks of the life of a believer. How can you preach it in church one week and then tell everyone to vote with the opposing thought the next? Complete this Biblical reference, and see where you end up – “I am rich and have need of nothing…”.

Neglecting your own responsibility

Guess what a big part of God’s answer was to all the pain in the world?

You.

Yes, you, my friend. The Gospels tell us that Jesus left so that we could all be empowered to live as the solution on this earth. The church is entrusted with a solemn charge to be like Jesus in our world, in every action, in every decision, in every facet. We don’t just sing songs, lift our hands, have good chats, and do it all again. We live to bring salt and light to the world, to uplift the downtrodden, to clothe the naked, to release those bound with chains.

“Ah no it’s up to the government to do that”.

It’s up to you.

When did the church dull itself to this purpose and resign itself to voting for people and decisions that perpetuate an abdication of responsibility and an increase in inequality?

Probably around COVID. Or maybe when the movement described as woke really took off. Whatever it was, you weren’t supposed to ignore it.

One of the worst stories in the Bible involving a king, a naked woman, and a dead husband and child begins with the following: “It was the time when kings went to war, and David stayed home”.

You are supposed to be consumed with purpose, moved with compassion, equipped for every good work. What evil we unleash and perpetuate on this earth as we sit there and scroll while the world burns, all the while it was up to us to make a difference.

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Look, I get it. People have differing worldviews, and even within Christianity there is a lot of breathing room on certain issues, particularly when there isn’t a ultra clear, super prescriptive, direct statement on it. That’s why you can live in a world where a Biden and a Harris say leave the pregnancy decision in the hands of the individual’s doctor, and a Vance say it’s just always going to be illegal.

But Scripture is so united on so many issues and every time I ask a Christian what Bible verse they are using to support a supposed Christian political policy, I get told “ah it’s just the spirit of it”, without any direct or well thought out answer.

I think what it is is similar to what I wrote about previously in Are Christians Losing Their Minds? The Misinformation Epidemic. Too many Christians have become so absolutely obsessed with feeling like their voice and concern is heard that instead of being relieved when a certain party represents one or two of their issues, they completely immerse themselves in all the policies that party has, without thought about what the rest of the Bible says, and make every excuse imaginable to preserve this fragile faith in their human representative.

I suppose more than that it comes down to how many issues you believe are important to vote on. Clearly I do not sit anywhere near the camp of being a single issue voter. I’m sure the current tariff trade war has many voters reconsidering their voting positions and realising that political parties have the task of administering many, many diverse issues across their term, and suitably need to have positions on a multitude of issues. It’s a difficult job, for sure.

But ultimately, what my truest concern here is this – who do you believe Jesus is?

This Easter I will have been a Christian for 31 years. It’s a special time for me and for all of us as we remember the foundational aspects of the Christian faith.

But in remembering the Cross, the sacrifice, the resurrection, the joy, the freedom we can now have – don’t also forget who Jesus was and is.

He’s a champion of the orphan. He’s the defender of the widow mild. He’s the great equaliser – there’s now no longer Jew nor Gentile, man nor woman, or whatever category we want to divide ourselves with. He’s merciful, and also just. He mourns with those who mourn. He celebrates with those who celebrate. He has all the riches of the universe and chooses to use that great wealth to be generous beyond measure with us.

And if you say you follow Jesus, I want to ask you – can the same things be said about you?

Or are you a destroyer, a self-seeking oligarch, an out-of-touch-out-of-reach body in a high chair dwelling far above the earth and never ever reaching down or out to anybody else?

Does your version of Jesus ignore the world’s pain?

Because he never has, and never will.