March 13, 2025

By Rev. Rick King

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil….When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” –Luke 4:1-2, 13

It’s no coincidence we’re in the season of Lent right now, often called a “wilderness time” by Christians, who take Jesus as their model for self-denial in the quest for clarity of purpose. After he was baptized, Jesus spent a good chunk of time in the desert confronting voices inside his head that tempted him with promises of power and dominion, and the satisfaction of his personal needs.

American Christianity is in the wilderness right now: polarized, like our society, into those on the one hand who see Jesus as the very embodiment of how God works—and those on the other who see God as vindicating their grievances, justifying violence and revenge, and granting a license to take whatever they feel entitled to.

One side sees the Jesus of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, of satyagraha, or soul-force: fighting injustice without using violence, working inner change in the human person, challenging and dismantling systems of power and domination that threaten the vulnerable and make the planet sick.

On the other hand, those who feel their power has been stolen seem to seek power at all costs, and many who carry the name “Christian” nevertheless see the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount as too soft and gentle, unaware of his own divine power and afraid to use it. Somehow the cross gets left out.

One side voted the current president into office a second time—people calling themselves Christians, willing to overlook infidelity, unfaithfulness to the rule of law, criminal charges and a conviction, a tendency toward authoritarianism, and above all an embrace of power to exact retribution against his enemies—which has given them a permission structure for acting in the same way, despite Jesus’ life, ministry, and teachings.

Thousands of former Christians have been leaving the church in droves, both on the right and on the left, and “deconstructing” their faith because the old categories and the ways the Bible has been misinterpreted have become damaging and no longer serve the purpose they used to.

But Jesus’ time in the wilderness was not an ending but a beginning. It was preparation for his ministry on earth.
What is this wilderness period preparing us for, as congregations, denominations, organized religion as a whole, and as individuals who feel at times like we’re out in the desert, or the woods, wandering to find a new path that will lead to wholeness, healing, reconciliation, and even joy?