"Actually I was going to lunch. Aren't you afraid you'll lose your hand doing that?"

"Nah, I trust the electronics. Lunch would be even better. Can I tag along? Where are you going? Edge of Night?"

"No, Bagel Wagel. Yes, if you like."

He grimaced. "I guess I can get a drink or something. Hey, Prof, I have a question for you."

"Only one this time?" I asked. He laughed. I said "Tell you what. Save your question 'til we get there, and on the way you can tell me how you like being a grad student." I hadn't seen Zack since he'd begun his M.A. studies that semester.

When we got to the eatery, I ordered bagels and lox. Zack made the happy discovery that the place served other things besides bagels, and ordered a fried egg sandwich on rye. But as soon as we took our seats, he dropped the grad school talk and told me what was on his mind.

"Last Sunday, after the service," he said, "I was shooting the breeze with this guy Jason at my church. We were standing in the parking lot, and I noticed his bumper sticker. It said, "Jesus Was a Liberal." So I asked him what that meant. I guess that wasn't such a good move. He seemed annoyed."

"Did he answer you?"

"Oh, sure. He said, 'Jesus had compassion for the poor. That's liberal. He was anti-war. That's liberal. And he said we shouldn't judge others. That's liberal too.' I started to ask him another question, but he cut me off and said 'Look. The political meaning of Christianity is liberalism. Any Christian who isn't liberal is either corrupt, confused or full of hate.' Then he got in his car and drove away."

"Nothing like a guy who knows his mind," I said.

"So what do you think?" said Zack.

"About what?"

"I've never given much thought to politics. Was Jesus a liberal?"

"I wouldn't say that."

"Then you think he was a conservative?"

"I didn’t say that either. I wouldn't be too quick to associate Jesus with any of our political ideologies."

"Then you’re saying that faith doesn't have anything to do with politics?"

"No," I said, "Faith has implications for every dimension of life, and Paul made it pretty clear that even though our true country is Heaven, we have duties of citizenship in our earthly countries too."

"But when you say that you wouldn't associate Jesus with any of our political ideologies —"

"What I mean is that on the day of judgment, proponents of every political ideology will have to give an account of themselves. Liberals aren't exempt, and neither are conservatives."

"I'm confused. Are you saying a Christian could hold any political ideology, liberal, conservative or whatever?"

"No, some political ideologies are totally incompatible with Christian faith. You couldn't be a good Christian and a Nazi, for example."

"Could you be a good Christian and a liberal? Or a good Christian and a conservative?"

I hesitated. "I suppose it depends on what you mean. Liberalism and conservatism come in more than one version."

"What do you mean?" said Zack. "I thought all liberals were the same and all conservatives were the same."

"Not at all. Take the pre-Civil War era; in those days, most conservatives believed that slavery should be allowed. They denied the equal human dignity of black and white. You couldn't be a good Christian and that kind of conservative."

"Today's conservatives don't believe that way, do they?"

"No. Neither do today's liberals. On the other hand, most liberals in our day believe that abortion should be allowed. They don't deny the equal human dignity of black and white, but they deny the equal human dignity of born and unborn. You can't be a good Christian and that kind of liberal either."

"Have liberals always believed that way?"

"No. The liberals of your great-grandfather's generation didn't believe that way. They would have been horrified by abortion."

"I remember Jason saying once that he was personally opposed to abortion."

I shrugged. "By itself, that doesn't mean much."

Zack was taken aback. "Why not?"

"A lot of people say 'I'm personally opposed to abortion, but I think someone who believes in it should have a choice.'"

He shifted uncomfortably in the fiberglass Bagel Wagel chair. "I'm not sure I see why that would be wrong."

"Suppose the issue were different," I said. "'I'm personally opposed to slavery, but I think someone who believes in it should have a choice.' Many people argued just like that in the pre-Civil War era."

"Yeah, but —"

"Or try these. 'I'm personally opposed to rape, but I think someone who believes in it should have a choice.' 'I'm personally opposed to infanticide, but I think someone who believes in it should have a choice.' 'I'm personally opposed to —'"

"Okay, I get your point. But we should allow people to make some choices we consider wrong, don't we?"

"Sure. But what kinds of choices are you thinking of?"

"Eating too much. Skipping church. Things like that."

"You don't see any difference between rape and overeating? Or between infanticide and skipping church?"

"When you put it that way, I guess I do. One of the things we have government for is to prevent the use of violence against the weak and vulnerable."

"That seems to be Scripture's teaching too. But we were talking about your friend."

"Right. I have to admit, Prof, I don't know what he'd say about all that. Since he's not here, maybe I ought to give him the benefit of the doubt. Suppose he's the kind of liberal who would forbid abortion."

"Okay, I’m supposing. There aren’t many left these days."

"Could he be a good Christian and that kind of liberal?"

"Zack," I said, "how can I answer such a question when I don't know what 'that kind' is? All you're telling me is something you hope your friend doesn't believe. You still haven't told me what he does believe."

"But I have."

"When?"

"As soon as we sat down. I told you how Jason answered my question about his bumper sticker."

"So you did."

"He gave three reasons why Jesus was a liberal. And they were things he believed too."

"Yes — let's see — the first reason was that Jesus had compassion for the poor. What were the other two?"

"That Jesus was anti-war and that He was against judging others. Actually, Professor T, these reasons don't seem too bad."

I permitted myself to grin. "So you're thinking that maybe Jesus was a liberal, eh?"

"Yes. That kind of liberal. Not a pro-abortion liberal."

"So what would you like me to do?"

"Tell me what you think of the three reasons."

"Well —"

"Come on. Please."

I sighed. "All right. Your friend's first reason might be put, 'Jesus was more like a liberal than a conservative because liberals have compassion for the poor and conservatives don't.' How do you know liberals have compassion for the poor, and how do you know conservatives don't?"

"Isn't that pretty obvious? Liberals are always trying to increase funding for governmental programs to help the poor, and conservatives are always trying to cut them back."

"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that. The main disagreement between liberals and conservatives isn't about whether to help the poor but about what does help the poor. Conservatives support some kinds of government programs to help the poor, but they're pickier. They think that many of these programs do no good, and that some of them actually make the poor worse off instead of better. They also think that private, faith-based programs tend to do more good than government programs."

"Are those claims true?"

"That's an empirical question. People who study these matters disagree about the answers. The important thing is that you can't just assume that one side's theory of what helps the poor is correct. You have to look and see."

Zack said, "I've got a lot more questions about that, but I'd better put them off because my next seminar begins in a half-hour. Can we go on to Jason's second point?"

"The one about war?"

"Right."

"All right, that one might be put like this: 'Jesus was more like a liberal than a conservative because liberals are more likely to be anti-war.' Are you assuming that Jesus opposed all war, Zack?"

"Didn't He? Turn the other cheek and all that. Don't resist evil."

"Consider the context of that saying. The meaning seems to be that you, as an individual, shouldn't take personal revenge for insults. It doesn't follow that the government is prohibited from using force to protect the nation."

"But He didn’t say that the government is allowed to do that."

"True. On the other hand, we believe that Paul was speaking with Christ's authority in Romans 13, where he wrote that the magistrate 'does not bear the sword for nothing' because 'he is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.'"

"So there might be such a thing as a just war after all?"

"Historically, most Christians have thought so, and their view about the matter has been accepted by others."

"How do you mean?"

"Just war theory lays down criteria for judging when one may go to war and how war must be conducted. Today, most informed people in our country accept these criteria — liberals and conservatives alike."

"Then what are they disagreeing about?"

"They don't often disagree about whether to follow just war criteria, but they disagree about how to apply them. Take for example the just-war criterion that war should be a 'last resort.' That means you've tried diplomatic means of dealing with an international injustice, but they haven't worked. At what point should you conclude that they won't work? That's a judgment call, one which liberals and conservatives tend to make differently."

Zack rubbed his head in frustration. "I'm not doing very well here. On both points — poverty and war — you've told me pretty much the same thing."

"What is it that I've told you?"

"You’ve told me 'I'm afraid it's more complicated than that.'"

I laughed. "So are we finished?"

He glanced at his watch. "No, we haven't covered Jason's third reason for saying Jesus was a liberal. I've only got a few minutes. Can we go through this one quickly, Prof?"

"We can try. What was it again?"

"About judging others."

"I remember now. This time your friend's argument is probably something like this: ‘Jesus was more like a liberal than a conservative because conservatives are so judgmental.'"

"Right."

"Didn't we talk about 'judging others' once before?"

"Man, you've got a memory like an elephant. We did, but it was at least two years ago."

"Do you remember our conclusions?"

"I think so. You pointed out that Jesus doesn't condemn all judgments of behavior and character — what he condemns is hypocritical and self-righteous judgments. In fact, He says 'Judge with right judgment.' John 7 or thereabouts."

"Good, Zack. I also seem to recall that you were upset with some of your friends."

He laughed. "That's right. They didn't approve of my other friends. So I judged them for being judgmental. Hey!"

"What?"

"Jason did the same thing. Except that he judged conservatives for being judgmental. Then he judged them for not being liberals. So I guess liberals make judgments too."

"Of course they do."

"Then why are they so down on conservatives for doing the same thing?"

"They aren't down on them for making judgments, but for making different judgments than they do. When they say conservatives are 'judgmental,' that's what they mean."

Zack stood up. "This time I really gotta run, or I'll miss my seminar. Can I bring you my other questions next week?"

"Sure. Bring anything you want."

He grinned. "I'll see if I can find some more bumper stickers."