Progressive Christians tend to see a social justice warrior and a kind, compassionate human being. Being like Jesus means being non-judgmental, tolerant, welcoming, and inclusive.
I agree. But Jesus was also a moralist. Consider Matthew 5, right out of the Sermon on the Mount:
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
That's a pretty uncompromising vision of how we are to deal with sin.
A related issue here concerns the debate about what Jesus meant when he said "the kingdom of God is within you." Historically and exegetically, "within you" was taken to be the best translation. But in modern times, such an interiorization and spiritualization of the kingdom has been deemed problematic, as not material, systemic, or structural enough. Not concrete or real enough. And yet, Jesus' teachings about the "reign of God" were very much concerned with the status of the human heart. The reign of God within us.
For example, from Mark 7:
For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a person.
Notice that what defiles a person comes from within. What makes a person unclean is an unclean heart.
Jesus certainly cared about justice, mercy, and the inclusion of the marginalized. But he also relentlessly pressed inward, toward repentance, holiness, and moral transformation. The kingdom of God was not only social and external. As I describe in The Book of Love, the reign of God was also personal and interior. A matter of the heart.
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