The gospel presents nothing less than a complete reimagining of human civilization. In our world, businesses orbit around the gravitational pull of profit, while social hierarchies ensure that those at the summit enjoy privileges exponentially greater than those at the base. The gospel dares to invert this arrangement, challenging the traditional pyramid of power at its very foundation.
When Jesus Christ brought the gospel—literally “good news”—to humanity, it arrived as a message of liberation. Yet for those who prosper by controlling others, this good news lands as a threat. It menaces their dominion over ordinary people. In Jesus’s time, such figures included the Pharisees and teachers of the law, many of whom remained genuinely unaware of their own oppressive posture.
These controlling personalities shape the rules and conditions that govern our existence. In essence, they are authoritarians. While society often considers such figures necessary for maintaining order, they frequently lie at the root of humanity’s deepest problems. Authoritarians manifest in countless forms—parents, teachers, pastors, and institutional leaders of every variety.
Such individuals eagerly claim credit for positive developments while bearing responsibility for society’s failures. Their instinct to control preserves the status quo, making their influence more worthy of criticism than praise. Though law enforcement and punishment appear necessary for social order, history demonstrates their ultimate inadequacy in nurturing genuine human flourishing.
No civilization has achieved lasting goodness through legislation and penalty alone. The Israelites, despite receiving divine law, might have exemplified the benefits of faithful obedience; instead, their most notorious collective failure was the crucifixion of their own Messiah. This tragic irony reveals a profound truth: when imperfect humans administer perfect laws, the results remain deeply flawed.
God’s law may be flawless, but its human administrators are not. The true foundation of a healthy civilization ought to lie in good parenting. Yet where do we consistently witness this ideal? Even conscientious parents often produce results disturbingly similar to those of negligent ones. There are good people in society, but they are not always a product of good parenting; the opposite can also be true.
We commonly attribute goodness in people to positive formative influences, yet many still prove unable to transform the toxic environments surrounding them. Parents struggle to raise ideal children precisely because they themselves fall short of perfection.
Church pastors are widely regarded as virtuous, yet we rarely encounter them as exemplary models of parenting. Their influence on the world often yields minimal transformative impact. One of authoritarianism’s greatest ironies is its inability to recognize its own suppressive tendencies.
The more authoritarians convince themselves of their righteousness, the more profoundly misguided they become. This mirrors exactly the condition of the Pharisees and law teachers in Jesus’s day. In their zealous pursuit of perfection through strict legal observance, they lost sight of the law’s true purpose. They unknowingly devalued Jesus, focusing on punitive enforcement rather than the law’s positive, transformative potential.
The patterns we observe in society appear designed to perpetuate this imperfect world’s conditions. Examining the evidence, authoritarianism clearly fails to produce peace. If strict law enforcement and punishment have never secured lasting peace, why persist in believing authoritarianism is necessary for stability?
We witness unacceptable juvenile delinquency, inappropriate sexual behavior, gruesome murders, and other serious crimes. Authoritarian systems bear significant responsibility for the conditions enabling such offenses. Those who commit crimes reflect the detrimental influences society offers in contrast to its professed values.
Punishment typically means incarceration for wrongdoers. Yet studies consistently show that prison conditions fail to reform many criminals. Hardened offenders frequently boast about repeated sentences. Moreover, countless individuals serve time for crimes they did not commit. Judges who wrongfully imprison innocent people deserve accountability—they are the ones who merit punishment.
Errors in well-intentioned judicial processes, however, are fewer than those produced by corrupt justice systems. In countries like Zimbabwe, criminals routinely evade consequences by bribing law enforcement. While such corruption may appear glaringly obvious in Zimbabwe, it reflects a broader crisis within justice systems worldwide.
Genuine goodness remains scarce in this world. This explains why news outlets emphasize bad news to survive—it resonates with society’s corrupted nature. Those who report good news often become deeply unpopular. Consider Jesus Himself, history’s first great bearer of good news: He was brutally murdered for it. His early disciples suffered the same fate, as Scripture records.
Yet the enduring truth remains: Jesus lives. His death carries no final significance; His work continues unabated. The chaos perpetuated by today’s authoritarian figures will ultimately be overcome. Punishment as a means of restraining evil is unsustainable. This is why we must attend seriously to the gospel of Jesus.
The gospel presents two opposing philosophies: self-centeredness and altruism. Self-centeredness suggests that goodness means receiving rather than giving. This obsession with the “get” mentality explains the gospel’s negativity. Self-centeredness drives individuals to exploit others for personal gain. At its extreme, this mentality erupts into wars that engulf the entire world.
Even the most popular churches often operate on a self-centered philosophy. Many see nothing wrong with seeking blessings exclusively for themselves. Yet the situation grows more complex—everyone genuinely needs blessings. If I lost a purse containing a thousand dollars, I would feel justifiably upset. Yet the person who finds and keeps that purse feels blessed without having earned it.
This behavior differs fundamentally from an altruistic mindset. Imagine finding a purse with a thousand dollars inside. Some might feel compelled to return it, driven by a duty that matters more than the money itself. Even if unable to locate the owner immediately, their intention to return it would remain unchanged.
A truly altruistic person would feel uncomfortable keeping the cash. Having experienced loss themselves, they would go out of their way to find the owner. Their motivation would arise not from rules or authority but from their own internal values.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) captures this idea perfectly. Jesus intentionally made the Samaritan the hero of the story. Once part of Israel, the Samaritans had been conquered, drifted from the Law, and lost much of their identity, unlike the Jewish remnants who remained faithful to Scripture.
The Samaritan’s compassion was not about rule-following; it flowed from the heart, fueled by a sincere desire to help someone in need. Despite longstanding tension between Jews and Samaritans over differing views of the Law, the Good Samaritan acted out of pure selflessness, expecting nothing in return.
From an authoritarian perspective, his approach to personhood might have seemed undignified—unlike the priest and Levites, committed to Temple service. His actions appeared to neglect the appeasement of God for blessings and deliverance. Yet what the Good Samaritan did mattered more than authoritarianism, including strict law-keeping and punishment.
The parable’s background: a lawyer had asked Jesus what was necessary to inherit God’s Kingdom. At the parable’s conclusion, Jesus advised the lawyer to emulate the Good Samaritan’s behavior. This effectively leaves Christian authoritarians without justification for their role. They claim leadership in Jesus’s name yet cannot point to specific scripture authorizing them to supervise other believers.
They focus only on Paul’s comments about ordinations in Scriptures, like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, while overlooking references that align with Jesus Himself, whom they claim to follow. Their desire to follow those particular Scriptures, instead of what Jesus taught, seems driven by a need to control others.
There is no reason to believe that Paul fundamentally differed from believers today. We can learn much from Paul, just as from the first-century apostles, but we must remember they were as human as we are. Everything they taught should be evaluated in light of Jesus’s teachings. And Jesus’s clear teachings are consistently overlooked:
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:8-12, NIV).
We have now established that authoritarians in our society primarily function to maintain civilization’s negative aspects. Yet some individuals see nothing wrong with the current state of affairs. These are likely those who benefit significantly from the existing system. For them, the success of poorer people threatens their dominance, including the risk of losing corruptly acquired wealth.
They fear the prospect of those they have long despised gaining recognition and status equal to their own. Rising equality alarms them as much as any impending danger. The advancement of poorer individuals represents the dream of equality realized, revealing that authoritarians possess no inherent superiority.
Scriptural references demonstrate that Jesus repeatedly condemned authoritarians throughout His teachings in the four Gospels. So what currently appears real about Christianity may actually oppose what Jesus Christ originally established:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV).
The teachings of Jesus should not be conflated with the authoritarians of His time or ours. His messages were often unpopular, much as this article may be for some readers. The value of any idea, good or bad, can be measured by how many people it genuinely benefits. Authoritarianism, by its very nature, fails to serve its true purpose, as it primarily benefits a privileged few.
Most people, often treated as mere servants, are denied rights and privileges that should belong to everyone. Even in times of slavery, the gospel existed for the majority. While some may side with their oppressors, the gospel’s real purpose is to free people from that oppression. Authoritarians erect barriers preventing ordinary people from accessing the gospel, forcing those who truly seek God’s Kingdom to look past these obstacles.
“At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Luke 10:21-22, NIV).
The gospel’s value lies in recognizing the power of placing others before yourself. Those who live by this message are truly fortunate, dedicating themselves to sharing Jesus’s teachings and working to help free humanity from its struggles. My own small contribution in producing this material is to share this insight with those entrusted to spread the gospel far and wide. At its heart, the gospel is about breaking every form of oppression and helping people reach their full potential.
Many of today’s social systems lack a solid foundation because they are not grounded in the One who made humanity in His image. The gospel paints a picture of a kingdom where no one feels weighed down, and everyone is free to thrive as they were meant to. In this vision, sickness is gone, education is open to all, and problem-solvers are fully engaged—just as they should be in every part of life.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, relieving those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions, leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
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