Both Feet and a Whip

Why do Christians have to be conservatives? 
Once I was talking to a preacher about his thoughts. He said, “But of course I’m a conservative.” I wondered at the time, why “of course”?
I have learned since then how indoctrinated many Christian communities have become in the belief that conservative=godly and liberal=hedonism.  Even though I consider myself a liberal, I still feel the value judgements of those words. 
But why? Was Jesus a conservative? 
Conservative means people who want to hold on to tradition and who are reluctant to change. The dictionary offers orthodox, cautious and safe as other synonyms. But was that Jesus? 
  • Jesus said repeatedly, “This is what you were taught, but now I’m telling you….” 
  • His harshest words were for the religious leaders. 
  • He stayed out of Roman politics, but jumped into Jewish politics with both feet and a whip. 
  • Jesus was not just liberal, he was radical. 
  • He was revolutionary. 
  • He was so unsettling to the status quo that they killed him for it. 
They executed him for his words.

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