They bought a souped-up jitney, was a cherry red '53
And drove it down to Orleans to celebrate their anniversary
It was there where Pierre was wedded to the lovely mademoiselle
"C'est la vie," say the old folks, "it goes to show you never can tell" 

In another younger day I could dream the time away
In the universe inside my room
And the world was really mine from June till September

And if it wasn’t really so I was lucky not to know
And I was lucky not to wonder why
‘Cause the summertime is all that I remember

If they don't like him that way
They won't like me after today
I'll be standing right by his side when they say

"He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good"

I grew increasingly unable to reconcile this with a gospel that proclaimed itself “good news to the poor”. 

We’d turned a religion based on following the ultimately selfless One into an institution that validated selfishness as “blessing” and used any power it possessed to maintain its cultural and political ascendancy. Now, as in Jesus’ time, the political and religious elite collude to maintain the structural and economic inequalities that are of benefit to them. 

Jesus was overtly on the side of the poor, the excluded, the ignored, the disenfranchised and the exploited. He was on their side when it damaged his reputation, his earning potential and any hope he had of moving up the ranks of religious or political power. He was on their side when he drove out the price-manipulators and rent-seekers in the temple courts and he was on their side when it cost him his life. 

It would be hard to argue that Christians should support one party or another – to be unconditionally aligned no matter how their values and policies change over time.

However, I do believe we are called to be on the side of those who are marginalized and disadvantaged by a system designed to benefit those at the top. If we follow Jesus, we will stand with and for all who are left out, forgotten, abused and socially, economically and politically excluded – no matter the personal cost.