The words \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201csocial justice\u201d have long drawn the ire of segments of American Christianity, particularly white evangelical leaders. They have consistently said that it is unbiblical, un-Christian, and yes, un-American.<\/p>\n
Baptist News Global reported on May 18, 2018, that this sentiment may be coming to the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention this summer in the form of a resolution drafted by Pastor Grady Arnold of Calvary Baptist Church in Cuero, Texas.<\/p>\n
Arnold\u2019s resolution cites political commentator Glenn Beck who said on his radio show in 2010 that Christians who find the words \u201csocial justice\u201d in their church\u2019s literature or teaching should \u201crun as fast as they can\u201d from that church and find a new one. (It is worth noting that Beck has since apologized for how he \u201chelped tear the country apart\u201d).<\/p>\n
The rhetoric from this camp has not been subtle. Arnold\u2019s resolution bluntly says that \u201csocial justice and Christian ethics are clearly antithetical to each other.\u201d Richard Land, who once led the Christian Life Commission, said that social justice was an idea \u201chatched in hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although none of this is new, it never ceases to amaze me how those among us who call themselves \u201cBible-believing\u201d and claim to have the highest and most literal reading of scripture can so unabashedly dismiss a subject that is among the Bible\u2019s most mentioned, and that Jesus explicitly affirmed.<\/p>\n
In Jesus\u2019 long list of woes against the Pharisees and teachers of the law (Matthew 23:13-36), he rebukes them for neglecting \u201cthe weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness\u201d (v.23). There it is; first in a list of the top 3. Jesus was essentially quoting Micah 6:8 in which the prophet says that what the Lord requires of us is to \u201cdo justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Old Testament alone, \u201cjustice\u201d is mentioned hundreds of times in reference to the systemic oppression of vulnerable populations at the hands of the rich and powerful. Here is a very small sampling:
\n \u201cLearn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.\u201d (Isaiah 1:17)<\/p>\n
\u201cIs not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free…\u201d (Isaiah 58:6)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what the Lord says: Do what is right and just. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.\u201d (Jeremiah 22:3)<\/p>\n
\u201cWoe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his own people work for nothing, not paying them for their labor.\u201d (Jeremiah 22:13)<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts … But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!\u201d (Amos 5:12, 24)
\nWhat you should see in these passages is not just a clear concern for vulnerable populations, but also that they are identifying large scale, systemic issues that are not possible to address by way of mission trips, church service projects, or benevolence. These verses and many others mention things like wages, taxes, greed among the rich, and bribery.<\/p>\n
Evangelicals who rail against the idea of justice do not deny that the Bible commands Christians to care for the poor and needy, but they seek to make a distinction, saying that individuals and churches are supposed to help the poor and needy, but not try to do so through political processes nor demand that the government do so. This ignores the context of these Bible passages and the problems they mention. How can injustices caused (and maintained) by political forces be remedied by individuals and churches?<\/p>\n
If Congress passes a law that makes health insurance unaffordable for millions of additional Americans, compassionate churches trying to pay a few medical bills or run a clinic drain their resources while leaving the root cause of the problem in place. If our president halts refugee resettlement programs and cancels protected status for certain immigrants, it\u2019s virtually meaningless to talk about helping them since they won\u2019t even be here to help. If your city or county is focusing all its resources and energy on the middle to upper class parts of town and neglecting the poor section, your casserole or clean up project is almost insulting.<\/p>\n
Proverbs 31:8-9 calls us to \u201cdefend the rights of the poor and needy.\u201d How are we supposed to do that without engaging those who are taking those rights away? A bucket of water doesn\u2019t do much for a house that\u2019s on fire.<\/p>\n
Modern faith leaders\u2019 opposition to justice can be traced to some sinister roots in the 1930s. Justice was more commonly preached in American pulpits in those days as the corporate power structure had lost clout with the people because of the 1929 stock market crash. The corporations hated the New Deal, but they were going to need some help in getting Christian America back on board with their agenda. Princeton history professor Kevin M. Kruse says that they found that help in Los Angeles-based Congregationalist pastor James W. Fifield, Jr., who started a movement called \u201cSpiritual Mobilization.\u201d His main sponsors were Sun Oil President J. Howard Pew, Alfred Sloan of General Motors, the heads of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, etc.<\/p>\n
Using a version of the prosperity gospel, Fifield engaged in a successful campaign to bring tens of thousands of preachers around to the idea that government protections of workers and consumers were antithetical to Christianity. He even sent cash prizes to ministers who won \u201csermon contests\u201d by obediently preaching their desired message. The business magnates desperately needed Christians to keep their love stuff confined to compassionate handouts rather than the Bible\u2019s message of justice. Some 80 years later, their successors are still reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t see how it\u2019s possible to love my neighbor without justice. This is my call to the Church to put more weight on the \u201cweightier matters,\u201d and follow the One who said that he was anointed to \u201cproclaim good news to the poor … proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free\u201d (Luke 4:18).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The words \u201cjustice\u201d and \u201csocial justice\u201d have long drawn the ire of segments of American Christianity, particularly white evangelical leaders. They have consistently said that it is unbiblical, un-Christian, and yes, un-American. Baptist News Global reported on May 18, 2018, that this sentiment may be coming to the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1176,1174,377,679,562,1177,750,597,1175,1173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}