is<\/em> social justice. Justice is both vertical (God and humanity) and horizontal (community-person-to- person). In the horizontal sense, it of course always touches the political because it is bound up in law and culture.\u00a0 Still, social justice is not a modern left- or right-wing formulation, but a biblical teaching and one inherent to the scriptural narrative and Christian tradition.\u00a0 With that view in mind, I would like to address the aforementioned post.<\/p>\nThe writer asserts:<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, life and Scriptures have taught me that social justice is different than biblical justice. Christ did not come just for \u201cthe triply oppressed\u201d or the \u201cmost marginalized people\u201d. He came for the sinner, which means Caesar, you, and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why are these (the oppressed and marginalized) and those who don\u2019t fall into those categories opposed to each other, or separated?\u00a0 Yes, of course, Christ came for all\u2014for sinners. So what? That is completely beside the point. No progressive Christian I am aware of believes Jesus only came for the oppressed. This separation is especially egregious in the light of the way Jesus describes the gospel and why he was sent:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me,<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 because he has anointed me<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 to proclaim good news to the poor.<\/em><\/p>\nHe has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and recovering of sight to the blind,<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0 to set at liberty those who are oppressed,<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0 to proclaim the year of the Lord\u2019s favor.\u201d <\/em>(Luke 4:16-21)<\/p>\nThe writer goes on to assert there is no identity politics in the Bible. Again, so what? Who said there was? This is a red herring.\u00a0 So too is the assertion that, \u201cJesus did not die for only certain groups in human society.\u201d Again, who said that he did?\u00a0 No one\u2014no credible person anyway. The writer is using the concept of biblical justice to argue against her false conception of a leftist politics, not social justice.<\/p>\n
Moving on, we read:<\/p>\n
\u201cOur biggest priority as Christ followers is not to achieve \u201csocial justice\u201d or \u201cequality\u201d on Earth as my brethren on the left would have us believe. That is a low bar for Christians to set for our goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the passage I just cited, Jesus didn\u2019t think it was a low bar.\u00a0 If a person has been denied social justice or equality, it\u2019s certainly not a low bar to them either.\u00a0 Every Christian should be seeking (whether it is achieved on earth or not, which is, by the way, irrelevant) social justice and equality for those who don\u2019t have it yet.\u00a0 Imagine during the Civil Rights Era, telling black communities in places like Mississippi that to help them was a \u201clow bar\u201d and we had other far more important goals to attain. It would be just as disgraceful and disobedient to do the same now.<\/p>\n
She then writes:<\/p>\n
\u201cFighting for the oppressed and giving voice to the voiceless is a wonderful thing to do if we are led by the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
We are<\/em> led by the Spirit to do such. It\u2019s not only \u201cwonderful\u201d to do, it is absolutely required. From Genesis to Revelation, it is required. It\u2019s not an option. It would literally take another entire post to list all the scripture passages that tell us we are required to advocate for the oppressed and be a voice for the voiceless (or, how about just reading the entire Old Testament). I can\u2019t think of a single respected or credible Christian teacher or theologian who would argue otherwise.<\/p>\nFurther:<\/p>\n
\u201cWesterners (whether white or people of color, Christians or nonChristians) who aim for this kind of \u201cjustice\u201d in society are actually spreading more division and destruction because it is done in a spirit of anger and self\u2013righteousness.\u201d<\/p>\n
No, it is actual racism and sexism that spreads division and destruction. Does that even need to be said? The claim that those who point it out, even if done incorrectly, are the ones causing division is pretty rich. I\u2019m sure many thought Martin Luther King Jr. was self-righteous and angry sometimes too. Was he then spreading division and destruction?<\/p>\n
Are there those working for social\/biblical justice who are sometimes angry and self-righteous?\u00a0 Sure. Again, so what? While there is no need for self-righteousness, sometimes there is a need for anger. Read some of the Old (First) Testament prophets.\u00a0 Jesus seemed fairly angry when he cleansed the Temple, which had a decidedly social justice component (the poor were being taken advantage of) to it.<\/p>\n
I would rather have a person fighting for the oppressed and being a voice for the voiceless but doing it poorly, than a person who doesn\u2019t do it at all or downplays it like this writer. Besides, there are angry and self-righteous people on both sides. It has nothing to do with whether or not their arguments are true or their goal just. It\u2019s simply another red herring.<\/p>\n
Look, if one\u2019s true objections are a perceived anger and self-righteousness on the part of those advocating for social justice, and not social justice itself, then the entire post should have been about tone, emotion, and communication issues rather than trying to downplay or oppose social justice to biblical justice. It seems clear the writer\u2019s true objection is more about social justice than these other issues.<\/p>\n
The writer then mistakes her history with communism for what people are talking about now as far as social justice, as if they were the same thing. They are not the same. No credible progressive Christian I am aware of is advocating for a \u201csocial justice\u201d that resembles the totalitarian left or right versions from decades ago.<\/p>\n
They are speaking about racism and sexism. They are speaking about economic justice\u2014the indecent gap between the rich and poor. They are talking about health care, poverty, the criminal justice system and education. Their methods are directed toward both hearts and the law but done peacefully and through democratic means. Those are good goals, just goals, even if pursued sometimes poorly. If one doesn\u2019t like the way it is being done, then do it better.<\/p>\n
Social justice is<\/em> biblical justice.\u00a0 When we strive for social justice, when we act for the \u201cleast of these,\u201d when we love our neighbor (which includes social justice) we are<\/em> giving them Jesus. We are<\/em> following scripture.\u00a0 If all one sees is \u201canger\u201d on the part of those who are trying to help the oppressed and marginalized, one is missing both Jesus and the \u201cleast of these.\u201d<\/p>\nSeparating biblical justice from social justice may salve our conscience, but it certainly doesn\u2019t help anyone else.<\/p>\n
I have a Patreon<\/a> Page\u2014please consider supporting my writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Running through the theological framework of fundamentalism and evangelicalism, perhaps even the Protestant tradition, is the discernible need to dichotomize everything. Of course, it\u2019s a feature of modernity.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s works vs. grace, scripture vs. tradition, etc., it has to be either one or the other; see here\u00a0for another example regarding the gospel and social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":1804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[863,140,344,602,473],"class_list":["post-1799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-biblical-justice","tag-ethics","tag-political","tag-social-justice","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\n
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