Every Christian leader I’ve learned from has eventually taught about spiritual maturity. Although the formation of doctrine is a vital part of our growing faith, church leaders rarely value the formation of Christian theology on social justice, despite the fact we live within the world, and among its people and systems. How, then, do we form a mature Christian view of social justice?
Note: In this article I will be using the term social justice to refer to the ideal good and right way we interact in the world via relationships with the people around us and through the systems we are part of. (Read this and this to understand why I use this term).
We’re Called To Be Spiritually Mature
In 1 Corinthians 13:11, Paul uses the analogy of growing up in regards to our spiritual lives: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (ESV). What does a follower of Jesus look like when they give up childish ways?
There is more to this analogy of growing up than simply children transitioning into adulthood. We are God’s adopted sons and daughters (Galatians 4:4-7). In my modern American ears, I tend to hear passages about adoption to mean that we now have a spiritual family where we belong and are loved. And although this is true, there is also a deeper meaning. In ancient times, adoption was also a way of raising up an heir, a new leader of the household. The adopted heir was apprenticed, learning to govern like the father. When the heir matured, he would then guide, lead, judge, and manage the estate.
We aren’t meant to stay kids in God’s family, we are called to mature, walk in authority, and rule as heirs of God’s Kingdom. Therefore, we must begin to understand how God’s ways look as we discern right and wrong. What is God’s version of justice? Apprenticing Jesus, we model how he lived out his Kingdom. Since our faith is demonstrated by works (James 2), the evidence of spiritual maturity will appear in the way we interact with the world.
Growing In My Maturity Towards Justice
When I was a kid, I was expected to act like a Christian in a very specific way. I developed my own theology on social justice by what I picked up around me in church, but it was anything but solid. Over the last few decades, as I’ve grown from Christian infancy towards spiritual maturity, I had to stop picking and choosing from random verses to prove what I had previously believed. Instead, I grew in understanding about the ways of God’s Kingdom both through an intentional study of scripture, God’s Spirit’s guidance, and through my experiences learning from other believers.
Scripture’s Role in Forming Our Theology on Social Justice
I studied hundreds of passages in the Bible that talk about God’s Kingdom, on topics like: justice (both mishpat and tzadeqah), righteousness, shalom, reconciliation, poverty, and guidance on relating to marginalized groups. I researched cultural dynamics to better comprehend the context. I listened to teachers representing differing perspectives, not for me to debate with, but to challenge my views and ignite wonder in God’s mysteries. Through these practices, it became evident that there is an expansive and robust theology about what social justice is within the Bible.
The Spirit’s Guidance
However, even understanding the scripture wasn’t something I could do without God’s active guidance. Otherwise, I would just pick and choose passages to fit my current worldview. Seeing the scripture through the lens of Jesus, “the Word made flesh” (John 1) acted as my foundation (1 Corinthians 3). As I went, I prayed that my bias would be removed. I prayed that I would be convicted when I wasn’t truly loving others or interacting with systems of the world in a way that reflected God’s shalom. Sometimes it took years for my mind to be transformed! Ultimately, we need to surrender and seek the Spirit’s guidance in our real-life applications of social justice.
Markers of Christian Maturity
Not only is there guidance about what God’s Kingdom might look like in practice through the Bible, there are also markers that display our spiritual growth. One of the passages about the formation of our faith refers to the common metaphor of a plant that blooms (Galatians 5:22). We display the same type of maturity when our lives produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In addition, Jesus asked his followers to make new followers, teaching them to live out his ways (Matthew 28:18-20). So when I saw Christians living like Jesus, with the blossoming evidence of God’s Spirit, I had people to imitate. They were guides who modeled what maturity looked like for Christians practicing justice as they live within the world.
Examples of Spiritual Maturity
I noticed I saw this faith displayed in action by those who intentionally welcomed immigrants. They were those who showed compassion to the hungry and thirsty–those in need of safe water. They were those who cared for women, regardless of whether or not they had an abortion. They humbly apologized at work, putting people over profit or pride. They hugged and repented to people in the queer community for bullying, withholding love conditionally, and executing a version of justice over mercy.
Maturity was visible in Christians who were making restitution for those whose families’ lands were stolen. They brought freedom to the victims of trafficking. They were people who invited the previously disqualified in religious settings because of class, gender, or color to begin using their God-given gifts. They made room for the marginalized to seek God, not allowing their churches to exist as a den of thieves.
I could see maturity in the people who willingly examined the prejudices they had in order to treat others more fairly. They prayed for and cared for both the ill and those facing incarceration. They used their resources on behalf of others in need. They looked at the sourcing of what they bought, as they didn’t want to cheat people of their pay. They even unified as one people, as God’s Church, doing the hard work of valuing other cultures.
There are many examples, but these mature people of faith were the ones who lived out the gospel among the people of the world.
Politics Can Hinder a Mature Christian View of Justice
Remember how I shared that most of my doctrine on justice was formed by the Christian environment I grew up in? I didn’t realize it at the time, but much of this wasn’t as much Christian as it was political. You can imagine my surprise when I often saw Christians demonstrating maturity while also ascribing to the political party I believed was evil. They used liberal terms, like woke, anti-racist, anti-colonial, collective liberation, and feminist, while genuinely using these terms to display God’s Kingdom. But regardless of the labels they wore and the terms they used, their love for God and their desire for his ways to prevail were one and the same as mine.
I’m not saying one political side reflects God’s Kingdom and the other doesn’t. I am stating that the Kingdom of God and how it relates to social justice extends far beyond any political spectrum. If being citizens of God’s Kingdom isn’t our primary purpose, we can remain stuck, with our only theology on these topics formed by the Christian subculture around us. That culture might hold to some aspects of God’s Kingdom, but in no way can it be equated with the spiritual formation that comes by studying scripture, listening to God’s Spirit, and imitating the lives of mature apprentices of Jesus.
Spiritual Milk and Spiritual Food
In Hebrews five and six, we are told to stop going over the basic tenets of being believers, which the passage refers to as infants’ breast milk. Would I have seen what the Kingdom of God on earth could look like if I was still suckling? Probably not, for we don’t reach spiritual maturity by drinking milk. On the other hand, spiritual food is described as training in the difference between right and wrong. This then leads us to love others. This is what reflects the Kingdom of God.
The passage in Hebrew six continues with the same hope I have for us:
“…let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding… Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance…” (Hebrews 6:1,11,12 NLT)
Eating spiritual food instead of drinking milk can be said about any topic we need to be formed in–from our theology on suffering, to our doctrine on spiritual gifts. But until we leave milk behind and graduate to the solid food of actively developing spiritual discernment concerning social justice, in this way we will continue on as spiritual infants.
The Heart of Justice
Infants can receive love and care, but they lack the maturity to love the people around them fully. They do not have the capacity to sacrificially love, as parents do. Love is the driving heart of justice, for it is the heart of God. This love was demonstrated by Jesus giving up his own rights to be one of us (Philippians 2). How are we to live in the world, with all our relationships, within our communities, and within the systems we are building and are around us if we are not formed by love?
We are called to so much more than infancy in the way we relate to the world. After all, we are adopted sons and daughters, remember? We are meant to grow up as heirs of God’s Kingdom!
How Are We Formed in Our Views of Social Justice?
So then, how do we form a mature Christian view on social justice? First, we must choose to eat spiritual food instead of subsisting on milk so we can grow into maturity. We will be formed in discernment and the practice of love through the intentional study of justice in scripture. Seeking the guidance of God’s Spirit, we will learn to apply it. Then, by modeling the lives of Christians who show the fruit of maturity interacting with the world, our faith will also be seen in action.
Let’s endeavor to become spiritually mature adults who can practice God’s Kingdom not just in Heaven, but in the here and now, too!
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