Seeking Gospel-centered Social Justice: Part One
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” Isaiah 60:1–2
This is part one of a two-part series. To read the next, click here.
Where to even begin? The potent concoction of Covid-19 mixed with the newer (and yet also painfully older) issues of racial inequality is tough to swallow. As a Christian, there are certain lenses through which I view the world, and rarely does it match with how the rest of the world sees itself. With the death of George Floyd and so many others in similar ways, I fortunately feel that most everyone is generally on the same page in opposing modern day racism. On the other hand though, I have noticed two problematic approaches among my own siblings in the faith. These approaches are vastly different, and while they point to the old divide between politically-conservative and liberal Christians, their strife manifests itself again in today’s events.
The two approaches are something along these lines: you have one group of believers who are generally suspicious of social justice and any progressive movement. The other group wholly embraces those efforts and seek to advance them however they can. While the approaches differ, the fundamental underlying issue in both, as I see it, is that they have forgotten what the Gospel is. The Gospel is a word used so often that it almost becomes mundane in the Church, a travesty in of itself. Allow me to define it then: The Gospel (literally “good news”) is the proclamation to all people that our Father and Creator has sufficiently reconciled all believers to Himself through His son, Jesus Christ, who was crucified and rose again, so that we may spend eternity with God in the age to come. That reality then creates a critical second piece to the Gospel; that in light of this radical reconciliation, we are transformed by the Holy Spirit to now carry out the will of the Father and to seek to bring about restoration to the world, a reflection of our new hearts aligned with God. As I interpret it, it seems that both of these groups only take one half of the Gospel into account, which is hopefully a clear problem. In this article, I will address the more conservative base. An additional article tackling the issues on the Left is also out.
Why the Term “Social Justice” Matters
To those that are suspicious of social justice and progressive movements in the world, let me gently challenge you in some ways. Social justice is a common term these days, and it is loaded with so many concepts and issues and can feel very partisan. In Reformed circles, this term is often flat-out rejected. There are valid concerns, which I will address in the next article. I also recognize this is a deeper issue than I’m able to properly express here. However, I disagree with Voddie Baucham in his assessment that seeking to redefine “social justice” only causes more confusion. The issue from him comes from this quote of his:
“There’s no such thing as ‘social justice,’ people. In fact, in the Bible, justice never has an adjective. There’s justice and there’s injustice, but there’s not different kinds of justice.”
Now, he is absolutely correct, technically speaking. Avoiding the term altogether though, creates other problems as well. What I fear happens is that when we dismiss the term completely as incompatible with Christianity, it naturally programs our minds to tune out whatever serious issues there may be. Instead of evaluating each issue we hear about and comparing it to what Scripture says, a free pass is given to not have to care, since that’s an issue for a group one is unaligned with.
If our issue is that the phrase itself is absent from Scripture, then I offer that the word, “trinity” does not appear there either. It is a helpful term though to help us communicate what is so clearly present in Scripture. The fact that Scripture does not use a modern phrase like “social justice” is almost meaningless. Further, a core part of Reformed theology (and really just broader Christianity) is the concept of “total depravity”. We believe that sin is so pervasive and toxic, that it has affected every part of humanity, including our institutions. If we affirm the idea of institutional sin, that wickedness can exist not just in humans, but also in how our society is structured and how it functions, then there really should be no issue in making a distinction between the sort of justice that is applied personally to someone and justice that is served to an entire system. Even granting that the larger point is that justice is not broken down into subcategories, it is clear that the Bible does model, albeit indirectly, how justice can be applied to individuals and institutions and systems. We see one example in Ezekiel 45, where God calls on the princes,
“Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 45:9
We also see in Isaiah 59 a slew of widespread issues, as Israel had oppressed its workers, had not taken in the homeless, failed to feed the hungry, care for widows, etc. Israel was facing judgement for both those actions and inactions. It is worth noting that the Prophets often chastised Israel because of how they systemically took advantage of people. The Law is even set up in such a way to prevent some of these oppressions (Ex.22:25; Deut.15:7–8, 23:20).
The Impact of Laws on the Heart
One of the objections I am making is to the commonplace, “laws don’t transform hearts”. I mostly agree. One of the primary teachings of Jesus was that the Law was not present in people’s hearts (Matt. 5–7). Racism will never completely die until people’s hatred dies within themselves. However, laws have several functions that are valuable. First, laws communicate a society’s values. When we see that some countries imprison those who dissent from the governing authorities, we recognize that country as an authoritarian government that prioritizes obedience to its leaders over its people’s freedoms. You may argue that the example I just gave is a meaningful law only because there are actual consequences and enforcement of said law. But we can also see this in America’s laws concerning littering. Admittedly, this is anecdotal, but I have never met a person being fined or jailed for littering somewhere that prohibited it. And yet, I remember kayaking down the Au Sable River in Michigan where a bunch of anti-littering signs are posted, and I saw regular civilians picking up any nearby trash they saw. In this case, a law that is probably not enforced much created a particular anti-littering attitude among some of the other people using the river. Lastly, Illinois passed a law called “Scott’s Law”, a law implemented after an officer was struck by a passing car. I immediately started getting over a lane whenever I saw service vehicles after this. This was not because of fear of punishment, but because in their establishing such a law, it communicated to me a prevalent issue that I wanted to combat.
Having laws, even unenforceable laws, can be important. Claiming that racism won’t die until hearts is changed is ultimately true, but it misses the call to action placed on believers. The Gospel demands action, and James argues that true faith is accompanied by righteous actions (James 2:14–26). We are called to good works in Jesus’ name, which serve as a means of grace to others. Therefore, taking action by performing good works is critically important. The Civil Rights Movement, for example, was facing blatant and open racism. Would it have been successful if they simply said that nothing could be done because hearts weren’t changed? It seems obvious that it would not have even been pursued, and so those leaders sought political reform to advance their cause. While there is a long way to go as we are painfully seeing today, undoubtedly the Civil Rights Movement is remembered as a monumental moment in Black History. It may take generations to finally take deeper root, but it’s the first step toward eliminating racism. A first step that is worth taking, no matter how small it might be.
Modeling the Kingdom
Perhaps most importantly, Christians are called to live like Jesus in the world. This is what Peter meant when he said that believers are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). As the Holy Spirit moves in our lives, sanctifying us to become more like Jesus, our interactions with the world will bear fruit that points to the greatness of Christ. Our engagement with others is the vehicle God has chosen to bring about repentance and salvation to the world. Functionally and practically, it means that we cannot be passive. We do not all have to be politically involved, attending protests and marches on Washington. Each person is gifted differently and is also called to all sorts of varying causes the Kingdom is concerned with. We must support ending racism, though, and to begin ending it with our interactions with others. Doing so reflects the values of the Kingdom that is coming, while simultaneously inviting others to join in. Jesus commanded his disciples to be ready for the day that the Kingdom is finally and fully installed (Matt.25:1–13).
Are you ready?
This was part one of a two-part series. To read the next, click here.
