social justice

A few months ago I went to a particular church solely because one of my best friends was getting baptized that Sunday.  While I was so thankful I was able to be there for her, it was hard to sit through the service.

Why?  Well, the pastor made some brash statements, broad generalizations, and unsupported claims that really frustrated me.  One of them went something like this:

"A church should never worry about social justice issues.  If it does, it is misusing its time and resources."

Well, Pastor... I beg to differ.  I understand that the gospel should be central in all that the Church does, but that does not eliminate the need to engage in advocacy for social justice issues.  Jesus called us to care for orphans and widows, is that not social justice?  In Isaiah, God said that he would allow the Chaldeans to overcome His people, because they weren't taking care of their poor as they should.  So many times, God shows us the importance of loving His people.  If we sit idly by and watch these people go hungry, sleep on the streets, be extorted and then mocked, then we are not loving people as we should.

The heart of social justice advocacy IS the Gospel; the Gospel must not be lost in it all.  But the Church should be at the forefront, because God commanded us to "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

All this to say that we constantly need to evaluate what a pastor says - even if it is a pastor who you admire and love and follow.  Take everything and think through it yourself, compare it with Scripture, and use your God-given wisdom to know Truth.