Social justice has been a controversial topic in Christian circles for several decades. Part of the controversy is whether or not Jesus taught His followers to practice social justice.
As with many Christian debates, there are two main sides to this issue… and as with many Christian debates, I hold to a third position. Let me review the two main positions on social justice, and then present my own view.
1. The Gospel Leads to Social Justice
First, some Christians say that social justice is a perversion of the Gospel, and that rather than seek to engage in social justice issues, we should instead just preach the Gospel. They say that no amount of helping people will transform society and bring justice to the world, unless it is first founded upon Jesus Christ.
People’s lives cannot be truly transformed, they say, until they submit their lives to Jesus Christ, and adopt the values of the Kingdom of God.
Furthermore, these churches argue that we should not be wasting our time on social justice issues until people have heard and accept the Gospel. “What good is it,” you might hear them say, “if a person has a full belly but is still headed for hell? People still go to hell whether they are well-fed or not.”
2. Social Justice is at the Center of the Gospel
On the other side of the social justice debate are those who argue that social justice issues are at the center of the Gospel, and that as we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see Him engaged in social justice actions at every turn. He feeds the hungry. He defends the oppressed. He stands up for women’s rights. He loves the outcast, the despised, the rejected, and the sinner, and calls on the rich and powerful to give their money to the poor and take of the needs of the helpless.
While this second group usually agrees that feeding the poor and defending the powerless will not “get them to heaven” they argue that getting people to heaven is not the only goal of the Gospel. You will often hear them say, “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care,” and “The way to a person’s heart is through their stomach.”
Social Justice and Jesus
Where do I stand on these issues?
Personally, I think that most of the problem lies in the term “social justice” itself. It is not that the term is wrong, it’s just that the term “social justice” means different things to different people, and so even if two groups of people are arguing about “social justice,” they may not be arguing about the same thing.
So my view is that we should stop talking and arguing about “social justice” and instead, just try to follow the example of Jesus.
Ah, but there’s the rub. What exactly did Jesus teach regarding the message of the Gospel, and what exactly did Jesus do regarding the needs of the people of His day?
A full explanation would take a full book, but let me see if I can summarize three of the highlights:
- The mission and message of Jesus is pretty clearly summarized in Luke 4:18-19. He wants to give sight to the blind, liberty to the captives, and deliverance to the oppressed. If we look at the actions of Jesus throughout the Gospels, He did these things both spiritually and physically. Sometimes Jesus met people’s physical needs before He addressed their spiritual needs, and other times He addressed their spiritual needs first.
- Jesus was not into free handouts. Yes, Jesus gave free meals and free healthcare to people. But notice a few things about these events. First, the people He is helping are almost always people who are following Him or who have sought Him out in some way. When He feeds the five thousand, it was because they had been listening to His teachings and He had gone on so long that they all became hungry and had not brought any food. The vast majority of these people were not homeless. They were not unemployed. They just forgot to bring food. Later, when word gets around that Jesus was giving free meals, and people started showing up just the free stuff, Jesus pretty much chased them away (cf. John 6).
- Jesus never called on the government to provide free stuff. Not once did Jesus ever call on the Roman Empire, or the local Israelite authorities to raise taxes so that the poor and unemployed could be taken care of. Taking care of the poor and needy in the community was a priority of Jesus, but He never saw this as the responsibility of the government. Taking care of the poor and needy in the community was the responsibility of the individual person, or of local groups.
So when it comes to Jesus and His Gospel message, I don’t think He would side with either of the two main groups in the social justice debate.
On the one hand, helping the poor and needy was indeed a priority for Jesus, and sometimes He helped people whether or not they believed in Him for eternal life and became His followers. Sometimes He helped people just because they needed help.
But on the other hand, Jesus was not a proponent of trying to legislate morality, of trying to get people to do what is right through higher taxation and passing laws. Jesus did not put much faith in human government to fix what was wrong with the world. Fixing the world, helping the poor, and defending the oppressed was His job, and the job He passed on to those who follow Him.
And fixing what is wrong with the world means looking not just at people’s spiritual needs, but also their mental, emotional, psychological, and physical needs as well.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a full-orbed Gospel which addresses all of humanity’s needs, and which He wants the church to spread throughout the world, and on their own initiative, not through taxation or legislation from the government. A church which calls on the government to take care of the needy in our community has surrendered–not to Jesus–but to the state. Helping the needy in our community is the job of the church; not the state.
Of course, as long as we spend all our money on lavish buildings, state-of-the-art soundboards, pastoral salaries, and excessive programming, we will have no choice but to ask the government to do what Jesus has called us to do all along.
This post was written as part of the October Synchroblog, where different bloggers around the world were invited to write about the topic of the social justice in today’s world. Here is a list of other contributors:
- K.W. Leslie – Social Justice and Social Darwinism
- Glenn Hager – Notes on Not Saving the World
- J.A. Carter – The Gospel Truth About Social Justice
- Sherri Huleatt – Sex Trafficking: the Story of a Young Girl, the Problem of a Generation
- Edwin Pastor Fedex Aldrich – Social Justice or Social Programs
- LIz Dyer – A Social Justice Story
- Carol Kuniholm – Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
- Leah Sophia – Justice is Important, Food is Essential
- Kathy Escobar – Justice is More Than Equality
In addition to yesterday’s post and my response to the comments there, I will point out the obvious. Jesus told us to love others (neighbor), and that doesn’t include sitting in our warm, dry, lofty cathedrals while we know there are folks lying naked, cold, sick and bleeding alongside the road down the street from the our cathedral.
We’ve decided taking care of the people alongside the road is the government’s job or someone else’s job. Oh yes, those people got themselves into their predicaments, so let’s just let them stew in their own juice, as I’ve heard often said.
Religion passes by the fellow on the side of the road, passes on the other side. Jesus and loving neighbors bind up his wounds, put him up at the inn and see that he is taken care of. But wait, those people taking care of him have the wrong religion. It’s “social activism”. Everyone knows one must practice religion as we do. This Jesus fellow is obviously Satan himself. He commends these half breeds who take care of beaten, needy people by the side of the road. Let’s ignore him. Better yet, let’s eliminate him from our religion. And so we more or less have.
Strong words! But true. It is amazing how often the church condemns as “Satanic” that which might actually be Jesus doing what He is trying to get the church to do as well. Sometimes, I think Jesus “shames” the church by getting our “enemies” to do the things the church should be doing, but isn’t doing.
I guess that my belief about government playing a part in providing social justice is partly due to the fact that according to Paul, government is “ordained by God” (Romans 13:2) to promote justice, restrain evil, and protect the people under its care (Romans 13:3-4). But even if you take away what Paul has to say and leave me with only what Jesus has to say I would still have to come to the conclusion that as a person of faith I would need to support government programs that help the needy, sick and poor … the orphans and the widows … those who are oppressed and marginalized by the majority and the rich. Anything less convicts me that I am seeking to set up a system that doesn’t take those people, the ones that Jesus showed compassion to, into account.
Liz,
Yes, I agree that government can help take care of the poor and needy and there is biblical basis for it. But I think sometimes we say that since the government is doing it, we don’t have to. That is the danger.
Ideally, it should both-and.
The government of the Roman Empire and the democracy we enjoy in this country are two very different animals. The Empire was the imposition of power on the people. Democracy, on the other hand, is the way we, the people, have organized ourselves to create the society that reflects our values. I believe Jesus would have had a very different message if he was talking about government roles in our country today.
If we are going to talk about our present government’s responsibility to care for those in need, we are really looking in the mirror and asking about our collective responsibility. When our governments pass laws that give favour and advantage to the wealthy and powerful because of their successful lobbies, we, the people, are responsible, and culpable. When we determine that the collective effort of government programs are more effective at levelling the playing filed and caring for those in need, that is in fact a legitimate way we live out our Christian faith. We choose to pay taxes to fund our collective efforts by electing governments who impose and spend them the way we want – not that it let’s us off the hook for our individual actions, or what we do as the church.
In relation to the rest of the world, the Unites States functions very closely to an empire. Regardless, you are absolutely right. The responsibility to care for others lies with us, not with the government officials.
Thank you for this discussion, very helpful.
In return my 2 cents worth:
I suspect Christ would have supported equality of opportunity and not today’s SJW’s demands for equality of outcome – teach a man to fish….
Regardless, I can’t understand why our church is joining and supporting the rabid atheist social justice movements of the sot, who are openly and actively destroying Christianity across the world. Even the Pope.
Turkeys voting for Christmas comes to mind.
Seems to me, of all today’s pious politicians, (trigger warning), Trump has the most true Christian values in speaking up for the underdogs of America.
Jeremy,
Thank you for the discussion. I think you may have missed the point of the previous comment. His point was, as I understand it, that in a democratic society, we are the government. The government is the arm of the people.
If we then move to elect someone who is more socially oriented then our government will reflect more closely Christian values. When we elect representation that continues to ignore or promote inequality in various ways then we are voting against our shared Christian calling.
Peace, Norm
My problem with Jeremy Myers comments above is that it is almost entirely from the position of silence. Jesus didn’t command governments to feed the poor. True. But, Jesus never tried to define any role of government. It wasn’t Jesus’ goal. Paul barely did. (Romans 13) The NT didn’t have the goal of defining government. But you can’t argue that because they were silent then it meant that government helping the poor is somehow wrong. Yet, that is the very logic of Myers’ comments under “my opinion.” Therefore, Myers opinion doesn’t clear up anything.
I think the reason why Jesus and Paul don’t go into depth in describing what their exact role and function of government should be is because If Christians are relying on God, and functioning as the church, there will be little need for a strong government. This is also why the founders set up the USA with a constitution of “negative” liberties as apposed to a charter of “positive” deliniated actions of a government. They felt that America would only function as a small government constitutional republic if people were a functioning, moral, Christian people.
For me the term “social justice” is a charged and negative term with many people who are less than godly associating themselves with the movement. Meeting the needs of the poor in society should be married with the sharing of the gospel…the two are not mutually exclusive.
Texas and Ward,
Yes, I think Ward pretty much shared my view as well. I don’t mind the government helping when and where it can. It should do so. But we must not think that their aid gets us off the hook, or that our taxes is all that is necessary to help the poor and needy in our community.
I believe that Jesus expects the body on earth to both spread the Gospel and seek justice. I believe that Christians are called to love unconditionally, and I find it impossible to believe that love does not compel one to assist those in need of assistance. I also believe that citizens in a democratic republic have a responsibility to support government attempts to meet the basic human needs of the destitute.
I find it very frustrating that when my fellow evangelicals discuss social justice,the discussion usually degenerates into a debate between those who support government transfer payments to the poor and those who oppose such payments,
with no discussion of the pervasive and ever increasing structural injustice that is the root cause of most of most of the poverty in our extraordinarily high per-capita GDP nation.
The structure of the market largely determines income distribution. National internal
markets are structured largely by national governments, and international markets are structured transnationally by agreements between governments. As a general matter, whether structuring internal or external markets, government policy makers are quite sensitive to the interests of the most powerful players. And the players who make the rules, usually win the game.. Again, as citizens of a democratic republic, I believe that Christians blessed to live in the United States have the power, and I believe the moral responsibility, to demand better of our elected representatives. What do you think?
William,
YES, YES, YES!
You are right on!
I really loved what you said about how the debate among Christians degenerates into arguments about government social welfare programs. I am convinced the only reason the government got into “social justice” in the first place is because the church has been neglecting its responsibility to take care of the needy in our community as Jesus called us to do. Instead, we pour all this money into bigger buildings, newer soundboards, etc.
“This was our tenth cruise in seven years. The Baltic is wonderful in the spring. We probably won’t be taking another cruise this year, however, since we’re completely remodeling the inside of the house and we both need new cars. Arthur’s always wanted a sports car” Blah, blah, blah. That is a summary of many similar conversations I’ve heard between Christians, each trying to outdo the other with what they’re buying with their money.
“If we’re going to attract the kind of people we want to our church we need to spend some money to make it more attractive.” That is an exact quote I heard from a pastor when I was on a church board not that many years ago.
As a very wise man I once knew said “We always think the things other people spend their money on are foolish, but that the things we spend our money on are necessities”. I agree. Nevertheless, as individuals and groups those of us who follow Jesus should do our best to plan our lives so that we may share what we have with others. It’s not really ours anyway. We’re just temporarily using it. Soon it will be someone else’s. Does a person who lives under a bush deserve it less than cruise companies and sports car companies? – Many seem to think so.
Yes, that resembles many of the conversations I have overheard myself … and sometimes find myself participating in. You make a great point there at the end about who deserves our money.
Let’s be honest. The Romans had no interest in feeding folks out to hear Jesus speaking. Nor did the leaders of the Hebrew sects support them feeding folks. Then it turns out that Jesus didn’t need their help anyway. So there’s no need to discuss it anyway. The point is that Christians according to biblical scriptures are to love and care for one another anyway, especially the poor and needy.
Jeremy and Sam,
Right On!
Thanks for commenting. While a college student in the Seventies, I was part of a house church called West Salem Christian Community Church (aka First Church of the West End Space City Burnouts).. We preached the gospel and loved the people Jesus placed in our paths. All of us were young, none of us were rich and some of had severe cash flow problems. Yet I do not recall a lime when we were not able
(continued) able, through individual or collective effort, to meet the most pressing material needs of people we encountered. Astonished by God’s often miraculous grace in these matters, I commented to a dear friend and brother that that if the Church really behaved as the body of Christ on earth, there would be little need for government transfer payments. I made that statement thirty-six years ago, and I believe that it is true today. .
I am currently blessed to be part of a small Church that meets in a small rented warehouse space. Our pastors are an extraordinarily gifted married couple, and our senior pastor holds a full time job. Because our overhead costs are low, we are able to support missionaries throughout the world, Because our members are active, we are able to finance and engage in a variety of evangelistic, educational and justice ministries locally, and to partner with local congregations in many parts of the world. God continues to truly bless us.
Grace, peace and much love,
Bill
The Greek word most often translated “love” in the New Testament is agapē. But agapē is not “love” devoid of conditions! Even a casual reading of the NT reveals numerous conditional statements relative to relationships and love.
Unconditional love is not a biblical word. Pop Christian culture has disregarded the truth for a feel good/politically correct attitude and the church will suffer the consequences for its disobedience to a Righteous God.
“Christian” organizations (like Catholic Charities, Lutheran Services, World Relief) have abandoned Jesus command to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”. They don’t want to offend other cultures. They get BILLIONS from the American Taxpayers.
In 2011 Lutheran Social Services(Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) one of the largest Social Justice, Government funded, resettlement agencies, revenue was $31,653,748 of which $30,376,568 (96%) was taxpayer money. Their CEO was paid $204,186 in salary and benefits.
Catholic Charities–US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the largest of all the federal refugee resettlement contractors reported revenue $72,102,484 included $66,723,452, which is approximately 93%, from federal funding.
All of the Resettlement agencies have abandoned all efforts to evangelize refugees in favor of Government money.
When money becomes the motivation everyone loses. Good works/Social Justice mean nothing without the boldness of spreading the gospel. Civilized society falls apart without Christ. And the worst part is that the church is neglecting believers (like Christian Latinos and the persecuted church) and those are the people we are commanded biblically to care for– “Feed MY sheep”–not people who have, OVER and OVER AGAIN seen the goodness of Christianity and have still rejected Christ in favor of a religion that has declared Jihad against the very people who are helping them. These are the people our country has granted a pathway to citizenship, paid for educations, school meals, medical care, food stamps, housing for the 10 children of the 4 wives each man is married to (3 wives benefit as unwed mothers-as polygamy is illegal).
Meanwhile, I personally know of over 50 non-minority small business owners in my state bringing home $30,000-$170,000 who were audited and each made to pay the IRS $10,000-$300,000. These are middle class, American, Christian, law abiding family people who have never received ONE government handout. Cleaning ladies, Real estate agents, Dentists, Insurance agents, Mechanics, Daycare Providers. They are the bookkeepers, marketers, managers, and sales people in their small businesses. How are they expected to wade through an IRS code that is thousands of pages long? The IRS uses it’s own discretion in each and every audit. One family might owe thousands for the very same thing that the IRS decided was no problem for another family. Each of these good people took out loans or used savings and paid the IRS every cent. And we all stand back and watch as corrupt “social justice” “non profits” lobby the bureaucrats for more money and the government squanders our hard earned dollars.
Whenever and wherever, throughout history that the Gospel has spread and Christ has become Supreme, prosperity and civility has ensued. There is a direct correlation between 3rd world countries and the rejection of Christ and the slaughter of Christians.
Yes we are called to love. But we are called to TRUTH-honesty, righteousness, sexual morality, humility, repentance, faithfulness goodness, kindness, diligence, generosity, self-control, and integrity. Our government is not about Truth. They should not be in the business of Social Justice. Only the true humility of FOLLOWING Christ can combat the corruption of humanity.
(2 Chronicles 7:14) If MY PEOPLE who are called by MY name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Great points, Megan. I pretty much agree with you. I too am saddened at how most Christian ministry today seems to focus primary on getting and spending money than on much else.
“Civilized society falls apart without Christ.” Hardly. Look to Europe. While Christianity is a bare ember of the fire it once was, the countries of Europe show more love and concern for their citizens in general than the ‘Christian’ US ever does, and they do not parade their so called Christian values for all to see. Assistance for those who cannot work, health care for all, payment of heating for the elderly, payment of housing costs – not just for a few, but for all, sick pay by right for those who work but fall ill. Which of these shows most love for others?
All I see here in this article and the comments, are conditions. But Jesus said to give to any that ask of you. Not just to those you think deserving, but anyone. If you have and another has not then you do not show love if you do not share. Far from only giving to the deserving, he said to give and not ask back, even to those who have already taken from you.
Show people how we love and they will be interested, they will follow. Judge them and they will turn away.
Yes, but – We knew a single guy a few years ago who had a good job. He owned a house, free and clear, worth over $500,000. Another fellow he knew was “down on his luck”, unemployed, homeless and had a drug problem. He asked the homeowner for help. The homeowner (a Jesus follower) gave the homeless guy the house, and moved into an apartment. He figured he had a good job and could rent a place and give the other guy a hand up in life. Very radical right? Who really knows anyone who does this stuff, Jesus follower or not?
The employed guy’s job disappeared during the recession. He went to the guy to whom he had given the house. The guy told him to “F— off”. A little investigating on the part of the original homeowner revealed that the new homeowner had actually sold the house and had used the proceeds to fund his drug habit. He was in a worse mess than he had been before he had been given a house.
We work with drug addicts and one side of our family has more drug addicts than we can count. We do help these people, but try to be very wise in how we do so. We do not give them cash, even though they ask. The cash ALWAYS goes for drugs, then gets passed along to the drug cartels in Mexico and South America to fund their criminal activities and further destroy people’s lives. Giving an addict money to buy drugs does not help that person. We do help, but in other ways, ways that actually help the person.
Yes, Sam, using common sense and taking the time to get to know a person so we know how to address the root issue is always advisable.
When you have billionaires with 36 million dollar houses, plus million dollar yachts, and you have millions of children dying of starvation and in poverty, you know the system of caring and voluntary giving is not working well.
No, what is not working is the system that tells them it is okay to keep all that money for themselves. If you create laws to try to take it from them to “give to the poor” they are smart enough and rich enough to find ways to hide their money, and even then, the money that does get taken from them only gets wasted on governmental bureaucracy, and very little makes it to the poor starving children.
Jeremy this is an excellent piece. You’re articulated so well what I’ve sense/felt but couldn’t express properly. Great the way you laid it all out and explained it. You nailed this one start to finish.
Thanks, Dave. Thanks for reading, and for the comment.
How did Jesus respond toward the group/individual?
This message is fur all Christians :
Stop been so inclusive and include everyone on the picture not just people from the USA. The big problem you are very narrow people who are always thinking about yourselves and seeing others as your enemies . Christ would not tolerate your biases about been “American”.
This is really disgusting before the eyes of God . How can you you be so limited to just your own people . All your politics is nonsense and a waste of time . Do what the Bible says in Leviticus 19:33: Do not oppress that needy and the foreigner . International Standard Version: If a resident alien lives with you in your land, you are not to mistreat him.
Gabrielle,
Jesus is merciful to all sinners. Christians are beggars that have received the gift of His forgiveness of sin. He holds us all accountable for what we do. But He is gracious to forgive all who believe on Him.
First of all allow me to say that God is on His throne, in control and not wringing His hands in amazement of how corrupt the system is; and the Lord Jesus is ever interceding for us. Praise His name! I heartily agree with you that Jesus never expected the government to take care of us from cradle to the grave. However, I rarely ever see a Christian response to this issue from a person that works within the government. It grieves my spirit to see how the government tentacles-like programming has taken over. This is a spiritual front-line battle against the Lord, Family, the Body of Christ–a prophetic occurrence. It is about power and control over all people–with the appearance of “doing good.” It is not about merely giving to the poor-ignorant-downtrodden, providing socialized health, education, and welfare etc.; it is the vestiges of control over those who are duped into believing they are cared for by a benevolent system. It is a contemporary form of tenant slavery. It is an exacting thing in our day and age that is a soft-sell Fabian som formulated from the Marxist/Sot takeover. All one must do is read the humanist manifesto, or the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto to see how the natural flow has been toward totalitarianism. This is a result of not just a USA societal takeover, but world-domination or global governance of the kings of the earth in Psalm 2 and many other places in scripture.
It’s easier to get a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven.
Governments are full of rich men and women.
Only by giving their riches away will a rich man to go heaven.
Rich governments, the rich Catholic church, the rich church of England all invest in usery, and the oppression of the poor. They are the dens of thieves that Jesus named. They are not vehicles to go to heaven.
Jesus talked about social change and social justice more than anything else. You are warping his words in the name of wealth. If you are middle class in the UK you are certainly rich, and I won’t be seeing you in heaven, according to Jesus. But there again, according to you, what does he know talking about social change in categorical terms?
Notice that Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven” … not “heaven.” The two are very different. The kingdom of heaven is the rule and reign of God here on earth. It is not the same thing as “going to heaven when you die.” So Jesus is not saying, “Only the poor or those who give away all their wealth will get to go to heaven when they die.” No, He is saying, “If you are rich, and you want to experience the rule and reign of God in your life, try giving away your wealth. It will change your present life forever.”
Rich people can still easily and freely receive eternal life just like anyone else: by believing in Jesus for it.
Amen, sacrificial giving from all would make a needy world almost free of need except need for Gods’ Holy Spirit.
There are two systems at work in this world, the kingdom of darkness that also comes as an angel of light and the kingdom of God the true light. One fixates on good works that have no reward and the other which brings great reward. As Christians we ought to remember we are a government within a government, a body of Christ with many members and as long as these Christian bodies can’t even get along, or just congregate with people if “like” faith, meaning their own denomination. Social justice is a worldly term but God does want us to be inviting and a haven for the homeless, orphans and widows as well as every good work we can do to relieve the oppressed. We are stewards of God’s blessings and we were told to use them and occupy until his return. Those who would walk on the opposite side of the road have forgotten they were delivered from their sins.
Why would Jesus ask the oppressors/ Romans / conquerors to help the poor? He was mad at his own,the Pharisees leadership, for not doing good works!
And collecting all that money!
Social justice seems more like a politically correct way to virtue signal for self or political gain. Read Matthew 6:1-3 to see what Jesus thinks of such hypocrites.
Any Christian who sincerely seeks to help the needy should do so IN SECRET, so that ONLY GOD SEES IT, as Jesus describes in Matthew 6:1-3.
As for Christ’s position on “social justice” for the needy, in Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus clearly states the priority of “SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,” and then God provides for or needs.
Thus we see position 1 best fits with Christ’s priority.
Thanks for this honest and I believe, thorough look at a complex issue.
“The vast majority of these people were not homeless. They were not unemployed. They just forgot to bring food. Later, when word gets around that Jesus was giving free meals, and people started showing up just the free stuff, Jesus pretty much chased them away (cf. John 6).”
You are very wrong many of the people were homeless and jobless at that time Rome taxed the people (Jews) unjustly. As a result their homes, business, land, and their life (Slavery) was taken
How can the church recognize it is God’s plan for people not government to help our fellow man
When will God’s plan be fulfilled