Blogging is a funny business. It’s interesting to sit on this end and watch statistics. Back when I blogged about the meaning of Hanukkah I lost a few subscribers… and I lost a few more this week as I started discussing human trafficking. Perhaps I scared people off by discussing Hanukkah – it’s a little “out of the box,” I know. Perhaps I’m making people nervous now as I touch on an area of “social justice.”
I know just reading the words “social justice” is making some of you uncomfortable. We tend to equate that phrase with abandoning sharing the Truths of the Gospel and instead emphasizing ‘good works.’ If you have read anything on this blog, hopefully you know that abandoning Truth is definitely not something I am in favor of. We must know God’s Word. We must share God’s Word and faithfully stand for Truth. But I am also convinced that if we are true followers of Christ, we will also live it out – we will show the love of Christ in a profoundly culture-impacting way.
A smattering of verses for you to consider:
I was a stranger and you did not invite me in,
I needed clothes and you did not clothe me,
I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry
or thirsty
or a stranger
or needing clothes
or sick or in prison,
and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did not do for one of the least of these,
you did not do for me.‘
Matthew 25:34-45
“Religion that God our Father accepts
as pure and faultless is this:
to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
James 1:27
[I think those of us in conservative circles tend to emphasize the end of that verse and overlook the beginning!]
Suppose a brother or sister
is without clothes and daily food.
If one of you says to him,
“Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,”
but does nothing about his physical needs,
what good is it?
In the same way,
faith by itself,
if it is not accompanied by action,
is dead.
James 2:15-17
So, please talk to me…
Why do you think we have a tendency to fall on one extreme end or the other on this issue (ie: ignoring it all together or abandoning the Gospel and making social justice our main goal)?
Who among the “least of these” does your heart break for? What does it look like to both share truth and seek to minister to their physical needs?
March 18th, 2010 at 8:56 am
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