There's a term being thrown about these days, and it's never intended as a compliment. It's "Social Justice Warrior" or SJW in the brevity of social media posting. Historically, it's been a pejorative used by the political right to call out over-reaching advocacy for social justice by those on the left. And to be fair, sometimes it's legitimate to critique the numerous agendas pursued under the banner of justice. Other times, it's not.
On theological social media (as fun as it sounds), the backhand is the term "social gospel," a label which suggests that the individual advocating for social justice has replaced the very gospel with this pursuit. Christians who work for social justice causes would say that these things are a response to the gospel, rather than a substitute for it. That Christians should advocate for justice and compassion because that is the heart and character of the God we serve.
It's depressing when one group of Christians labels and shames another group of Christians who are seeking to live faithfully, and have a theologically-sound foundation for their position. Screwing this up isn't the sole territory of the theological or political right or left.
There are two ways in which our engagement with the world around issues of social justice (think race, abortion, gender equality, etc.) can go off the rails: politically progressive Christians can sometimes become so invested in the language, worldview and priorities of contemporary social justice that they stray from the foundations of Biblical orthodoxy; politically conservative Christians can become so guarded against such blasphemy that they become callous to real suffering and fail to minister to the concerns of our neighbors with the sacrificial love Christ modeled for us.
So yes, Christ-centered social justice advocacy must be rooted in a faithful interpretation of the whole counsel of the bible, not just the latest fads in political or social action wrapped in a few cherry-picked verses. But let's be clear about this: to dismiss all the suffering and pain observed in certain socio-economic strata, neighborhoods, and people groups as "their own dang fault" is also out of step with the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
Why must we always throw the baby out with the bath water?
I think it's because keeping the baby safe while chunking the dirty water requires that we not be so miserably lazy in our wrestling for truth. Hanging onto the baby will require more of us, will force us to labor over the gray areas of scripture and human failing, and to sacrifice our own comfort in the name of grace. To say things that are unpopular. To accept being shunned by our own tribes when we upset their narrative in the pursuit of faithfulness.
For the progressive Christian it might look like admitting that Biblical teaching on sexual ethics or the sanctity of life does not leave us free to promote all choices as equally righteous or beneficial, no matter what the current culture begs for.
For the conservative Christian it might look like sacrificing your own political or economic comfort to seek the safety and benefit of marginalized people both here and around the world. To sit and listen to those people with a sincere heart for their well-being rather than a defensive posture rooted more in self-preservation than love.
Bottom line: there should be a worldview and agenda held by the vast majority of professing Christians that is so distinctly biblical that it could never be confused with the political right or left. But most of us have resigned ourselves to one of those two choices/identities and given up. Following the whole Jesus, it's been said, will eventually make you "too conservative for liberals and too liberal for conservatives." And some of us would rather have a tribe than the truth.
- Dana Hall McCain
My take: One of the best articles I've read and whose subject is one of several motivations for this blog, that is, to demonstrate that a Christian, not just can be but should be evangelical and also progressive on many social justice issues. All Christians should be evangelical of course on the basis of the great commission and they should also have an incisive sense of justice if for no other reason than the experience of their own lives and a nation remembering that there was no social justice in this world until the Lord God brought it into law through the Torah.
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