One of the reasons I’m concerned about the current emphasis
on social justice, especially by leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention,
isn’t because of the language being used (although there are legitimate reasons
to be concerned about confusion given the secular and Marxist use of the
term). No, I’m concerned because there
is an inevitable slide toward the kind of theological missteps that took place in
the late 1800’s and early 1900’s with the so-called “Social Gospel”
movement. You see, it is clear that no
matter how hard we try, we are never, let me repeat that word: NEVER, going to
create heaven on earth. In fact, it will
take the return of Jesus to consummate God’s entire plan.
This being the case, we need to be very careful as we
explore what we mean when we talk about social justice. If we mean things like mercy ministries for
the widow, the orphan and the prisoner, great.
If we start tacking into political territory about transforming society,
we’re moving into ground the gospel simply doesn’t cover. Jesus told us that our primary focus, our
number one job, our main goal was to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). He modeled how disciple making was to take
place. He pulled a small group out from
the larger following, then developed an even smaller following from that group
to act as leaders. Discipling took place
on three levels: the preaching level (larger groups), the small group level (twelve
men) and the intimate level (three men).
Discipling was designed for those disciples to follow his lead by
creating more disciples, from Jerusalem, to Samaria to the ends of the
earth. The formula had much to do with
engagement between teacher and disciples and among disciples. Jesus offered no political insights and no
grand theories about fixing societal ills.
What he did offer was a means for individuals to come to know the God of
the universe and, in doing so, transform their inner lives. Good works were never offered as anything beyond
an outworking of the inner change – evidence of a transformed life which then
manifested itself in care and concern for others (see Luke 10:25-36, The
Parable of the Good Samaritan, for instance).
Jesus never once told his disciples to concern themselves
with transforming society by fixing racial problems, ending poverty, or
assuring that women would be treated properly.
Yes, he clearly wanted us to be concerned about others. Primarily, however, he was concerned about
eternal, spiritual matters, not temporal problems. Yes, when temporal matters got in the way, he
was tough on them. He spoke clearly to
the rich young ruler not because wealth was, in itself, evil, but because this
man’s wealth was an idol that was holding him back from entering God’s eternal
kingdom. Giving away the wealth wasn’t
some prescription by Jesus for solving society’s problems. It was a prescription for the heart ailment
of anyone who was letting their wealth convince them they were heaven bound. Jesus notes “how difficult it is for those
who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:24. Jesus cared that this man, who was wealthy, would not enter
the kingdom of God – moreover, he was concerned for anyone else who, like this
man, had wealth upon which they were relying to “save” them. Not once does Jesus say anything like “if you
are wealthy give all your wealth away to solve societal problems.” Moreover, Jesus doesn’t once suggest that his
concern was for anything other than the spiritual condition of the man to whom
he was talking and any who were like him.
There is a vein of evangelicalism right now that is
obsessing with the idea that Jesus is some kind of societal and political leader
out to make the world a better place right
now. My wife recently alerted me to
a post on Facebook from someone who we would have otherwise believed to be a
serious Christian who offered that Christians should focus on Jesus as “a
liberal activist” during Christmas.
No.
Jesus was not and is not an “activist” of any kind. Jesus is the God-Man, come in the flesh from
his throne in heaven, as messiah, first for the Jews, then for the rest of the
world. He sought those who would repent
and believe (Mark 1:15) to enter the kingdom of heaven. His focus was not on making earth a better
place to live. He told Pilate that his
kingdom was not of this earth.
This idea that Jesus was a liberal activist limits him so
severely it makes him less than who he is.
It is, in a word, heresy. I’ve
written over 100 blog posts and the term heresy appears sparingly, so I don’t
say this lightly.
Worse, this is nothing more than a form of the prosperity
gospel – it’s Joel Osteen’s “Your Best Life Now.” To turn Jesus into some kind of social
do-gooder is to relegate him to the merely mortal and merely human: a leader
who will fix our current problems with social and political change. The Bible simply doesn’t support this kind of
view of Jesus. This is why serious Christians
eschew the syrupy gobbledygook of Joel Osteen and other purveyors of “health
and wealth” gospel claims. This view of
Jesus as liberal activist (and, therefore, God as liberal activist) becomes
nothing more than a cosmic Amazon.com delivering directly to us, for us, at our
convenience whatever it is we think we need.
It is heretical, unbiblical nonsense.
Southern Baptist leaders are complicit here. They’re not clear and they’re often so busy
talking about “justice” that the people in the pews are getting the message
that Jesus is about transforming society in the here and now. Isn’t that precisely what the Jews expected
and one of the fundamental reasons they were so disappointed in Jesus? They thought they were getting a political,
social, religious, and military leader like King David. Instead they got Jesus . . . and they
crucified him.
Let’s be very clear that the gospel is the message that we
are dead spiritually and in need of a savior.
The primary responsibility of Christians isn’t to fix social ills, it’s
to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) so they can receive life everlasting. John 3:36 says that those who believe in
Jesus will have everlasting life; those who don’t will not see life but will
feel the wrath of God.
Are we not, then, crucifying him afresh by causing his
people to veer from the primary message of salvation through repentance and
belief in the bloody, battered, king on a cross, who died and yet lived? Let’s stop talking about Jesus as an activist
and talk about Jesus as savior.
