‘Seek Social Justice’ (Part Three)

[Part 3 of 6 in my review of the Seek Social Justice study from the Heritage Foundation and WORLD Magazine]

Serving the Whole Person: Churches and Ministries is the name of the third section in the study. As the title suggests, the lesson focuses on two things: (1) the central role churches are to play in social justice efforts and (2) the need for churches to serve the “whole person� - not merely as a conversion prospect, but first and foremost as a man or a woman made in the image of God.

Once again, the study makes its case directly in contrast to the prevailing government welfare model. All too often, as Al Mohler of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary says in the video, the church has “franchised out� its responsibility to care for those in need to the government. The argument is made that churches and faith-based ministries can go deeper in addressing human needs than can government programs. I agree all the way.

During my time as a ministry leader at my church in Lancaster County, a suburban evangelical megachurch, I had the privilege of being part of a growing push among leaders and members to become more actively involved in community service projects in the community and in the nearby city of Lancaster.  We recognized we were doing a pretty good job within the walls of the church building and on the other side of the world, but had mostly overlooked the needs in our own backyard. We had our successes and our failures as we experimented with what it looks like to be the church in our community, and life circumstances have pulled me away from leadership in that, but the role of the local church in seeking social justice is one of my biggest passions, so I am so excited to see this study highlighting this very thing.

My concern is this: while it is true that churches can and should be leaders in social justice in every community in the United States and that government welfare programs create all sorts of problems, the fact of the matter remains that churches simply have not done their part. We’ve dropped the ball, plain and simple. I am all for scaling up church involvement in social justice efforts and for scaling down government welfare programs as churches “run them out of business.� But until churches have demonstrated that regardless of the need, we are there to listen and love and do whatever necessary to make it right, we have no legitimacy in supporting reduced government benefits for the poor.

I worked for a faith-based nonprofit organization in Lancaster a couple of years ago, helping to assist newly arrived refugees with the resettlement process. Among other things,  we helped our clients gain access to basic social services available in the community from both government and nonprofit sources, especially until they could find gainful employment in the private sector. Throughout my time working there, I experienced frustration with the various government agencies with whom we interacted. If they weren’t imposing unrealistic requirements they were losing clients’ paperwork; it was one thing after another. I also came to see and appreciate the varied Christian organizations and churches that were (and still are) meeting human needs and providing key social services in the city, doing what government agencies cannot or will not.

But I must also say, unfortunately, that one of the hardest things to do was to find churches and Christians willing to befriend refugees, willing to help them get on their feet, willing to challenge unjust immigration policies that tear families apart. There were some, but never enough. And as an organization depending on church support, this had a crippling effect on our work and for our friends in need, it made their lives extremely difficult and lonely. Meanwhile, despite our frustrations, the welfare officers were there Monday to Friday and our clients received their benefits according to government policy. This was an essential stepping stone in the resettlement process until they could find employment and become more self-sustainable.

So, why was it so hard for us to find churches willing and ready to offer simple things like friendship, some transportation, and perhaps a helping hand to people fleeing some of the craziest corners of the world? All sorts of reasons, certainly, and I’m not particularly interested in judging motives. But the fact remains that the church wasn’t being the church, not in the lives of these refugees, not nearly enough. [A terrific book I'd recommend about some amazing things that are happening in and through churches across the country is Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works by Ron Sider, Philip Olson, and Heidi Unruh.]

So while I was delighted to work through this wonderful study on the unique role the church can play in social justice, and I’m enough of an optimist to believe that churches really can grow into this sort of a community-transforming role, the realist in me knows all too well that we’re not there yet, and utopian black-and-white arguments seem a bit premature.