Why not every Christian should be a justice activist
I don't need to tell you that in recent years there's been an unprecedented surge in the number of evangelical Christians and churches seeking to integrate faith and justice. I also don't need to tell you that those with competing visions of what that integration ought to look like can become quite contentious with each other.
The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, taught that we Christians are one body with many parts. And Jesus said that unbelievers will be able to recognize that we are Christians by our love for each other. I'm concerned about our bickering.
In my reading of the Bible it seems clear that faith and justice are inseparably linked. But it also seems clear to me that there's more to the Christian life than doing justice. It's an essential part of the Christian life, and I'd say it's an essential part of the work of the church, but it's hardly the whole thing. Christian justice activists need to be reminded of that.
But I'm convinced that churches have a responsibility to justice activists, as well, a responsibility far too often neglected. Gary Haugen, president of International Justice Mission, writes in his book Just Courage:
In this era I believe many Christians are yearning to walk on a pathway to courage. They yearn for liberation from small and trivial things, and to experience the passion and power of God on the more jagged edges of faith, where true glory lies. And I believe God is providing a very specific answer to that yearning and a very concrete path for getting there: God is calling his people to a pathway out of fear and triviality through the struggle for justice in his world.
And perhaps more surprising, it is call to all his people. It’s not a call to the handful of social justice zealots or slightly odd issue advocates in our faith community. Many churches miss out on God’s transforming call by putting the handful of justice agitators in their congregation on some ministry subcommittee where they can do ‘their thing’ without, hopefully, doing any harm. This effectively inoculates the rest of the congregation and directs everyone else right back onto their Christian cul-de-sac, where round and round they go.
Spiritually healthy and dynamic churches, on the other hand, have learned to equip the whole community of faith to do the things that matter to God.
There's much more to a "spiritually healthy and dynamic church" than justice, and it's clearly not the only thing that matters to God. But Haugen is right that it's an essential component, and that spiritually healthy and dynamic churches will indeed equip those called by God to faithful lives of justice activism.
Each of us is called to immerse ourselves in Scripture, though not everyone is called to teach. We’re all called to join other believers in corporate worship, but not all are called to serve as worship leaders. All of us are called to give the reason for the hope within us, but not all are called to be evangelists. In the same way, God calls all of us to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with him, but that does not mean all of us are called to lives of justice activism.
Justice activists would do well to acknowledge the blessing it is to be part of a community of faith along with those who teach Scripture and lead them in worship and share the good news of Jesus. At the same time, teachers, worship leaders and evangelists would do well to embrace those uniquely in a position to reweave shalom in our world.
So how does your church relate to those members who are passionate about justice, who are called by God to be instruments of shalom in a world in desperate need of redemption? Are they given token nods of approval, but relegated to the sidelines where they hopefully won't do too much damage or make too much noise? Or are they seen as essential members of the body of Christ to be nurtured and discipled just like everyone else?
Do our senior pastors and worship leaders and children's ministry staff and small group leaders see how essential the justice people are to the well-being of the church? And vice versa? Do the justice people see that if everyone was just like them the church wouldn't be all that God intended it to be? What might the consequences be if we disregard all of this and let the bickering run its course?
[Image credit: Merill Comeau]
Repaso: Reject Apathy, faith & science, culture-shaping moments, globalized Christianity, “social” justice
1. Reject Apathy, #2
The second issue of Reject Apathy is now out and available for online viewing for free. Lots of good stuff in it, intended especially, I think, for twenty-somethings interested in doing good (tag line: “Sustainable Change. Sacrificial Living. Spiritual Formation”). I blogged about the debut issue back in July.
2. Faith and science
My friend and former pastor/coworker Brian Moore has a series going on his blog about faith, science, and often uncomfortable relationship between the two that seems to be driving a lot of young people away from the church. Brian’s a thoughtful guy, and his series is worth your time. Parts one and two have been posted so far.
3. Top culture-shaping moments of 2011
The folks at Q Ideas have compiled an inspiring list of the most memorable culture-shaping moments of the past year. Despite the many caricatures that evangelical Christians have in our culture (many of which are not entirely undeserved, in my estimation), it’s cool to see how in every sphere of culture there are evangelicals seeking the common good. Let’s support them, cheer them on, and join in the fun, what do you say?
4. Five observations about globalized society and Christianity
With the next Urbana conference just a year away, missions consultant and member of the Urbana leadership team Paul Borthwick shares five insights into our changing world and what it means for Christians.
5. Who put the “social” in social justice?
Scot McKnight shares a Sojourners post from Tim King from earlier in the month (originally here), and offers perspective on the debate over the redundancy or necessity of lumping the words “social” and “justice” together.
Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!
[Graphic credit: Reject Apathy, Vol. 2, p. 41]
Repaso: CEO integrity, Brazilian culture wars, rethinking nuclear weapons, Guatemalan war documentary, Derek Webb on free music, Christianity and culture, good economic news, top global thinkers, and justice for all
1. What does a CEO with integrity look like?
Michael Lindsay, president of Gordon College, had an op-ed yesterday in the New York Times about Gerard Arpey, the American Airlines CEO who just walked away after 30 years out of a belief that filing for bankruptcy -- a procedure that’s become standard in the airline industry -- is wrong. That he is a man of integrity is worth celebrating; that he is a rare exception among CEOs, though, is lamentable. Lindsay writes:
Over the last eight years, I have interviewed hundreds of senior executives for a major academic study on leadership, including six airline C.E.O.’s. Mr. Arpey stood out among the 550 people I talked with not because he believed that business had a moral dimension, but because of his firm conviction that the C.E.O. must carefully attend to those considerations, even if doing so blunts financial success or negates organizational expediency. For him, it is an obligation that goes with the corner office.
2. Culture wars and Pentecostalism in Brazil
The days of the Religious Right might be mostly behind us here in the US, but in Brazil, it seems to really be catching on. The New York Times has a profile of Silas Malafaia, a televangelist with a massive following who is known for his polarizing views, and takes a look at the rise of Pentecostals and other Protestant groups in Brazil:
About one in four Brazilians are now thought to belong to evangelical Protestant congregations, and Pentecostals like Mr. Malafaia are at the forefront of this growth. In a remarkable religious transformation, scholars say that while Brazil still has the largest number of Roman Catholics in the world, it now also rivals the United States in having one of the largest Pentecostal populations. Not everyone in Brazil is enthusiastic about this shift.
3. Evangelicals rethink nuclear weapons
Members of the National Association of Evangelicals board of directors have written a piece for Washington Post’s “On Faith” column that’s worth prayerful consideration:
Christians hold that all people bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27).Therefore, human life and freedom are precious and should be defended from injustice and tyranny. Nuclear weapons, with their capacity for terror as well as for destruction of human life, raise profound spiritual, moral and ethical concerns. We question the acceptability of nuclear weapons as part of a just national defense. The just war tradition admonishes against indiscriminate violence and requires proportionality and limited collateral damage. New scientific studies reveal that even a limited nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would have profound global consequences, harming billions of innocents. The very weapons meant to restrain evil could potentially destroy all that they were intended to protect.
4. “Our voice, our memory”
Mike at the Central American Politics blog shared this 30-minute documentary about the 36-year civil war in Guatemala, which, according to the makers of the film, meets the international criteria to be considered genocide. Needless to say, it’s not for the faint of heart, but is important for the understanding of history, as well as what you might call “the roots of the present illness.” It’s in Spanish, too, by the way.
5. How free music makes more than sense
Derek Webb, one of my favorite artists who started NoiseTrade (a great place to get free music legally!), has a new reflection on the state of the music industry and what it means for those who make and listen to music (hint: he’s not a fan of Spotify):
There has never been a better moment to be a middle-class or an independently thinking artist making and performing music than right now. The costs and complications of creating, recording, manufacturing, and distributing music are at an all-time low, enabling more music to be made and more artists to make a living than ever before. If your ego can bear not being rich and famous, you can make a respectable and sustainable living as a blue-collar musician. The problem used to be access; now it’s obscurity. And this brings with it a completely new set of problems and opportunities.
6. Andy Crouch on Christianity and culture
If you haven’t read Andy Crouch’s Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, you really should. But if you don’t want to do that, here’s a 50-minute podcast about Christianity and culture, the big themes of that book. If even that is too much to ask, at least take a listen to the four and a half minute snippet about how cultural change can -- and often must -- start small.
7. Good economic news from Latin America
The BBC reports:
Poverty in Latin America is at its lowest level for 20 years, the UN's regional economic body, Eclac, says. From 1990 to 2010, the rate fell from 48.4% to 31.4%, which means 177 million people currently live in poverty... "Poverty and inequality continue to decline in the region, which is good news, particularly in the midst of an international economic crisis," said Alicia Barcena, Eclac's executive secretary. "However, this progress is threatened by the yawning gaps in the productive structure in the region and by the labour markets which generate employment in low-productivity sectors."
8. Top 100 global thinkers
Foreign Policy has released its latest list of top global thinkers for the past year. A number of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution are atop the list. I was especially interested to see that Yoani Sánchez, Cuban dissident blogger, and Dr. Paul Farmer, medical anthropologist with a long history in Haiti, made the cut as well.
9. And justice for all [infograhic]
GOOD and Column Five Media have produced an interesting infographic on how the US is doing in terms of income equality and providing all citizens with access to the market economy (click on the image below to view the full-size infographic).
Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!
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