Social Justice Sentiments: The Fog of Confusion about Social Justice

January 27, 2020 /  Joel Shaffer  /  2 Comments  /  Blog, Uncategorized

I am currently writing a book on what the Bible says about social justice. It is not the book I intended to write first. I prefer to share stories of former fatherless students of mine whose lives were transformed by the gospel of Jesus through UTM. That would’ve been easier and less controversial and maybe even inspirational. But through numerous face-to-face conversations with fellow-Christians, along with hundreds of online discussions and debates about the myriad of pressing social issues, I realized evangelical Christianity currently lies stranded in a fog of confusion about social justice and the Scriptures.

What’s more, there is no single statement of authority on social teaching within evangelicalism (except for the Bible). Different denominations and groups of evangelicals all agree that the Bible has much to say about social justice and poverty. However, the bigger question is how to interpret these passages of Scripture. For instance, a group of progressive evangelicals that call themselves “Red-Letter Christians” give more importance to the actual words Jesus said in the gospels over other passages of Scripture and different genres in the Bible. Because they view the entire Bible through the “red-letter” lens, they tend to elevate Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom of God as most important for how Christians ought to live. So when Jesus tells his disciples to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (can be translated justice), red-letter Christians believe they are mandated to pursue social justice as the central component and mission of their faith. Since Jesus did not directly address abortion and gay marriage in the gospels, likewise, red-letter Christians ignore or revise verses of Scripture in other books of the Bible that address sexual ethics and the sanctity of human life and adapt to the surrounding culture’s thinking on these volatile social issues.

In contrast, some conservative evangelicals hold to a “dispensational” view of Biblical revelation that mostly interprets the red-letters about the kingdom of God as a future time when Jesus assumes a literal rule and reign on this earth. What’s more, dispensationalists are skeptical and cautious in applying specific aspects of OT law and the words from Israel’s prophets as a standard for social justice in today’s culture. In their view, those passages concern OT Israel, not today’s Christians. Therefore Christians have no mandate to pursue social justice. However, the majority of evangelicals reject and adopt a belief or two from both groups but land somewhere between these two opposites.

The latest fog may have more to do with the hostile political climate of our nation in the past decade. Culture wars between the political left and right have created battle lines between ethnic minorities (especially African-Americans) and the criminal justice system/law enforcement, between the rights of pre-born humans (Pro-life) and reproductive rights of women (Pro-choice), between the rights of the LGBTQ community and religious liberty rights, between the globalists and the nationalists over the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and illegal/undocumented immigrants, and between the 99% and the 1% over wealth inequality. Amid these cultural battles, evangelicals can quickly become political pawns of both the Republican and Democratic parties. They parrot sound-bites from media figures, speaking their truth against the evils of their political opponents, but grow hypocritically silent and overlook the sins within their political tribe. I am not ascribing to the false equivalence fallacy, where both the political left and right are equal in their corruption. Instead, I’m making the point that politically-minded evangelical Christians tend to turn a blind eye towards their chosen party’s short-comings. Thus, social justice becomes a product of personal opinion and self-interest rather than a reflection of the character of God.

At least once a month, I will post articles, thoughts, or quotes about social justice and the Bible. The series will be called “Social Justice Sentiments.” My sentiments do not associate social justice with some sentimental, exaggerated feeling of nostalgia or sadness, but instead, communicate my views on Biblical social justice and how Christians can and should apply social justice to today’s culture. Some of my articles may end up in my book, and others will not. However, feel free to join me in this discussion. Maybe together, we can dispel some of the fog and confusion that surrounds social justice.