A Conservative Conception Of Social Justice Does Not Yield To The State
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If you are just a casual attender of church and have a mild alertness of today’s political debates, you should have come across the term “social justice”. I am willing to bet that any definition of the term and it’s implications for society, the Church, and the State, have been dominated by the Liberal world view. One example of this comes from my response to a Liberal video that came at social justice from an Ecumenical and interfaith point of view. The video has be removed but it was posted in several places, one was at Brian McLaren’s website. It was basically members from many different faiths saying, “I am X and I stand for social justice”.
The problems that I have with the Liberal conception of social justice is not only that it tends to reduce profound differences of faith to a common denominator of good works, but it also relies heavily on the government to redress issues that are fundamentally part of human nature. There is also a total lack of consistency when it comes to the issue of abortion. The inherent evil within mankind’s heart cannot be made pure by some new government entitlement or handout. Only by the preaching of Gospel will the heart be truly changed forever.
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Jesus the Way to the Father
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6
There is an attempt by what I would consider the Conservative side of the theological coin to get a proper understanding of social justice out there. In connection with The Heritage Foundation, the website, Seek Social Justice may be offering a properly grounded alternative to the Liberal conception of social justice that is dominating the debate. Here is their video that calls us to rethink how we perceive the issue and I think they are on to something.
Around 11:00 in this video comes the key statement and it is something I have tried at articulate:
“The truth is, if the Body of Christ, as strong as it is, especially in the United States, and even around the world. If the Body of Christ was doing everything that we are called to do, my guess is that what would be left for the government to do would be minimal at best.”
In case the youtube video is taken down, you can view the video at the website here.
The quoted statement above the video strikes me as the key difference between the Liberal and Conservative conceptions of social justice. The Liberal one seeks to get the State to fill the void that is left by the Church, the Body of Christ, not living up to the calling it has. The Conservative one seeks to call the Church, the Body of Christ, back to it’s calling which would necessarily minimize the role of the State. It struck me that no one was arguing for this or that new government program, but that there were only Christians doing what they are called to do to address these issues. Would ObamaCare even be a possibility in a world where the Body of Christ was doing what it is called to do? I seriously doubt.
Unless the Body of Christ gets Back To The Bible this trend of giving more and more ground to the State will continue. It may even continue to a point where the State assumes all moral and spiritual authority over society leaving the Body of Christ at the Stat’s mercy. Given that Liberalism is false and idolatrous religion, if the State’s policies became synonymous with that of this Liberal religion, persecution of the Body of Christ would not be far off. For the Liberal conception of social justice stands in antithesis to a Christian one, in that it focuses on one’s material and economic well being, not one’s spiritual condition.
HT: Craig
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3 Responses and Counting...
Todd,
Here's the distinction as I see it. There is a distinction between the Liberal and Conservative notion of social justice, no argument there. I think this distinction has to do with the primary focus of each group. Conservatives tend to respond to faith, Liberals to justice. This is why Liberals tend to "seek to get the State" involved because the State deals with matters of Justice.
I personally think that somewhere between the two is where we need to be…our notion of social justice needs to be grounded in faith and focused on justice.
Does this mean the Liberal notion of social justice "stands in antithesis to a Christian one?" To be quite honest, I think that you making judgments that you are not qualified to make. A MA in Religion or even the MDiv that I have does not qualify one to judge if one is a Christian (I don't know what's on peoples hearts any more than you do). Also, you make this claim over and over, but offer no support other than the same old proof texts that is nothing more that eisogeting the text.
Take the Mark passage, you assume that Liberals don't proclaim the Gospel, that only Conservative Christians can and/or do.
In the John passage, you assume that Liberals proclaim a works righteousness. I know many Liberals who would say we do because Christ and that salvation is a free gift of God.
In other words, you're making the Gospel an either/or when in fact, the Gospel is often a both/and.
Craig,
The reason I use the same verses over is I expect that many who come across the blog are doing so for the first time so they will be new in that case. For someone like I can see how it may get tiresome. I would like to see any argument about social justice come after a Gospel message. Look at my blogroll and the Liberal ones I check regularly. If you think someone besides Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren are articulating a different brand of social justice from their equally Liberal perspective I will check them out. There is no way around the Gospel, so I am not sure what you are getting at with your last sentence.
I never said there was a way around the Gospel. I'm saying you're setting up a dichotomy within the Gospel.
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