Social Justice: Addressing the elephant in the room

 INTRODUCTION

Social Justice has been one of the most debated topics amongst believers in the 21st century, different camps have risen up and many churches have been divided over this issue. Statements have been issued out either for or against this topic. For example, we have the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel which was made by John Macarthur and others which connected social justice with Cultural Marxism, in one of its clauses the statement speaking about social justice says “dangerous and false teachings that threaten the gospel, misrepresent Scripture, and lead people away from the grace of God in Jesus Christ (SJ&G 2018).” John Macarthur considers the social justice movement as the greatest threat he had to face in the church, this is due to his views that it is anti-scriptural and antithetical to the gospel. The Sovereign Nations’ organization a strict conservative and one of the prominent critics of social justice, held a conference under the topic “social justice and the gospel.” One of the preachers in that conference Tom Ascol said these “godless ideologies have spread across Western civilization over the last decades with a vengeance. Many of these ideologies have been smuggled into many evangelical churches and organizations through the Trojan horse of social justice.” This statement clearly demonstrates Mr. Ascol’s conviction that the church should distance itself from the social justice movement, he views the movement as being opposed to the gospel and used to advance secular theories among believers. Furthermore, Voddie Baucham defining social justice says it is the “state redistribution of advantages and resources to disadvantaged groups to satisfy their rights to social and economic equality” (Fulcrum7, 2019). Voddie here takes the Oxford dictionary definition of social justice which is influenced by Cultural Marxist theories, and he perceives the movement on the ground that it seeks economical breakthroughs for the marginalized and oppressed along the lines of gender, sexuality, and race (Got Questions, 2020). He then says that this is not biblical and thus he advocates for the rejection of social justice. There are others agreeing with Voddie’s definition and hold to the view that social justice is not the application of the gospel or part of the church’s mission. Kim Parker an anti-social Justice advocate says: “However, life and Scriptures have taught me that social justice is different than biblical justice. Christ did not come just for ‘the triply oppressed’ or the ‘most marginalized people’. He came for the sinner, which means Caesar, you, and me” (Parker, 2019). By his quote, we can see that he views social justice as exclusively focusing on the oppressed people of the world and neglecting the sin problem that Christ came to deal with.

 

However, there are others who believe that social justice is biblical, part of the church’s mission, and is the application of the gospel. Russel Moore defining the issue considers social justice to be the church heeding the call of Jesus Christ to act on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized. This is done by looking after the poor, the foreigner, the sex-trafficked, and others affected by social ills (Moore, 2014). He goes on to say that some evangelicals view the issue of pursuing public justice in the society as paradoxical to the mission of the church. And according to him, this is not right, since the gospel cares for the holistic faculties of men just as the curse damned men holistically. Therefore pursuing social justice is not antithetical to the mission of the church, but part of the mission of the church.

 

Adding further to this discussion Thabithi Anyabwile says that social justice is a movement of justice which is concerned with the proper application of Christian’s orthodoxical reflections and their orthopraxical application (Anyabwile, 2020). He goes on to say that “there needs to be an organized investment in teaching Christians and churches to apply what we learn in every area of our lives.” He claims that this will manifest the character and work of God in the world. From this, he echoes the same views with Russell Moore in the rejection of a dichotomous or dualistic view between theology and the practice of that theology. Since this subtle dualistic view seems to have infiltrated many of the anti-social justice camps, they will condemn Martin Luther King Jr for his lack of orthodoxy and defend slave owners such as Whitefield and Edwards though their orthopraxy was in opposition to the gospel. To them, it seems that orthodoxy excuses one from its orthopraxis implication.

 

Having heard the different points from these men it is important that we should ask ourselves this question; is it true that social justice is not biblical, application of the gospel, or part of the church’s mission? The answer is no, the bible is for social justice, in fact, social justice is biblical justice. And we shall prove this point by showing the history of the use of the term social justice and how it was defined, we will look at the Marxists’ misuse of the social justice term, and we will go on to give a biblical argument for social justice.

 

HISTORY AND DEFINITION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Historically the concept carried within the term social justice as used by the 18th century American founding fathers can be traced back to Saints Augustine’s theology. The term first appeared in the federalist papers which were documents written to influence American voters in changing the American constitution. What is most fulfilling is that the three men (Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay) who wrote these federalist papers, two of them claimed to be Christians and one was a deist but confessed to being influenced by the Judaeo- Christian worldview. The term was used in the context of punishing a violation of a moral obligation by those in power, in such cases, it advises that war should be waged as a chastisement for such “atrocious breaching of moral obligation and social justice” (The Avalon Project. n.d). Now here we see that term social justice was first used around Christian’s circles even though later on adopted by the Cultural Marxist groups. But before the Marxist’s adoption of the term in the 20th century, it was used also around Roman Catholic circles by the Jesuit priest Luigi Taparell to promote the idea of seeking to apply justice in the society as a whole. Thomas Burke commenting on this says that “social justice has been mainly a religious conception in the sense that it originated in religious circles” (Burke, 2014). Now we see that the continuous association of social justice to Cultural Marxism by the conservatives without looking at the historical use of the term as it first appeared around Christian circles is misleading to the body of Christ.

 

THE MARXIST MISUSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Cultural Marxism, though a difficult movement to define due to the many different schools within the movement. Some of the schools within the movement desire to see Classical Marxism implemented through revolutionizing the culture, instead of encouraging a worldwide violent proletarian rebellion against the capitalists who are the owners of the means of production and thus exploits the working class. Since this was what Karl Marx anticipated though it never happened, for Marx says “Let the ruling class tremble at the communist, the proletarian has nothing to lose but their chains.” Instead, the Cultural Marxists wage war against the hegemonic capitalist exploitation of the working class not through violent revolution, but through taking control of the culture and ensuring equality for everyone in the society under the banner of social justice, to them the term came to mean “state redistribution of advantages and resources to disadvantaged groups to satisfy their rights to social and economic equality” (Sparknotes, nd). The cultural Marxist adherents who fight to have this form of social justice implemented came to be called a social justice warrior. Now what we see here is that the conservatives or anti-social “justicians” point to these kinds of schools within the movement and falsely claim that contemporary Christian men such as Thabithi Anyabwile and Eric Mason’s use of social justice are the same as them. But the latter group (Mason & Anyabwile) proceed from the belief that God has revealed himself to his people, and that he has revealed his attributes one of them being his justice. Whereas the earlier group (the Cultural Marxists), proceeds from a secularist, humanistic and anthropocentric view of the world and the rejection of divine revelation. The Cultural Marxist adopted a term that was used around Christian circles, changed the definition, and used it to fulfill a godless humanistic agenda. Now associating the two and calling other Christians Cultural Marxists without understanding this context spreads mischaracterization, and it is dangerous for the unity of the church.

 

THE BIBLE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

If we take the original intended definition of social justice as found in the federalist papers and used by the Jesuit priest as embracing and encouraging doing good to your fellow men and seeking justice in the society as a whole, then the bible does support social justice. Now here we are not going to be debating semantics since we have some who believe the term justice in the bible is never used with an adjective preceding it, thus we have to reject using the term social justice. Tim Keller answers this kind of criticism by showing that there are two Hebrew words in the Old Testament “mishpat” (justice) and “tzadeqah” (being righteous) which the bible ties together to convey the issue which is central to social justice (giving people their due and correct living in the society) (Keller, 2012). What we see with social justice is that the concept behind the term is well supported in the bible, just as the concept carried within the term trinity is also well supported. Reading the book of Isaiah, God commands the nation of Israel to seek Justice (Isa. 1:17). Now we know that the command flows from the fact that God is just and he hates injustice (Deut. 32:4), thus the nation of Israel was supposed to reflect on GOD’S character and be encouraged to seek justice in the nation out of fear of him. The areas to which this justice had to be sought was on behalf of the oppressed, fatherless and widows (Isa. 1:17)

 

We see that the whole concept of social justice as rightly defined in the Christian circles was lived out perfectly before that by our Lord Jesus Christ on Earth. He spoke for the oppressed, healed the sick, forgave sins, loved the rejected, fed the hungry (Lk 4:18) and rebuked wicked rulers who were oppressive to people (Lk 13:32). Not only did he do this, but he also commanded that his disciples do the same (Matt 22:39). This is exemplified by the apostles living out and teaching what they heard and learnt from Christ. James the brother of the Lord speaking of pure religion mentions key elements behind the social justice term, it involves looking after the poor, widowed and orphans (James 1:27), this is done as one walks with the Lord. The apostle Paul and the other apostle spoke about the poor, and he exhibited a deep concern for them (Gal. 2:10). Therefore we see that the bible well supports the concept behind social justice.

 

CONCLUSION

We have to acknowledge that discussions of this issue at hand have led to a breakdown of communication due to both sides failing to listen to each other before criticizing. Both sides of the debate have problems, for we do have among those who promote social justice people who are using godless theories as spectacles to view scriptures. We also have those on the opposing side promoting white supremacist agendas. The key that can help in creating meaningful conversations between these two camps is by each group striving to listen first with the desire to understand the other side, instead of coming with the arrogance that they know all and the other side is wrong. Most importantly whatever position that each group takes, must strive to make the bible its ultimate authority, this must be a central theme in all of the discussions.

 

REFERENCES

SJ&G. 2018. Statement on social justice and the gospel. https://statementonsocialjustice.com/ .[accessed 13 May 2020].

Anyabwile, A. 2020. Evangelical Christian social justice movement.https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabithi- anyabwile/evangelical-christian-social-justice-movement/ .[accessed 13 May 2020].

2019. Dr Voddie Bachaum “Christian should be ashamed to use the Term Social Justice.” http://www.fulcrum7.com/blog/2019/2/7/dr-voddie-bauchman- christians-should-be-ashamed-to-use-the-term-social-justice. [Access 17 May 2020].

Parker, K. 2019. Biblical Justice versus Social Justice: Give me Jesus Not Your Anger. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/eastmeetswestsocialworker/2019/03/biblical- justice-versus-social-justice/. [Accessed 17 May 2020].

Spark Notes.n.d. The communist Manifesto Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. https://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/communist/section5/. [accessed 19:May 2020].

Got Questions. 2020. What does the bible say about social justice? https://www.gotquestions.org/social-justice.html .[accessed 17 May 2020].

The Avalon Project. n.d. Declaration of the Rights of Man 1789. Yale Law School: New Haven. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed07.asp .[accessed 17 May 2020].

Burke, P, T. 2014. The origin of Social Justice: Taparelli D’azeglio. https://isi.org./intercollegiate-review/the-origin-of-social-justice-taperelli-dazeglio/.[Accessed 17 May 2020].

Keller, T. 2012. What is biblical justice? Relevant Media Group: Orlando. https://relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/what-biblical-justice .[Accessed 17 May 2020].

Moore, R. 2014. How to care about social justice without losing the gospel. https://equip.sbts.edu/article/gospel-or-justice-which/. [accessed 27 May 2020].