Social Justice Tradition
Excerpts from William Temple, John Woolman, Hannah Whitall Smith, Jeremy Taylor, Elizabeth O’Connor, John Wesley, Catherine of Siena and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Richard Foster discusses three great themes that are rooted in the Social Justice Tradition: mishpat “justice”, hesed “compassion”, and shalom “peace”.[1] I found these to be relevant in our current worldly lives. “Social justice promotes harmony in relationships between peoples so that we can learn to live together not just with civility but with genuine appreciation.”[2] Continuing through Devotional Classics, we are entering our fifth week of this journey.
In Matthew 22:37-39 NIV, Jesus replies, “You must love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is where the Social Justice Tradition lies, it is based on loving our neighbors and not ourselves. Love plays a major role in our relationship with others and God. It is the foundation for everything; for overcoming our selfish tendencies and placing God and others above ourselves. Likewise, Romans 12:2 NIV reads: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Conforming to this world is not necessarily about the material aspects of the world and more about the heart change that happens when we seek the world instead of God. In Romans 13:1-7 NIV, we further read to “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” God is the ultimate authority, but Paul encouraged Romans to live peacefully and also understand that authority begins with God. As I reflect on text the most prominent themes are Christian community, delightful service, and oppression.
Christian Community
William Temple has a great point on the Church’s belief in Original Sin. He says “the Church’s belief in Original Sin should make us intensely realistic and should free us from trying to create a Utopia. For there is no such thing as a Christian social ideal to which we should try to conform the society we live in as closely as possible. After all, no one wants to live in the deal society as depicted by anyone else.”[3] The meaning I take from this is instead of trying to push our personal beliefs onto others that we allow God to do his work through us. Allowing the Holy Spirit to shine in all aspects of our lives creates community and unity. It helps to tear down the walls of hate if we are loving our neighbors as God loves us.
John Wesley gives us advice, that we as the body of Christ, the church, can fall into sins of pride, enthusiasm, antinomianism, omission, desiring anything but God, and schism, which can lead to an “I am better than you” mentality.[4] This causes strife in the physical church and amongst our communities. Wesley says, “Let the language of your heart sing to you with regard to pleasure or pain, riches or poverty, honor or dishonor. All’s alike to me, so I in my Lord may live and die!”[5] He reminds us that, “love is the highest gift of God.”[6]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer reaffirms our focus, saying that “our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us.”[7] Christ was born, died, and rose again for every person here, not one over another. We are all created in the image of God, not some just some of us, but all of us. Bonhoeffer also expresses the need for other brothers and sisters in Christ. Expressing the goal of Christian community, he says “they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation. As such, God permits them to meet together and gives them community. Their fellowship is founded solely upon Jesus Christ.”[8] Jesus says, “where two or three gather in my name there am I with them.”[9]
Elizabeth O’Connor brings up a point about money becoming an Idol, “though we along with millions of other churchgoers are saying that Jesus saves, we ask ourselves if we are not in practice acting as though it were money that saves. We say that money gives power, money corrupts, and money talks. Like the ancients with their molten calf, we have endowed money with our own psychic energy, given it arms and legs, and have told ourselves that it can work for us.”[10] I often wonder about Church communities who have large, expensive buildings and what exactly they do for the community. I personally am of the idea that if you can afford to have an enormous building, you can afford to be and do much for the community.
While we need funds to keep lights on and pay staff, at what point does money become an idol? When we are told to not hold anything higher that God, are we just thinking about old testament statues? From my understanding, anything placed higher than God has become an idol. O’Connor also points out the virtues of avoiding hoarding, stating that “all contributions of the communities are used to further the work of the missions within the year they are given. Nothing has ever been put aside for a rainy day. We have followed faithfully the injunction given by Moses to his people as he led them out of bondage, No one must keep any of it for tomorrow.”[11]
Delightful Service
In my ministry, our Motto is “Workers for Christ,” and while it is a great active set of words, the reality is not many of us want to help. We are unsure, we think someone else is doing it, so we are not needed, or some of us have been doing it and we are burned out. Hannah Whitall Smith points out, “What we need in the Christian life is to get believers to want to do God’s will as much as other people want to do their own will.”[12]
I think about Jesus and his ministry. Could it be that he got tired of healing people, going from place to place teaching and serving? Even if so, that is what leaders do. More importantly, that is what Christ was called to do. We must display an attitude of Servant Leadership, which coincides with delightful service. According to Forrest Flanike’s article, “Is the Bible Relevant to Servant-Leadership,” there are seven characteristics of a leader: they are guides, goal-oriented and qualified, listen and reflect, fair and flexible, intuitive, and aware, use persuasion, and take one step at a time.[13] Servant-leadership requires a new way of thinking. The Holy Spirit forms a unique perspective in our hearts and provides the energy in our lives to lead and manage in ways that exalt God.[14]
Nehemiah is an excellent example of servant leadership. He identified with those he sought to serve and sought to solve a problem for God’s people.[15] He understood God’s character, prayed for favor, had a vision, acknowledged God’s providence through worldly means, and willingly depended on His sovereignty.[16] When we exhibit servant-leadership, it is for God’s glory and those we serve. Jesus was the Teacher, yet he still washed his disciple’s feet, displaying the act of a servant. This is worth noting to fully understand what it means to be a servant and a leader. We need to serve God’s people while leading, encouraging, and teaching them. Christian living by the very definition is servant leadership.
Jeremy Taylor gives nineteen rules and exercises for Holy living a life of service. I find them to be quite compelling. Specifically, a couple stood out to me. First, “Nurture a love to do good things in secret, concealed from the eyes of others, and therefore not highly esteemed because of them.”[17] This always reminds me of Random Acts of Kindness that I hear about on the radio. How many of us have experienced them? It also reminds me of the movie, Pay it Forward, how these two concepts are woven together to not only do something kind for others but when we have received this blessing that we continue it, we pay it forward. Taylor had similar thoughts to Matthew.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”[18]
Matthew 6:2-4 NIV
Another that stands out is: “Take an active part in the praising of others, entertaining their good with delight.”[19] Hebrews 3:13 NIV states “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” God knew that we would need encouragement for the world is a harsh place.[20] We live in a broken world; we are not promised an easy life.[21] Encouragement is shared with the hopes that it will lift someone’s heart toward the Lord.[22] It points out evidence of grace in another’s life to help them see God’s promise and it assures them that what they face is under God’s control. Biblical encouragement is not a one size fits all or a right way vs. a wrong way. I will say that Biblical encouragement is based in scripture and loving others. We encourage because we love.
Lastly, “Remember that what is most important to God is that we submit ourselves and all that we have to him.”[23] James states, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”[24] Throughout the gospel, we also have sentiments of giving up all our worldly possessions and giving all we have to him.[25] John Wesley reminds us to, “Do all the good you possibly can to the bodies and souls of your neighbors. Be active. Give no place to laziness. Be always busy, losing no shred of time. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”[26]
Catherine of Siena has a joyful heart, one that sees the joys in serving. “The road is such a joy for those who travel on it that it makes every bitterness sweet for them, and every burden light.”[27] I love her simple explanations of finding the joy in serving others. She believes that the holy Church, the physical church is to serve the bread of life when we grow weary.[28] I do believe that we will grow weary, any work is exhausting, and when it comes from the heart, I feel like it wears us out more. But the church is there to refuel us to give us the bread of life and to remind us of the blood of Christ.
“Humility begins as a gift from God, but it is increased as a habit we develop.”[29]
Oppression
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[30] John Woolman was a pioneer in his time. Born to a Quaker family he knew early on the value of a human. He refused to work with people who owned slaves. Not only did he voice the issue, but he also acted on it. “Many slaves on this continent are oppressed, and their cries have reached the ears of the Most High!”[31] Throughout our country, there are cries of oppression: disparities in the medical field, in education, mental and physical health crises, and everything in-between. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors, seeking those who need our voice and actively helping them. Jesus spoke and healed those who society felt were less than. [32]
John Woolman believed that being so devoted to following Christ would lead others to be influenced by the Holy Spirit and devote their lives to following Christ.[33] This understanding of how our devotion to God should be an outward expression. People should be able to see God through us by our actions and the love that we have for others. Loving someone is not just a vocal commitment, but an action.
I love my children; therefore I teach them right from wrong. I teach them to stand up for the person who cannot and above all to be kind and respectful. It is the same way with our Heavenly Father. He loves us all so much that “loving our neighbor as He loves us” is an action, a declaration. In my daily life I need to ask myself: am I doing what the Lord requires of me? “To act justly, to love, and to walk humbly with my God.”[34] William Temple reminds us, “if Christianity is true at all, it is a truth of universal application; all things should be done in the Christian spirit and in accordance with Christian principles.”[35]
Eagerness to Serve Others for God
On a scale from one to ten, am I serving mainly out of a sense of duty? To answer this question I feel it would probably be seven. I find that I have served over the years because no one has stepped up and said Yes. During those times it has been exhausting. I remember a few years ago, a friend of mine had told me, what is the worst that can happen if you say no? Well, the worst was that it would not happen. In reality, God has called someone to do it, and if I am saying yes as a sense of duty, I am taking that calling from them.
On a scale from one to ten, do I feel inadequate to serve? The answer to this is no, not always. On a scale, it is probably a six. I find that sometimes I feel adequate and then a year goes by and I no longer feel the same. I feel I am unprepared sometimes for where God is leading me. Knowing though that God is preparing me for something, he know the path, so not feeling the preparedness I feel is ok. It creates a dependency on God. Living a life to serve others requires me to depend on God.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” John 14:1
I find that the closer my relationship with God becomes, the more Murphy’s Law comes to play. I find it interesting that we are so important that God and Satan fight for us. In this passage, Jesus is talking with his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.” He goes on to describe the many rooms His Father’s house has many rooms and he is going to finish preparing it for us. This gives me comfort knowing I am being taken care of and that, though earthly life is hard and changing, Jesus tells me my heart may be troubled, but he will take care of me.
Loving God, I ask for peace of mind and for your calming presence to reassure my troubled heart. My soul is like a turbulent sea. You are the Prince of Peace, grant me the strength and clarity of mind to cling to the robes of Jesus, and to calm the turbulent sea. In your holy and precious name.
Amen
[1] Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water: Essential Practices from the Six Great Traditions of Christian Faith, (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 167-172
[2] Richard J. Foster & James Bryan Smith, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), 177
[3] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 225
[4] Ibid, 258-261
[5] Ibid, 261
[6] Ibid, 259
[7]Ibid, 274
[8] Ibid, 272
[9] Matthew 18:20 NIV
[10] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 254
[11] Ibid, 253 and Exodus 16:19 NIV
[12] Ibid, 239
[13] Forrest Flanike, “Is the Bible Relevant to Servant-Leadership,” The Journal of Applied Christian Leadership (Summer 2006), 33-39.
[14] Joseph Maciariello “Lessons in leadership and management from Nehemiah,” Theology Today 60, Issue 3, (October 2003), 397-407
[15] Nehemiah NIV, Nehemiah 2:17 NIV, Nehemiah 5 NIV
[16] Maciariello, “Lessons in Leadership and Management from Nehemiah,” 401.
[17] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 245
[18] Matthew 6:2-4 NIV
[19] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 246
[20] John 16:33 NIV
[21] 1 Peter 4:12 NIV, John 15:20 NIV, 2 Timothy 3:12 NIV, James 1:2-3 NIV
[22] Colossians 4:8 NIV
[23] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 248
[24] James 4:7 NIV
[25] Matthew 19:21 NIV, Luke 9:23 NIV, Mark 10:21 NIV
[26] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 261
[27] Ibid, 267-268
[28] Ibid, 266
[29] Ibid, 248
[30] Luke 4:18-19
[31] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 232
[32] Matthew 21:14 NIV, Luke 6:18 NIV, Matthew 8:1-4 NIV, John 4:7-30 NIV
[33] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 231
[34] Micah 6:8 NIV
[35] Foster and Smith, Devotional Classics, 224