Social Justice. Social Gospel or Antisocial Gospel

 Some Christians preach a social gospel. 

• They are mainly concerned about helping the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged. 

• They support progressive political parties. 

• They want laws that give women equal rights and equal wages. 

• They want to help refugees and racial minorities.

  On the other hand, they are often rather vague about the afterlife. They avoid talking about the eternal judgement of God.
  
  Then there are some Pentecostals, conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists who focus almost exclusively on biblical teachings about eternal judgement, personal salvation leading to eternal life, biblical teachings on sexuality, marriage and bearing children.
  
  Do I believe the Bible comes from God? Yes.
  Do I believe Jesus is the Son of God who paid the penalty for my sins on the cross? Yes.
  
  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV
  
  For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Cor 5:21 The Living Bible, Paraphrased
  
  Do I believe in a social gospel? No. The Good News of Jesus is eternal life.
  
  Where will you spend eternity? This is the most important question to answer.
  
  Do I believe in a social gospel? No. But I also do not believe in an antisocial gospel.
  
  Jesus taught that we need forgiveness of sins to go to heaven, but He was also intensely concerned about caring for suffering people in this life.
  
  Jesus healed sick people because he felt such compassion, that it turned his stomach. He did not demand that they repented of sins to be healed, but of course he was grieved when they were healed but did not repent of sins.
  
  Conservative Christians who only care about eternal salvation and strict moral codes are partly right but also seriously wrong.
  
  Progressive Christians who care for people in need are partly right but often also partly wrong.
  
  Jesus taught the essence of the Law of God in two commandments.
  
  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
  
  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:30–31 NIV
  
  If you love other people as Jesus does, you will want them to believe and go to heaven, but people will not believe you love them if you do not care about their earthly needs.
  
  When people see conservative Christians only talking about moral codes and eternal judgement, they often conclude that Christians only talk about love but don’t really love.
  
  Christian missionaries in India preached to a community about salvation for years, but without result. When the Christians organised a project the provide the community with clean water, many Hindus became Christians.
  
  When Christians support huge tax concessions for very rich people but oppose government programs to provide affordable health care, many people conclude that conservative Christians should not be taken seriously.

Expect Surprises from God

 Everything is changing around us. Not since the last world war have we experienced such a traumatic acceleration of change.

For two hundred years, our culture has been characterised by an optimistic view of the world. The philosophers and intellectual writers of the Enlightenment and scientists for over a hundred years have taught us a view where progress is supposed to solve our problems.

But now everything is coming apart at the seams.

A few years ago, I was a guest preacher in a small church. I heard an unusual word from the Holy Spirit. It was a song, not a hymn and not in German.

Everyday, it's a gettin' closer
Goin' faster than a roller coaster
Love like yours will surely come my way

I shared this message in the congregation. The pastor confirmed the word from God. A guest preacher a few years ago had shared a similar prophecy, speaking of a roller coaster.

The song is about a romantic love affair with a woman. The singer falls in love and is enraptured by the acceleration in the new relationship. In the Bible, we see that God loves his people like a faithful man loves his fiancée.

The amazing acceleration of change around us is like a roller-coaster.

In these chaotic times, many shocked people are looking for a return to the old days. Many want to hold on to old traditions.

Some want to avoid the international crisis by restoring the nationalism of the past.

We are overwhelmed by climate change, terrorism and pandemics. In a world where all sorts of storms are raging, many are looking for a safe cosy corner in a religion where everything is well known and no changes are allowed.

We see this in conservative Christian communities, which are strongly characterised by conformism and dogmatism. We see these religious tendencies everywhere and in different denominations, and also in fundamentalism in other religions.

We also see exactly the opposite tendency. There are also churches that want to be modern and tolerant, where everything in the Bible is questioned.

 Everything is like a roller-coaster where we strive to hold on somehow.

The Bible is our anchor and foundation. Only in God's Word do we find eternal, unchanging truth. 

The Bible speaks of a flawless, unchanging God who never deviates from unchanging principles. We need that like never before.

But the Bible is not just a law book or a theological textbook. In the Bible, we find amazing stories where God surprises us again and again with totally unexpected supernatural acts.

God only once allowed the Hebrews to cross the Red Sea on dry seabed.

God only once let a giant be killed by a boy.

We can expect unprecedented global revival in this crisis. We see this in biblical prophecies.

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Hab 2:14 NIV

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Is 43:18–19 NRSV

We must expect huge surprises and pray for them.

‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NASB95

Jesus is Perfect Theology

 My father was once invited to join an anti-communist association. He refused. He was certainly not sympathetic to Communism, but he did not want to base his life on a negative, to be focused on what he was against.

The people who invited my father were refugees from Russian oppression in post-war Hungary, so their anti-communist preoccupation was easy to understand.

Many Christian women are struggling to get free of oppressive religious patriarchy. That is necessary and good.

But it is important to focus on God Himself. One famous preacher said: “Jesus is perfect theology.” Jesus was the great liberator of men and especially also women.

I am currently reading an excellent book by Dan Kimball. “How Not to Read the Bible.”
In spite of the negative word NOT, he focuses on how God is positive towards women.

A lot of the ideas are familiar to moderate Christian feminists or egalitarians, but he approaches gender issues from a different point of view.

He is not addressing evangelicals wrestling with patriarchy. He is appealing more to people who may be rejecting the bible and God himself because of the way God seems to be endorsing oppressive patriarchy. 

He is showing readers how to understand the Bible in historical context.

When Joshua was leading the Hebrews into the Promised Land, he had a visitation from God, the Commander of the Army of the Lord.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Jos 5:13–15 NIV

The heavenly commander must have been Jesus, because Joshua worshipped him. Angels do not allow you to worship them.

God had told Joshua to kill all the idol worshippers in the Promised Land, but one of them was Rahab, a prostitute who repented and helped the Hebrews. She married a Hebrew leader and became an ancestor of Jesus.

It is easy to become so committed to a political party, or a Christian cause, that we assume Jesus is a member of our party. Jesus also loves your adversaries. Your theological or political opponents may not be entirely in the wrong in every way.

Today, we see Christians divided between Conservative and Progressive factions. So many of us define ourselves by what we are against. There are rights and wrongs on both sides.

Billy Graham was mostly conservative, although he insisted that black and white Christians should not be segregated in his meetings. He also ministered to US presidents on both sides of politics.

Martin Luther King Jr was opposed by many conservative Christians because his civil rights cause was considered to be rebellion against divine order.

 

Factions and Party Spirit

 My father was once invited to join an anti-communist association. He refused. He was certainly not sympathetic to Communism, but he did not want to base his life on a negative, to be focused on what he was against.

The people who invited my father were refugees from Russian oppression in post-war Hungary, so their anti-communist preoccupation was easy to understand.

Many Christian women are struggling to get free of oppressive religious patriarchy. That is necessary and good.

But it is important to focus on God Himself. One famous preacher said: “Jesus is perfect theology.” Jesus was the great liberator of men and especially also women.

I am currently reading an excellent book by Dan Kimball. “How Not to Read the Bible.”
In spite of the negative word NOT, he focuses on how God is positive towards women.

A lot of the ideas are familiar to moderate Christian feminists or egalitarians, but he approaches gender issues from a different point of view.

He is not addressing evangelicals wrestling with patriarchy. He is appealing more to people who may be rejecting the bible and God himself because of the way God seems to be endorsing oppressive patriarchy. 

He is showing readers how to understand the Bible in historical context.

When Joshua was leading the Hebrews into the Promised Land, he had a visitation from God, the Commander of the Army of the Lord.

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. Jos 5:13–15 NIV

The heavenly commander must have been Jesus, because Joshua worshipped him. Angels do not allow you to worship them.

God had told Joshua to kill all the idol worshippers in the Promised Land, but one of them was Rahab, a prostitute who repented and helped the Hebrews. She married a Hebrew leader and became an ancestor of Jesus.

It is easy to become so committed to a political party, or a Christian cause, that we assume Jesus is a member of our party. Jesus also loves your adversaries. Your theological or political opponents may not be entirely in the wrong in every way.

Today, we see Christians divided between Conservative and Progressive factions. So many of us define ourselves by what we are against. There are rights and wrongs on both sides.

Billy Graham was mostly conservative, although he insisted that black and white Christians should not be segregated in his meetings. He also ministered to US presidents on both sides of politics.

Martin Luther King Jr was opposed by many conservative Christians because his civil rights cause was considered to be rebellion against divine order.