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.

Chaos on earth but what about Eternity?

 I am so concerned about justice and freedom. I think that is right. God called Martin Luther King, Konrad Adenauer, William Wilberforce, Harriet Tubman, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, feminist leaders and many others to resist tyranny.

Freedom, justice, merciful provision for the poor, sick and needy are so important, but in the end we all die. What happens then?

Democratic freedom, fair wages, health care and welfare for retired people are important in this life but in other world, these things no longer count.

Some Christians are obsessed with wealth and national greatness and others are concerned with welfare for the poor and needy, but in the next life the alternatives are quite different.

All the tension and chaos in our world is distracting us from eternal realities.

Where will you spend eternity?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSV

To the ends of the earth ...

 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:19–20 NIV

Was this calling only for the first apostles?

If so, they failed. They did not reach all nations. Not Japan, not America, not Indonesia or Australia.

But Jesus said that God loves the world, not just the countries that the first apostles reached.

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

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NIV

The first apostles did not reach the ends of the earth, but today we are on our way to reaching all nations.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Mt 24:14 NIV

What is your role in this worldwide adventure? God speaks through the Bible, but you will not find any teaching in the Bible that explains whether you are called to do missionary work in China or Brazil.

Should you evangelise the Muslims in your city or the prostitutes in the brothel around the corner? This ministry is important, but it is not for everyone.

Jesus taught that God wants to speak personally to every believer.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. Jn 10:27 NRSV

True disciples of the Lord are willing to let God transform their lives.

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; Isa 55:6 NRSV

If we want to be led by God, we must not be passive churchgoers. It is not enough to live a virtuous life and fulfil the expectations of pastors or other Christians.

God created you as one of a kind and entrusted you with a task that only you can fulfil.

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NRSV

Seek a close relationship with Jesus through prayer and love for your neighbour. Try to understand Jesus in the Bible. He will show you the way.

The Real Meaning of Spiritual Covering

 The concept of covering is very important in the Bible. The first example is when God provided Adam and Eve with clothing made of animal skins.

The symbolic meaning is clear. God was willing to forgive their sin by the shedding of the blood of the animals.

God’s penalty for sin is death. In the Old Testament, Jews could expect God to forgive their sins if they sacrificed an animal on the altar.

In the New Testament, God sent his son to die, to take the penalty for our sins on himself.

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.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jn 3:16–17 NIV

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Co 5:21 NIV

For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Co 5:21 The Living Bible, Paraphrased

In Genesis, God covered the sins of Adam and Eve with the skins of sacrificial animals. In the New Testament, God covers our sins with the sacrificed blood of the Son of God.

Isaiah prophetically foreshadows the complete covering of sin by the death of Jesus.

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Is 61:10 NIV

The blood of Jesus not only covers sin. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are made right in God’s sight, not only forgiven but actually righteous.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Rom 5:1 NLT

The concept of covering is central to the doctrine of salvation.

On the other hand, a new and different application of the idea of covering has become prominent in the Evangelical and Pentecostal movements. Wives are supposed to be “covered” by submitting to the authority of their husbands. Church members are said to be “covered” by submitting to the authority of pastors. Pastors are said to be “covered” by submitting to a more senior church leader or a denominational executive.

In fact, this novel concept is often emphasised more than the essential doctrine of the covering of our sin by the righteousness of Christ. In this way, ordained church leadership becomes the focus of faith and obedience more than the personal relationship of each believer with Jesus.

This twisting of scripture has done untold damage to so many Christians.

So many Christians are told they should not transfer from one church to another without being “blessed out.” So you are not allowed to transfer from one church to another without the permission of your pastor.

I once endured a sermon from a preacher who said Christians must not criticise their pastor, because the pastor was accountable only to God. The pastor supposedly sits on the throne of Moses. No wonder so many pastors are not called to account for all kinds of offences against church members, especially women and children.

For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 1 Ti 2:5 NRSV

There is one church, comprising all believers in Jesus. There is one High Priest, one Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am covered by the blood of one Lamb of God and no other. I am obliged to unconditionally submit to only one man, Jesus Christ.

My wife is obliged to submit unconditionally to only one man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastors are appointed to lead churches, but their authority is limited and they have no right to control my life or rule over my family.

Human leaders must lead, but not rule. There is a difference.

Essential Functions of Ordained Ministers

 Priests and pastors used to enjoy the kind of respect given to doctors and lawyers, but scandals have damaged the reputation of church leaders.

The most shocking stories have been exposures of sexual sins and abuse of children, but other forms of abuse can also be terribly destructive.

Cult like authoritarianism and financial extortion can also ruin the lives of naive followers.

These abuses of power have led many people to reject any kind of formal church affiliation, or even to reject faith in God Himself.

Some believers meet in informal home groups or house churches. Others stay at home and watch Christian television or ministry on YouTube.

Some want to belong to a Christian community but they don’t see any value in official ministry positions or ordained preachers with titles.

I have had terrible experiences which make me more than sympathetic to these de-churched freelance believers.

So many Christians look up to ordained preachers to tell them what to think, what to believe and what to do. This is childish passivity.

Ordained leadership is God’s idea, but not to keep believers passively dependant or under coercive control.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 

to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Eph 4:11–13 NIV

God appoints ministers to equip believers to be ministers, not to be ordained office holders but believers with ministries of their own.

But ordained ministers also have another vitally important function.

An 80 year old man had lived his life in luxury and playing around with women. When he became very sick, he was horrified to realise his time was short. He began to think seriously about his mortality and the judgement of God, so he called for a preacher to hear his confession and help him to make peace with God.

Only God knows if his repentance was genuine, but if there were no ordained ministers, who could be called to help?

Once I prayed for an old woman who was a nominal protestant. She was close to death when my wife and I prayed for her. Her Catholic husband called for a priest to anoint her with oil for healing. She made a miraculous recovery and was discharged from hospital.

Ordained pastors, bishops or priests can be a point of contact with God for weak believers or repentant sinners. This is so important.

War on Empathy

 There is a war on empathy. Incredibly rich businessmen and politicians are building empires as democracy trembles. In ancient Rome, constitutional government was trampled by a succession of ruthless emperors. In our time, we are seeing self-centred despots attempting to replicate this process.

In the 1960s and 70s we saw rapid advances in racial and gender equality, but it appears that the old ruling classes and would be emperors have had enough. The empire is striking back.
Of course no empire can endure long without a religion.

Vladimir Putin understands this well. He has abandoned communist atheism and embraced the flagship of the old Czarist Empire, the Russian Orthodox Church.

Capitalist predators in the US and elsewhere have joined forces with conservative authoritarian Church leaders. Imperial rulers must have economic and military power but they also need priests.

Hard line conservatives have always resisted racial integration and gender equality, but the tide of history was against them.

But when the human rights activists shifted their focus to gay rights, same sex marriage and unrestricted abortion, the old conservatives saw their chance to seize the moral high ground and turn back the clock 100 years.

Civil rights, racial desegregation, gender equality, fair wages, and universal health care became the targets for the new rulers. Social justice was supposedly not real justice, if justice mattered at all. Mercy and empathy were redefined as weakness.

A great nation with a strong economy became the only thing that mattered. Even the working classes voted for this. Who wants high inflation and mass unemployment?

If the wealthy become even wealthier, they will naturally create a wealthy country which would be good for everyone. So we are told. It is called trickle down economics, except that the trickle is often a very meagre trickle.

Then Christian preachers come to the aid of the rulers.

Jesus said we must love our neighbour as ourselves, but some preachers tell us Christian love is only a personal matter, and nothing to do with politics or governments.

If we only narrowly focus on the New Testament, we can reach this wrong conclusion. However, Jesus was a Jew in Israel. The Old Testament has a great deal to say about legal justice and the responsibility of government to care for the needy.

Then we are told that God’s laws for the Old Testament theocracy do not apply to modern secular governments. It is true that Christians are not subject to the laws of Moses, but the Old Testament laws express God’s principles of law and justice.

Of course we should not execute adulterers, but the Old Testament prophets strongly condemned financial greed and the neglect of the poor. If we isolate politics entirely from God’s clearly expressed ethical principles, we are not applying Christianity to every part of life.

So should the churches try to take control of governments? The historical examples of this have often been horrible. Think of the worldly hypocrisy in Rome after the Emperor Constantine became nominally Christian. Think of the Spanish Inquisition.

The new rulers are telling us that empathy is weakness. Very prominent church leaders are teaching this as a supposedly Christian doctrine.

Of course empathy can have bad consequences. A prostitute comes to a church looking for help. A naive Christian couple take her into their home and the young woman steals the husband’s affections and he leaves his wife.

A woman in a strong missionary organisation studies prostitution for her PhD. Then she becomes a prostitute herself.

These stories are not made up.

Jesus was known as a friend of sinners, but he did not sin. Not everyone can share the gospel in a bar or a brothel, but some Christians can and do so without sinning themselves.

Is Empathy a Sin? Are Empathy and Compassion different?

 “So what is the problem with empathy today?” he asks. “We are, in fact, told to weep with those who weep, but that assumes those who weep have a reason for weeping that is in line with God’s revelation.” James White. Conservative US Pastor.

So are Christians only allowed to feel empathy for innocent victims of sin or sickness but not for people who are suffering because of their own sin? This sounds like phariseeism to me.
Jesus showed empathy for sinners.

Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in the act of adultery in John Chapter 8. Was this merely a cold judicial decision? Hardly. Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. He did not embrace their sin but neither did he lack feelings of compassion.

John Piper is an enormously influential conservative US pastor. He and his followers go so far as to talk about the “sin of empathy” … So if a promiscuous homosexual or prostitute is dying of aids, should we judge or love? Jesus did not condone sin but he always demonstrated heartfelt empathy with suffering people.

Hard line conservative preachers play clever games with words by trying to distinguish between compassion and empathy.

They play similar word games by saying a man must love his wife but she must respect her husband. As if love respect were quite distinct things. If you love your wife and you do not respect her, your love is not real.

Many Christians latch on to the statement that empathy is a sin, and the theological word games get forgotten. They become coldly judgemental and compassion fades away.

The horrific results are plain to see in culture and politics. Aggressive bible believers enthusiastically support government policies that deny affordable essential health care to poor people in a very rich and powerful country.

An American pastor preached on the Sermon on the Mount.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3 NIV

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Mt 5:7 NIV

The conservative culture warriors in the congregation were not impressed, but the pastor reminded them that these were the words of Jesus.

The reply was shocking. “But this doesn't work any more.”

American conservative fundamentalism has become so corrupted by self righteous culture warfare that it is sometimes hard to tell if it is any better than extreme post Christian liberalism.

What did Jesus say?

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. Mt 5:13 NIV

Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. Mt 24:10–12 NRSV

Lawlessness certainly undermines natural as well as Christian love, but harsh self righeous legalism is no less destructive. We can see this illustrated in the way Jesus denounced the pharisees.

If you teach that empathy is a sin, you are teaching doctrines of demons. You are in danger of being condemned as a false prophet.