Fox News personality Glenn Beck has told his viewers to leave Christian churches that preach social justice. Now evangelical leaders are striking back, with Jim Wallis leading the way.
But Jerry Falwell Jr. is backing up Beck, who says that “social justice” in church rhetoric is to be considered a code-word and cover-up for “communism and Nazism.” Read about it here or here.
What do you think? Is there a place in the preaching and life of the church for social justice? Is correcting social inequities part of the “good news” of the gospel?
Medieval Wisdom for Modern Christians
Grateful to the dead 
Chris is surely right about Chrysostom. Of course, we know what happened to him…
I heard some vague stuff about Glenn Beck but it didn’t get through to me until now. Does it get much simpler than this: Repent, return, and follow Jesus Christ? And Jesus went around healing and providing, especially for the poor and the poor in spirit. (And we know what happened to Him!) I suppose we must do the same then. I don’t care if it’s called social justice or a trip to the moon. I’m still going to try my best. Some so-called Christians seem to be able to make all sorts of convoluted rationalizations for their own lack of charity.
PS my spelling has become dumb downed on a BB 🙂 Sorry…
Chris,
I saw the news on this yesterday & wasn’t surprised, just saddened. There are many churches today who belive that “social justice” is anathema to Christianity, that the only responsibility the church is to save soles for Christ. I woyld say more but I’m on a BB. I will say that this outlook is totally hypocritical, that if you don’t care if your neighbor has a roof over his head or food to eat, you don’t truly care if he is or will be saved.
Greetings Chris,
My reading of the bible leads me to a radical understanding of who my neighbor is and what I am to do for them. A natural outgrowth of my faith is caring for those who are impoverished. We see this again and again in the Bible.
For me the life of the church, and the synagogue is the preaching of the good news and grace, along with a communal understanding of relationship with God. This relationship with God is one that then calls for us to be involved in the lives of others, showing them how God affects us and the grace God brings to our lives.
To call social justice is code for Communism and Nazism is to read your own understanding into what it is to be in relationship with God. One’s understanding should not come from a place of “me first.” The Bible is a communal document and should be read and interpreted in community. Otherwise, why church?
Looking at the history of public theology within the church (the early church councils especially) one sees a radical understanding of what it is to be in community and how to view the neighbor. This is the case of Martin Luther’s reform movement, along with John Wesley and a score of others.
The letter of James states that “Faith without works is death.” I wonder then what works the likes of Glenn Beck and Jerry Falwell Jr. have coming from their faith? I really do wonder how this group of people can come to this conclusion when looking at the whole of church tradition, starting with the grace given Abraham, through Solomon, Jesus, St. Francis, Luther, Zwingli, Wesley, and Mother Theresa. People who heard God’s call into the world, not to be separate from it. People who heard God’s call that they were chosen so that the world may understand the love of God.
Bit of a rant there. Hope it all makes sense, back to Jonah for me.
Dan,
I’m with you 100% on this. Wondering which early councils you’re thinking of. Best place in early church literature I’ve found on this issue is the preaching of John Chrysostom. Much of his audience was well-off, and he never tired of berating them about the inequities between rich and poor, and the duties of rich toward poor. Good stuff. One way to get at that is through the footnotes of Christine Pohl’s work.
As I work on my paper on Aquinas I have been pondering the dychotomy that exists in our culture between above and below, supernatural and natural, faith and reason. Glenn Beck evidences a similar dualism when he pits social justice against whatever else it is that the church is supposed to do according to him. Asserting the vertical (between God and man) dimension over the horizontal (between man and man) deprives the gospel of its hands, its practical transformation of the here and now. They can’t do without each other. There is only hope for the church if it is able to overcome this dychotomy in all its forms.
Glenn Back, is a little too good looking and a little too fast talking to be our guiding light, I’m afraid. Has anything good ever come from national tv?