Social Justice Is Not the Gospel

The recent flap over comments made by Glen Beck regarding churches and social justice has served to illustrate the uncomfortable synthesis of those two important, yet very different, concepts. Either

THE GOSPEL = SOCIAL JUSTICE

or

THE GOSPEL > SOCIAL JUSTICE

Before I proceed, let me clarify: I’m no fan of Beck, and am not defending his comments. At the least he needs to clarify the distinctions. Ideally, he should apologize for being so inflammatory. But is he correct that “social justice” and “economic justice” are “code words” for a political agenda?

CNN reports on the inevitable backlash to the broadcaster’s words:

An evangelical leader is calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck’s television show and challenging the Fox News personality to a public debate after Beck vilified churches that preach economic and social justice.

The Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of progressive Christians, says Beck perverted Jesus’ message when he urged Christians last week to leave churches that preach social and economic justice…

Social and economic justice is at the heart of Jesus’ message, Wallis says. (emphasis mine)

There’s two things worth noting here. One (which I’ve highlighted) is Wallis’ claim that social justice was “the heart of Jesus’ message.” Second, that Jim Wallis represents “a network of progressive Christians.” Now why should that second point matter? A lot of people — not just “progressive Christians” — took offense with Beck’s statement. Well, it matters because it potentially reinforces the broadcaster’s assertions.

It is primarily progressive Christians — both politically and theologically liberal — who tend to define the Gospel as social justice. In all fairness, it was the latter point — the political point — that Glenn Beck was speaking to.

So is it true that all churches that emphasize social justice have a nefarious political agenda? I think that’s absurd.

There is absolutely no doubt, biblically speaking, that God is concerned with social justice. None. Followers of Christ are to minister to the poor, the needy and the oppressed.  We are to visit the sick and those in prison; we are to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, (Matthew 25:31-46).  We are also to care for orphans and windows, (James 1:27). The entire consummation of the age is characterized as the righting of a socially, spiritually, inequitable system. Justice will “roll on like a river” (Amos 5:24).

There should be no debate as to whether churches must stand for and seek to implement social justice. Beck should have made that distinction. How much of that agenda is driven by the Gospel as opposed to politics or ideology, is another story. However, the bigger issue, as I see it, is the potential perversion of “the heart of Jesus’ message.”

Post-evangelicals and “progressive Christians” have not only made social justice a litmus test for “real” Christianity, in so doing, they have muddled what the Gospel actually means.

Al Mohler in Glen Beck, Social Justice, and Public Discourse, makes this important distinction:

As an evangelical Christian, my concern is the primacy of the Gospel of Christ — the Gospel that reveals the power of God in the salvation of sinners through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church’s main message must be that Gospel. The New Testament is stunningly silent on any plan for governmental or social action. The apostles launched no social reform movement. Instead, they preached the Gospel of Christ and planted Gospel churches. Our task is to follow Christ’s command and the example of the apostles.

…The church is not to adopt a social reform platform as its message, but the faithful church, wherever it is found, is itself a social reform movement precisely because it is populated by redeemed sinners who are called to faithfulness in following Christ. The Gospel is not a message of social salvation, but it does have social implications. (emphasis mine)

It is so important that we make a distinction, as Mohler does, between what the Gospel is and what the Gospel does. I’m afraid that distinction is what is being lost by progressives. Social justice is THE FRUIT of the Gospel not THE ROOT of the Gospel.

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… (I Cor. 1:15:1-4 NIV).

Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification. Yes, those who embrace this “gospel” should begin to act certain ways. Caring for the poor and oppressed is one of those ways. But we are not “saved” by performing social justice. We are saved if we “hold firmly to the word.” Likewise, what Christians need to offer the oppressed and downtrodden is not just food and clothing, but a relationship with the living God. Anything else is to miss the mark.