Speaking Biblically on Social Justice

Two inner city ministry leaders recently wrote a blog post about issues of race, and they referred to a passage of Scripture from Ephesians 2. Here are some of those verses:
14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

God is the facilitator of peace - that is an element of His nature, a fruit of His Spirit.  Wrapped up in peace is the absence of conflict.  The separation between God and humanity was abolished by the Prince of Peace, and His presence can bring an end to inner turmoil in our hearts and minds.  But, there is also an element of peace with others - we are to be ambassadors of Christ, which means that we are to be pursuing peace.  And, in the church, where there is division, God wants to unify, heal, and restore.

+++++

If Jesus is our Lord, then we recognize that we are all part of the body of Christ.  And, our membership in that family is not predicated on racial, cultural, or denominational background, if we profess Him as our Savior.  Galatians 3 says:
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
There has been an evolving controversy within evangelical Christianity over the past week, and it really centers around a very important issue, a topic area upon which I have placed an emphasis in the past and will continue to do so.

This latest situation involves the Urbana conference, a student missions conference that is sponsored by InterVarsity.  Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research and Breakpoint This Week sets it up:

Worship leaders at Urbana wore “Black Lives Matter” t-shirts, while featured speaker Michelle Higgins called BlackLivesMatter “a movement on mission in the truth of God.” InterVarsity’s Twitter feed took up the call as well.

He also wrote:

InterVarsity’s support for Black Lives Matter caused controversy—in part because of some of the speaker’s comments were perceived as critical and dismissive of the pro-life movement.

In a piece from Chelsen Vicari of the Institute on Religion and Democracy on the LifeSiteNews.com website, she included a quote from Higgins that was considered offensive to pro-lifers:

“We could end the adoption crisis tomorrow. But we’re too busy arguing to have abortion banned. We’re too busy arguing to defund Planned Parenthood,” charged Higgins. “We are too busy withholding mercy from the living so that we might display a big spectacle of how much we want mercy to be shown to the unborn. Where is your mercy? What is your goal and only doing activism that is comfortable?”

Vicari wrote, "The problem here is that Higgins bashes a social justice movement that aides her cause."  She also states:

Deepening evangelicals passion for racial reconciliation is admirable, but need not come at the condemnation of the pro-life movement, a social justice movement all its own. Higgins might have mentioned to her young Christian listeners that within the pro-life movement is a unique and beautiful Black Lives Matter movement already in motion.

Stetzer points out that InterVarsity’s interim president, Jim Lundgren responded in a statement. “Scripture is clear about the sanctity of life,” he said. “That is why I’m both pro-life and committed to the dignity of my Black brothers and sisters.” Also, InterVarsity distanced themselves from the anti-police rhetoric.

Stetzer says that the InterVarsity statement said:  

InterVarsity chose to participate in this conversation because we believe that Christians have something distinctive to contribute in order to advance the gospel. … [W]e believe it is important to affirm that God created our Black brothers and sisters. They bear his image. They deserve safety, dignity and respect.

Another ministry spoke regarding the situation.  Cru Inner City co-national directors John Sather and Milton Massie wrote this in a blog post:

The recent decision of Intervarsity to embrace the biblical justice issues of The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement resonated with us and we want to thank Intervarsity for taking that godly stand for justice! We wholeheartedly agree that racial reconciliation must be “an expression of the gospel (e.g., Ephesians 2:14-18)..." And like Intervarsity, we do not agree with everything attributed to the BLM movement, but we share their desire to see justice and reconciliation in our land.

But, columnist Derryck Green took issue with aspects of Higgins' presentation and issued a word of caution to InterVarsity on the Institute on Religion and Democracy's Juicy Ecumenism blog:

...Fighting against racial injustice, in addition to all forms of injustice, is a Christian obligation that’s firmly rooted in the mission of the church. The body of Christ is — and should be — the vessel of racial reconciliation, predicated on Christ having overcome all superficial forms of division and separation, including those based on racial and ethnic considerations.

He also wrote:

Christian leaders have a tremendous responsibility to be voices and examples of reason. Christian credibility is at stake. So it’s a cause for concern when Christians engage in negligent and questionable behavior. Here it involves using racial guilt to manipulate Christians into supporting a movement that perpetuates a secular social and political narrative that consists of lies and racial paranoia under the guise of fighting racial inequality.

Stetzer offered some reasonable concepts surrounding this issue, and wrote:

The Black Lives Matter movement is not one organization with a clear set of values, but a diverse group of activists—and InterVarsity needed to clarify what they were endorsing, and what they were not endorsing. And, they have.

I also know that in these conversations about race, we’re all going to get it wrong or be misunderstood at times. Speaking up, by its very nature, invites criticism. But such criticism should not keep us from speaking up.

He offered three lessons.  He said, "First, assume the best of fellow evangelicals in these conversations," then, "Second, let’s appreciate the attempts of others to speak into the situation," and finally, "Third, let’s all work for justice in the midst of this turbulent time."

Here are some thoughts I had in considering these comments that have been made about the Urbana situation.  I sometimes take the approach to peoples' comments or declarations that, "well, that is not the way I would have said it."  In the big picture, Higgins appears to have offered some provocative points, and Derryck Green takes her to task for presenting some erroneous information.  But, we have to keep our collective eyes on the ball regarding these issues of race and not allow ourselves to become divided, even when we don't necessarily speak in the best way.   There are some very, very difficult issues here, and there is a clash of the pain of injustice experienced by many African-Americans with the indifference to justice, perceived or real, that may be present in the white evangelical community, just based on where we have walked and what we have walked through.

The word, I think, is grace.   God has shown grace to each of us, and we are called to show grace to one another.  We may not get it right, and I admit, I may not be getting it right in my comments today, but we have to be willing to cut people some slack for the greater good and seek to build understanding - because it's critical that the body of Christ is unified on the end, even if we may have different ideas about the means.   Racial issues are too important for the Church not to be involved, and I would say, leading the way in showing the principles of Christ in how we treat one another.