6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
We live in an age of polarization, no doubt, but it provides the Church an opportunity to show a better way forward. But, we find ourselves labeled as being intolerant because of the standards of Scripture to which we adhere. And, we have to make sure that in order to combat intolerance, we are not tolerating worldly ideas. But, while we are called to stand against what displeases God, we also can stand for God's grace, for Christ's love, and in unity with Him and with one another, so that His hope is seen.
In the 3rd chapter of the book of Titus, Paul encourages us to steer away from worldly philosophies
that can create division among believers. He writes:
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
This year prior to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, there were two notable Christian journalists who were recognized - they are transitioning out of their current positions into a new season. Those are Bob Terry, longtime editor of The Alabama Baptist and Gerald Harris, editor of The Christian Index in Georgia. Baptist Press reported that the Association of State Baptist Publications bestowed this honor to these two gentlemen. And, thank God for them, as well as others who are devoted to informing the Church about how God is working.
I came across a recent column by Dr. Harris on the Christian Index website. In it, he offered some stern warnings to Southern Baptists. He writes: "The new emphases subtly infiltrating Southern Baptist life seems to be social justice, the social gospel, feminism, tolerance, and intolerance."
Harris, who is a former pastor and has served in national leadership with the SBC, stated: "Southern Baptists were all about evangelism and missions for many years, but in the last decade it seems that we have changed our focus; and the decline in baptisms at home and abroad have been precipitous."
Again, this is not someone standing on the outside looking in; this is certainly someone on the inside, who has been observing and reporting on some of these trends.
This whole matter of social justice, as I see it, is a huge threat to the effectiveness of the Church, in general and has made inroads in numerous denominations. Last week, I highlighted areas of infiltration of ideas and practices that are distractions for the body of Christ.
Let's do take this issue of what is termed "social justice." I certainly think the Church has a responsibility to speak to a host of matters in our society - the social part. And, the Bible teaches that we are to pursue justice. But, as Harris points out, the modern-day definition of what has emerged or evolved in our culture seems to be quite different. He writes:
And, he also explained other areas: feminism, tolerance, and intolerance.
Regarding these "social justice" issues, Justin Steckbauer, writing for The Christian Post, offers some definitions that can be helpful and provide a guide through which we can measure how Christians might be buying in to some of this misguided, worldly ideas.
He writes:
But, at least he was bold enough to raise the issue - and these matters should be raised.
I began to think that a barometer on the degree to which the Church is embracing the so-called "social justice" philosophy might be based on the direction that a person's or organization's ideas are moving. For instance, when someone is expressing what seems to be a more compassionate view of immigration, is that view moving in the direction of embracing more people coming into this country illegally or providing order and security? In racial issues, is someone moving more in the direction of identity politics, dividing people into the oppressed and the oppressors, the victims and the victimizers - or are we building unity?
With regard to gender, is someone willing to alter longstanding, Biblical teachings on the beauty of God's creation of male and female and their calling for certain roles or expressions of giftedness, in favor of a more feminist perspective, devoted to a false sense of empowerment? And, in the Church, are people willing to accommodate those who believe in a warped view of sexuality and attempt to blend LGBT identity with Christian beliefs and practice? In what direction on the scale are we moving - toward a more Biblical understanding or a more worldly one?
We have the chance as the Church to transcend politics, but unfortunately, there is the tendency toward polarization and then to label people with whom we disagree. And, then to silence them. Christians are among groups that have become so ostracized that many do not want to hear our voice and the truth we communicate. In general, many have bought into this mentality to the extent that people are being divided up in unhealthy ways. And, we have seen some scary results - we can be motivated to be more diligent than ever to live our lives in front of people, showing the love of Jesus and boldly proclaiming and living His principles.
+++++
In the 3rd chapter of the book of Titus, Paul encourages us to steer away from worldly philosophies
that can create division among believers. He writes:
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
This year prior to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, there were two notable Christian journalists who were recognized - they are transitioning out of their current positions into a new season. Those are Bob Terry, longtime editor of The Alabama Baptist and Gerald Harris, editor of The Christian Index in Georgia. Baptist Press reported that the Association of State Baptist Publications bestowed this honor to these two gentlemen. And, thank God for them, as well as others who are devoted to informing the Church about how God is working.
I came across a recent column by Dr. Harris on the Christian Index website. In it, he offered some stern warnings to Southern Baptists. He writes: "The new emphases subtly infiltrating Southern Baptist life seems to be social justice, the social gospel, feminism, tolerance, and intolerance."
Harris, who is a former pastor and has served in national leadership with the SBC, stated: "Southern Baptists were all about evangelism and missions for many years, but in the last decade it seems that we have changed our focus; and the decline in baptisms at home and abroad have been precipitous."
Again, this is not someone standing on the outside looking in; this is certainly someone on the inside, who has been observing and reporting on some of these trends.
This whole matter of social justice, as I see it, is a huge threat to the effectiveness of the Church, in general and has made inroads in numerous denominations. Last week, I highlighted areas of infiltration of ideas and practices that are distractions for the body of Christ.
Let's do take this issue of what is termed "social justice." I certainly think the Church has a responsibility to speak to a host of matters in our society - the social part. And, the Bible teaches that we are to pursue justice. But, as Harris points out, the modern-day definition of what has emerged or evolved in our culture seems to be quite different. He writes:
According to David C. Rose, social justice is a solution in search of a problem. I believe that we should show compassion for all people, but when social justice requires compromise on moral and spiritual issues it is desperately wrong.
Rose says, “Social justice is both misguided and dangerous. It is misguided because it regards observed inequality as prima facie evidence of injustice because of insufficient understanding of how a free market economy actually works. It is dangerous because social justice advocates therefore attempt to solve a moral problem that doesn’t exist and, in so doing, reduce a society’s ability to solve moral problems that really do exist.”Regarding the "social gospel," Harris states that: "Every social ministry or act of kindness should create a bridge to share the Gospel," adding, "Good deeds are important, but there are countless service organizations that help the public. Christians not only have the privilege of putting a man in a new suit, but putting a new man in a suit as a result of the change wrought by sharing the Gospel."
And, he also explained other areas: feminism, tolerance, and intolerance.
Regarding these "social justice" issues, Justin Steckbauer, writing for The Christian Post, offers some definitions that can be helpful and provide a guide through which we can measure how Christians might be buying in to some of this misguided, worldly ideas.
He writes:
The new social justice warrior causes are not grounded in traditional Christian beliefs, but actually come out of the secular university system, and tend to be rooted in thinkers like Karl Marx, Herbert Marcuse, and Max Horkheimer. We should be very, very careful as a Christian movement when embracing so freely ideologies like critical theory, group identity, and identity politics.
Let's identify some terms. Critical theory is the idea that people are enslaved in various forms by society and that the chief end is to set people free from oppressive societal structures. Should we even accept such a premise about society overall? It's debatable I suppose, but I don't tend to believe society works that way. Our society for example is a democratic republic. I don't see it as an oppressive power structure of racism and bigotry. Neither should you, because it's not. The United States is a meritocracy, we rise and fall based on our merits and how hard we work, not based on oppressive structures.Steckbauer continues:
Critical theory is rooted in Karl Marx's ideology of power structures, that power is controlled by a select few, and only by enforcing total equality can people be free. Marx thought the structures of society must be criticized (critical theory) attacked and torn down to destroy the elite ruling class (the bourgeoisie).Another term that he deals with is "identity politics," which he describes as "the process by which political movements attempt to gain power by pandering to victim groups. This usually means that anyone who disagrees with the politics of the movement in question is labeled and slandered as a racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic, so and so. This also means that anyone who departs from the group think of a victim group...is slandered and ostracized."
And, a Texas pastor recently was concerned enough about these inroads to draft a resolution on social justice to be considered by the Southern Baptist Convention. The website, BaptistNews.com, reported that "Grady Arnold, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Cuero, Texas, has submitted a draft resolution for consideration at next month’s SBC annual meeting in Dallas." The article said:
Linking social justice activism to Marxist ideology and postmodernism philosophy, Arnold instead advocates “Christian worldview” thinking to address issues of racial reconciliation, poverty, the environment, immigration, sex and gender.
Introducing the proposed statement on the blog SBC Today, Arnold said social justice pits people against each other by viewing them as either victims or oppressors. “I want us as a convention to unite around shared doctrine and values, not to divide it,” he explained.The resolution was not allowed to come to the floor of the Convention, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Arnold was given a "quick brush off" when he attempted to bring the resolution up from the floor.
But, at least he was bold enough to raise the issue - and these matters should be raised.
I began to think that a barometer on the degree to which the Church is embracing the so-called "social justice" philosophy might be based on the direction that a person's or organization's ideas are moving. For instance, when someone is expressing what seems to be a more compassionate view of immigration, is that view moving in the direction of embracing more people coming into this country illegally or providing order and security? In racial issues, is someone moving more in the direction of identity politics, dividing people into the oppressed and the oppressors, the victims and the victimizers - or are we building unity?
With regard to gender, is someone willing to alter longstanding, Biblical teachings on the beauty of God's creation of male and female and their calling for certain roles or expressions of giftedness, in favor of a more feminist perspective, devoted to a false sense of empowerment? And, in the Church, are people willing to accommodate those who believe in a warped view of sexuality and attempt to blend LGBT identity with Christian beliefs and practice? In what direction on the scale are we moving - toward a more Biblical understanding or a more worldly one?
We have the chance as the Church to transcend politics, but unfortunately, there is the tendency toward polarization and then to label people with whom we disagree. And, then to silence them. Christians are among groups that have become so ostracized that many do not want to hear our voice and the truth we communicate. In general, many have bought into this mentality to the extent that people are being divided up in unhealthy ways. And, we have seen some scary results - we can be motivated to be more diligent than ever to live our lives in front of people, showing the love of Jesus and boldly proclaiming and living His principles.
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