I’ve been really convicted lately about social justice.
I would really have to say, that I think I may be one of those people who rank high on the “acting out my faith” scale. We humans seem to like to rank things, and we seem to enjoy choosing which form of “social justice” we like to stand behind. Personally, mine is missions. Mainly to a certain Bolivian Orphanage. I’ve been there nearly seven times now, serving the boys of the Bolivian Life Center in any way required of me. I’ve also been to Africa once, partnering in teaching abstinence to children who have lost their parents to AIDS. I’ve even been to Jamaica once, to help build a house for a little old lady who lost hers in Hurricane Ivan.
On top of that, I can usually be seen Sunday nights helping out at my Church’s local youth group. I minister to some hurting girls at a local university. I really have a difficult time sharing a stoplight with a panhandler without giving them a few couple of dollars. I might have even bought a pair of TOMS once, if they weren’t so expensive.
It feels good for us to do good. This is why millions of Americans purchase reusable grocery bags and World Vision sponsorships. This is why Celebrities adopt orphaned African/Romanian/Asian children. We like to give charity. We enjoy helping others.
As we should.
Everyone wants to make the world a better place, after all. Christians are EXPECTED to live out their faith as such. Even talk to your hard core, pro-evolution athieist, and see if he doesn’t want to make the world a better place. Of course he does. After all, to the athieist, this world is all he really has, anyway.
So when I say I am convicted about social justice, don’t get me wrong. I know how to do social justice.
The part that convicts me, is the apparent lack in our “Christian” communities today for sharing the REASON behind our social justice.
I’m speaking of the Gospel. That is, the very reason we have any inkling at all to do any good.
I have found myself, lost in the glamour of helping the needy, feeding the poor, healing the sick. However, what is the point, really? All of this “do-gooding”, what does it amount to if we don’t ever share the REASON behind our works? If we do good things for people but never share our heart, then it is nothing more than putting a band-aid on something that needs stitches.
We are treating the “symptoms” of this disease called sin, without ever offering a cure. What a horrible thing would it be, if a Doctor found the cure for cancer, and decided that he’d only share it when he felt “comfortable” doing so. Sure, maybe that patient really DOESN’T want the cure for cancer, and maybe you might have to face rejection, but what does it hurt to ask??
“Sign me up for another round of Chemo, Doc. I’m not ready for your cure yet.”
I shudder as I think of some of the last words Jesus said to His disciples before he ascended to be with His father: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 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.” (Matthew 28:17)
Jesus told us to go and make disciples. He never said, “Go and do good things for people, and MAYBE if you want to talk about me sometimes, you can do that too.”
I find that my personal service has surely been lacking in that area. How often to I tell people, “I am doing this for you because of what Christ has done for me” ?
I can tell you the answer. Not nearly as much as I should.
I can almost hear you screaming: “JAMES 2:17! FAITH WITHOUT WORKS is DEAD!!!”
Oh I hear that loud and clear. One of my life verses is James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I understand the concept of, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do.”
Yet I’ve gotten to thinking. . . what if we actually ATTEMPT to take care of the disease instead of the symptoms? We Christians do (or rather, SHOULD do) social justice because of our gratitude to our Father for saving our souls. We love because HE first loved us! Not the other way around.
What would happen, if we began to treat the illness. If we focused on the salvation of people’s souls, don’t you think the rest of this social justice would kind of take care of itself? We all know that cliché, Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime?
I’m not saying that we can’t reach people through social justice, I’m just saying that we need to be CERTAIN that the people we are ministering to KNOW WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO.
Yes. Faith without works is most assuredly dead. However, may I be so bold to say that works without faith is merely like an empty oyster? You snatch it up in the hopes that there is a special treasure inside, but the moment you realize there is no pearl, then the oyster is barely worth the meat within. Works without faith is a hollow attempt at changing a life or saving a world.
My brothers and sisters, I challenge all of us to remember why Christ called us to follow Him. He is not so much concerned about the good that we do, rather I know He is far more concerned about bringing people home with us to meet Him. I can say hello to my neighbor all I want, but I really should invite them to become a part of my family, our spiritual family. That is how we change lives. We can put as many band aids on people as we want, but when they need open heart surgery, we are merely placating them in a hopes that they MIGHT come to Christ somehow.
Romans 10:14-15: 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Don’t be an empty oyster. Share that treasure for the world to see, in hopes that they too can one day have their own pearls.
