But Saturday I knew I had at least an hour-long run staring me in the face so I loaded up my ipod with a sermon from Mosaic. Since I have missed quite a few, I had a bunch to choose from. I chose one from their recent Beyond US series called Beyond US: Poverty/Generosity, quite honestly because I was hoping to hear some things from him on social justice, since that has been on my mind recently.
I’ll say it again, I have really missed listening to Erwin. He speaks right to me, and this lesson was no exception. I’d encourage you to take the time to listen to this lesson. To make it easier for you I’ve included an audio player in this post.
They do great work at Mosaic, and Erwin continues to challenge them, and me, to create a better world for those around us. I am really looking forward to my next long run so I can listen to another one!
If you know anything about me, you know that I try my hardest to steer clear of political debates, online or off. However, this newest Glenn Beck twaddle really chaps my hide. Here’s what you might have missed:
On his daily radio and television shows last week, Glenn Beck set out to convince his audience that “social justice,” the term many Christian churches use to describe their efforts to address poverty and human rights, is a “code word” for communism and Nazism. Beck urged Christians to discuss the term with their priests and to leave their churches if leaders would not reconsider their emphasis on social justice.
“I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!”
Now you can be on either side of the political isle, and debate your entire lifetime on whether or not it’s good for the government to be involved in helping the poor, but let me make one thing crystal clear… that is exactly what the church is here for. We are to be the hands and feet of Jesus, giving food to those that are hungry, helping those in need, practicing “the religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless … looking after orphans and widows in their distress.”
What Glenn is doing here is taking a hot political issue and trying to sound pious while tugging at the emotions of his followers. He’s (mis)using religion to effect legitimate political discord… and to make a name for himself. I thought Glenn jumped the shark quite a while back, but this solidifies my decision to steer clear of this ignorant fear monger. I’d urge you to do the same.
And for the record, I want no part of any organization, religion, or church that does not take seriously our mandate to help those in need—spiritually AND physically.
It was the back page article in the March 24, 2008 issue of TIME, written by Nancy Gibbs, and called The New Road to Hell. It dealt with the “new social sins” decreed by the Vatican recently—Environmental Pollution, Genetic Manipulation, Obscene Wealth, Infliction of Poverty, Drug Trafficking, Morally Debatable Experiements, and Violation of the Fundamental Rights of Human Nature.
She had the following good thoughts…
Sin, unlike crime or folly, is a spiritual notion: for Muslim or Jew or Christian, sin is the saboteur that keeps us from grace, separates us from God. The new list is about what separates us from one another; it makes abstract the failings that once were intimate and in the process may make sin smaller, not bigger or more relevant. Private faith already speaks to public duty, as Mohandas Gandhi suggested with his version of the seven deadly sins: “Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, knowledge without character, politics without principle, commerce without morality and worship without sacrifice.” The responsibility rests with the individual, but that includes the duty to take care of others as well as your own soul.
I think she wraps it up very nicely at the end. Which goes in line perfectly with what she said earlier in her article that the original mortal sins had as much to do with attitudes as with acts themselves. It’s not the laws themselves that compel us to avoid things, it’s what’s inside us that does.
The following is a ten part series of Bono talking with Bill Hybels at the 2006 Willow Creek Leadership Summitt about his faith, about God, Jesus, the change in his life, and about love. Each part is around 5 minutes long.
Here is Part 1
Watch Part 2
“We believe that the poor deserve an honorable place at the table. They deserve the head of the table is how God would see things.”
Watch Part 3
“Duality is the mark of a lot of great art. It’s one of the things missing, for instance, in Christian art, because there’s no tension.”
Watch Part 4
“I am so fascinated by the idea of the Child being born in straw poverty. To me there is a poetic power to that. It is a remarkable story, the Christmas story, and it never fails to amaze me.”
Watch Part 5
“What else are you going to do with this thing called celebrity. I mean it’s ridiculous. It positively upends Gods order of things. Why would a filmstar or a rockstar or a sports star be more important than a nurse, or a fireman or a mother? It’s actually ridiculous. But hey it’s currency, and I decided I was going to spend mine.”
Watch Part 6
“The church has historically always been behind the curve. It’s amazing to me. In civil rights, in fighting against the rascism in the 60′s and the 50′s in South the United States, and Apartheid in Africa.”
Watch Part 7 (Part 7 seems to be identical to Part 6)
Watch Part 8
“Love thy neighbor is not advice. It’s a command. And who is our neighbor in the global village? Can an accident of longitude and latitude really decide whether you live or whether you die? In the global community, in a globalized world, can you say because that’s happening over there it’s not really my concern? Well you can’t if you’re a Christian. You cannot.”
Watch Part 9
“Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Find out what God is doing because it’s already blessed.”
“A lot of people are happy with pie in the sky when they die. But I don’t think that is our purpose. Our purpose is to bring Heaven to earth in the micro, as well as the macro. In every detail of our lives we should be trying to bring Heaven to earth.”
The current issue of Relevant has a feature article with the 7 burning issues of our generation, and they have some of the leading voices in the Church today respond to them. I thought I’d highlight them in seven separate posts. Here is burning question number one…
Injustice: Is our focus on social justice out of balance?
The message to Christians today is very clear. Any gospel that isn’t good news to poor people simply isn’t the Gospel of Jesus Christ; any evangelism that doesn’t include social justice ignores the perfectly integrated life and message of Jesus. — Jim Wallis
Both the Great Commission and the Cultural Commission are part of God’s plan for creation, clearly mandated in Scripture. — Chuck Colson
People started clamoring around Jesus initially because He was healing people, and when they got close enough, they began to hear His message: “The Kingdom of God is available right now.” — Nancy Ortberg
The most important thing is for us to stop putting evangelism and social justice in opposition as if they are enemies. — Brian McLaren
When I look at Jesus, evangelism and dealing with injustice are inseparable in His life. People are hungry for a Gospel that embodies a social, political alternative to the patterns of our world. — Shane Claiborne
A follower of Christ doesn’t put on a “social justice” hat and then an “evangelism” hat and then try to discern which hat to wear the most and which hat is the most valuable. Why? Because it isn’t a hat; it’s the head and the heart. — Steve Brown
As the church is getting its hands dirty doing what needs to be done to help the poorest of the poor, people realize this Gospel really does make a difference. — N.T. Wright
Check out the May/June 2008 issue (#33) for their complete answers.
The Original Mud Puppy is a 36 year old Christ follower. Father of an amazing son. Husband of a woman that makes me a better person every single day. Book, music, and movie junkie. Avid runner. Part-time cook.
Two creeds that I try to live by are: Stop Existing and Start Living & Love Wins. (more...)
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