Social justice outrage is very en vogue these days. So much so, that even the professing church in America is becoming infected by this worldview. Social justice advocates argue that there is inequality in America at various levels (income, race, job opportunities, sexual identity, etc). These inequalities are considered to be unjust as it unfairly allows some groups to advance further in life than others. Furthermore, as our nation was found by white, European males, it guarantees a level of privilege to all men of such an ethnic descent. Because these inequalities exist, it is argued that laws must be enacted that will “level the playing field” in order that disenfranchised persons and groups can be elevated in their social status. Of course, this means that anyone of a white, European male lineage must, by necessity, have their status in society lowered so that no inequality will exist.

In the last decade, American culture has seen a massive growth in the interest in social justice. While primarily championed by the Millennial generation, it is not solely owned by them. There are many people, including Generation X and Baby Boomers, who have argued for decades that government expansion is the solution to the social ills our nation faces. Those who are arguing for social justice causes are often quite sincere in their desires to see other persons or groups benefit from a more compassionate society. They genuinely believe that the inequalities that exist are unfair to those affected by them and want little more than to give aid and comfort to such persons. They see their efforts at social justice as being kind and generous to those legitimately in need.

In like manner, social justice advocates see the persons and groups who are believed to have unfairly advanced in society as being the cause of all inequality. Upper-class citizens, CEOs of corporations, political and religious leaders are believed to be the persons who champion maintaining the status quo. Likewise, average citizens who are unwilling to admit they have benefitted from the privilege of their existence, or who refuse to engage in social justice activism, are the willing pawns of the elite who do not want their way of life negatively impacted. Since these groups are engaged in maintaining a system that propagates inequality, they are viewed as an enemy combatant who must either surrender or be defeated. Social justice is seen as a righteous battle that must be won at all costs if humanity is to be rid of oppression and a social utopia be established.

Perhaps some will argue that I have either oversimplified or misrepresented what social justice advocates believe. That is certainly not my intent. I simply wish to convey the concept of social justice in a manner that will be understood by the broadest possible audience. With that said, it should be noted that social justice has become one of the most divisive issues in our current culture. If one endorses social justice, it is the person’s desire to ensure equality in every area of life, no matter how resistant culture may be to the changes required.

Additionally, the further one embraces the concept of social justice, the more one realizes how broad the landscape is with regard to victims of purported injustice. Race, sexual identity, gender, financial disparity, and more are now believed to be all interconnected issues of oppression. To be supportive of one disenfranchised class means that you must be supportive of all. Under the guise of intersectionality, defeating alleged oppression means that you must support any and all persons who believe they have been denied a place at the table based on their professed identity. If you do not seek to end inequality at all levels, then you are part of the problem. This is a never-ending cycle in which no end can ever be truly achieved. Unfortunately, when the basis of success is based upon the subjective determination of one’s feelings, you cannot objectively determine success.

Social Justice and the Church

Justice is a major tenant of the Christian faith. Why? Because it is God’s justice that makes the cross at Calvary a necessity. From a biblical perspective, justice is when God punishes sinners by righteously condemning them to Hell for eternity. Men and women are sinners by nature from the moment we are conceived in the womb. This is because Adam, our federal head in the Garden of Eden, brought sin into the world when he rebelled against God. From that very moment, all of creation was cursed through Adam’s act of lawlessness. And all mankind was cursed with creation. Every man, woman, and child has inherited a sin nature from our forefather, Adam. We are enslaved to sin and are unable of our own accord to free ourselves from its shackles. Thus, every thought, word, and deed is likewise enslaved to our sin nature. Everything we do and can even conceive of is tainted by the rebelliousness that was passed down from the first man.

Now, because we are sinners at our very core, we live in a constant state of rebellion against God. We seek to unseat Him from His throne and elevate ourselves as the master of our destinies. From the moment we leave the womb, we act out our sinful proclivities. We lie, steal, lust, and covet on a daily basis. If we profess a belief in God, it is a god of our own creation. One that allows for our “mistakes” and would not judge us negatively. We deny the very God who created us and demonstrates His existence through conscience and creation. We know from His law written on our hearts that our sin will one day be judged by Him, therefore, we reject Him in favor of a fictional cosmic butler who is concerned merely for our happiness.

God is a God of moral perfection and justice. The reason we have that conscience is that He is the author of the objective moral law which we all know exists. And that law is not merely a list of dos and don’ts that He came up with flippantly. God is the very definition of good, and there is no evil in Him. The law is the reflection of His goodness. In order to be acceptable in the eyes of God, we must be morally perfect because He is morally perfect. As God is good, He cannot abide evil in His sight. His justice demands that he judge every evil and sinful thought, word, and deed. If God were to allow evil to remain unpunished, then He could not be God. He would be unjust, He would not be morally pure. Thus, God’s justice demands His righteous wrath. All of us stand condemned before Him.

God is also loving and merciful. He desires to be reconciled to those whom He has created. He cannot simply ignore sin, therefore, He must judge sin. In order to be reconciled with mankind, God must then find a suitable substitute who can take His perfect wrath in our place. Thus, His only Son, Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, eternally God, and coexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit, became that perfect willing sacrifice. He took on humanity, lived a perfect life in full obedience to the Father, then of His own accord, died on the cross, receiving the full wrath of God for sin. Three days later, He rose from the grave, defeating sin and death. With God’s justice perfectly fulfilled, salvation is available to all who will repent and trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ. Justice is an essential aspect of the Christian faith. Without biblical justice, there is no Christianity.

Likewise, God is concerned with justice enacted on this Earth. In His giving of the law to Israel, God made provision for those who were impacted by the evil acts or carelessness of others. If a man committed murder, his life was forfeit under the law. Acts of manslaughter, theft, rape, and more carried stiff penalties for the person if proven guilty. Loss of property, such as oxen, sheep, etc. required repayment by the accused. In each case, however, the penalty was enacted by the guilty party, not nationally or corporately.

The only times in which God held His people corporately guilty of sin were when the people had rejected Him as their Lord and whored after the false idols of other nations. God would accuse them of sins of oppression, neglect and more, but always in the context of this being the inevitable result of failing to worship Him and Him alone. When the people of God worshipped God rightly, the byproduct of such worship was obedience to His commandments, including how they treated other. But when Israel rejected God, the natural effect was that they became self-centered and failed to care for those in need. Thus, God’s calling out of these sins was not merely a national call to act more morally, but a call of repentance to rightly worshipping Him alone.

As noted above, social justice is the concept that societal inequality is considered an injustice. However, it is an injustice defined, not by the law of God, but the perceptions of fallen man. We, who are dead in trespasses and sins, have decided that because we are not all on the same societal playing field, some injustice must have been done to us. Yet, there is no biblical basis by which we can claim that inequality is an offense to God for which justice must be obtained.

God is indeed concerned for the plight of the poor. He commanded the Jews not to harvest their fields to full so that those who were without might be able to work and obtain food. He has promised that those who have withheld payments to their workers by deceit will one day face His mighty justice. The church is commanded to care for the widow and the orphan by which the professed faith might be demonstrated to be genuine. Yes, God cares much for the afflicted and has strong condemnation for those who bring their oppression. Yet, God’s justice is specifically for those who actually afflicted the poor.

Social justice points to society and the belief that cultural, socio-economic, and political institutions are responsible for inequality. It is not satisfied with merely holding the persons who cause affliction guilty. It seeks to hold all of society responsible for the perceived ills of the nation. This is why social justice and biblical justice cannot coexist. God holds the individual responsible, calls on him or her to repent and make restitution. He also offers forgiveness and reconciliation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In doing so, He promises to regenerate the wicked heart of the sinner, giving that persons new desires in which he or she then seeks to be obedient in serving the Lord. This includes caring for the poor and afflicted in the manner they are equipped by God to do.

However, social justice advocates seek to bring all of society to heel under their form of repentance. All persons, not just the actual guilty, must atone for the perceived sins of racial, sexual, and income inequality. It matters not if a person committed any such act, by existing in the culture, you are required to uphold the tenets of social justice if you are to atone for your sins of having a privilege not available to others. Thus, it is clear that social justice is not equal to God’s justice, despite what the world may claim.

Social Justice in the Church

As social justice cannot be in concert with biblical justice, this ought not to be a worldview the church should adopt. The mission of the church is to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded. While caring for the poor and afflicted is an extension of sharing the love of Christ, there is no command for the church to seek to “fix” the issues of inequality of all nations. In fact, Christ in rebuking Judas for his condemning of Mary’s act of anointing Christ with an expensive oil noted that the poor would always be among the disciples. Chief among the reasons for this is that all of mankind is dead in trespasses and sins, as noted above. While sinners remain in this world, there will always be inequality and oppression. Thus, the mission of the church is not to fix the symptoms of sin, rather it is to call sinful men to repentance and new life in Christ.

Yet, in recent years, there has been a movement within the church to embrace social justice as an extension of the gospel itself. There has been a conflation of the claims of injustice through inequality and the biblical justice of God. The argument tends to follow that, if persons have suffered affliction and oppression through societal ills, then the gospel demands that the church seek to reconcile societal injustices. The issue, as noted above, is that social justice demands changes in the culture, most often through political legislation, that will bring about the desired change. There is no such biblical mandate for the church to engage in political and cultural machinations in order to bring about social and moral changes.

Most certainly, the church must be concerned about sins such as racism, sexism, bigotry, and the like. As Christians, we ought to recognize that these sins permeate the culture and exist even within the walls of our local churches. A person born again in Jesus Christ is not without sin and will be progressively sanctified throughout their walk with Christ. Therefore, within the walls of the church, we need to be teaching about sin and bringing about discipline whenever it is found within our congregation. Outside of the bride of Christ, we are to be proclaiming the gospel, denouncing such sins as rebellion against God and those created in His image. We must call the nation to repentance from these sins and direct them to the only source of salvation, Jesus Christ.

With regards to those who have been affected by financial loss or deprived of income through deceitful practices, the Church has been called to assist the poor wherever it has the ability to do so. Christ’s rebuke of Judas was not that the church has an excuse not to care for those in need, but that Mary’s act of worship should not have been condemned by claiming it would have been better to give to the poor. The church has always stood ready throughout its history to provide for the needs of others and many charities exist through churches today for that very reason. Thus, the church does indeed obey Christ’s command in this matter. However, social justice advocates argue that financial inequalities are unjust because the rich have and the poor have not (a Marxist principle by the way). Therefore, it is the church’s duty by extension of the gospel to see the poor elevated that they might have what they have been deprived.

Yet, it is the same Scripture that says not only are we not to give preference to the rich (see James), but we are also not to give deference to the poor man in legal matters. It is not a principle of Scripture that we automatically assume injustice against the poor for the simple fact that they are poor. If it can be demonstrably be shown that a poor man has been financially deprived by a rich man through fraud, then the rich man is required to pay back to the poor man what he has stolen. However, there is no command of God by which we can assume all who are rich are defrauding all who are poor. Such a belief must be maintained of the requirements of social justice are to be upheld. As such, once again we are forced to note that social justice and biblical justice are not the same.

With this in mind, then we must ask why social justice has been increasingly grown as a movement within evangelicalism. I believe one of the root causes of this problem is that the average American evangelical is largely ignorant of what Scripture actually teaches. While many professing Christians today know that Jesus died for sinners, that God is a God of love, and the magical 11th commandment, “Thou shall not judge,” the simple fact is that many cannot accurately articulate what the full theological context of these passages mean. It is due to such theological ignorance that we can understand how such conflation exists between social and biblical justice occurs.

Many Christians understand that we are commanded to help those in need. That is why there have been so many social charities, adoption agencies, and even hospitals founded by Christians. The question is not “are Christians commanded to help,” but “what manner of help is considered biblical in the eyes of the Lord?” For example, God commanded Israel to not harvest their fields to the fullest, but to leave the gleanings that the poor might be able to go out and collect food for themselves. This was God’s feeding program. Those that had were not forced to give up to all that had not. Those that were poor were not to be given without anything in exchange, rather they had to work in order to provide for themselves. Those with abundance did not deprive the poor, and the poor worked to sustain themselves.

God made no provision for His people to assume that those without should be brought up and those with should be brought lower. Each was sustained based on his or her effort. It was out of obedience to the Lord that those in a better position left behind some of their harvests to be gleaned. Social justice assumes that all those who are without or have been disenfranchised in some fashion, are in that condition through no fault of their own. Rather it is the fault of an oppressive system under which those who are “privileged” must be made to do without to even the social status of all. This form of “help” is not biblical. It assumes the innocence of the “afflicted” and the guilt of the “privileged.” Then, it preys upon the Christian conscience by appealing to the command of God to care for the poor and afflicted. Since caring for those in need is considered an evidence of regeneration by Christ, the social justice advocate points to Scripture (out of context) and demands that social justice be applied as proof that Christians are actually born again.

In modern American Evangelicalism, we have seen a push for over a century to dilute the gospel and downplay doctrine. Many churches today do not train up their congregants to be faithful proclaimers of the gospel. Rather, they are taught to invite their friends to church and allow the pastor to preach a gospel-esque sermon to them. This sermon often does not examine God’s biblical justice on sin and the righteous sacrifice as a perfect substitute for sinners. Rather, God’s love is proclaimed to all without any examination of the cost of submitting to Christ. Sinners are invited to raise a hand, walk an aisle and pray a prayer. They are promised God will accept them just as they are, no repentance required. No consideration is given to check one’s walk with Christ to see if the fruit of the Spirit is present. All that is required is that you made a decision for Christ.

Likewise, congregants are often not feasting on the meat of the Word of God. Sermons which preach doctrine and theology are considered taboo as it might chase away the seeking attendees. If made to think deeply about what God demands of us, they may leave and never return. Believers are routinely fed the meagerest amounts of biblical doctrine and chastised if they desire more so they might grow. In this kind of environment, the professing believer is weak and anemic. They have little discernment that they might know the difference between true and false, much less true and almost true. How then can they be equipped to discern between social and truly biblical justice? Without a robust understanding of Scripture, many Christians simply cannot articulate just what God has commanded of us. As such, many false teachings have found acceptance in the professing church, among which we find the social justice gospel. It sounds good because it claims to help those in need. And those without true knowledge do not see it is, in fact, a false justice which is afflicting the church.

In such an environment, even prominent Christians, who are considered orthodox in their theology, have found it possible to promote such teachings with little resistance. In the last year alone, para-church ministries such as The Gospel Coalition and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission have promoted conferences, articles, and speeches with well known religious leaders promoting social justice ideologies. Many of these prominent persons have been called out by religious leaders for years for making statements and back agendas that appeared to be leading away from the Biblical definition of justice. However, far too many Christians backed these speakers and writers, defending their statements and giving them a free pass to continue unabated. Now, we are starting to see a great divide occur as more and more Christians are assuming that the social justice rhetoric must be a correct Biblical concept simply because it has become the new prominent narrative. As this divide grows, it is likely we will see a great many skirmishes occur within the professing church as social justice advocates seek to marginalize those who recognize the danger their agenda presents.

What Are We to Do?

Despite whatever the future holds for American Evangelicalism, one thing is certain, God always has His remnant. The bride of Christ will never be overtaken by the false wisdom of the world. Though she may be buffeted and afflicted on all sides, she will emerge spotless and pure on the day her Bridegroom comes to receive her.

With that said, it is my encouragement that the true bride never to back down from the truth of God’s Word, no matter how many claim she must acquiesce. Churches, pastors, elders, congregants, brothers, and sisters, stand fast and hold your ground. Do not be swayed by those who would take an ounce of lie and add it to a pound of truth. Be faithful Bereans, study the Word constantly and see if these things are true. And whatever is antithetical to the Word of God, no matter how smoothly it may be presented, must be rejected wholeheartedly.

Pastors, teach your people the whole counsel of God. Every jot and tittle. Do not skip the hard parts. Don’t jump past the boring parts. Do not settle for “your best life now” sermonettes for Christianettes. Be a faithful undershepherd to the flock of God He has entrusted to your care. They are His sheep, not yours. You are given a weighty task to care for them, do not fail your Lord and Master.

Brethren, you are commanded to love the Lord with are your mind, soul, body, and strength. This is a full-time commitment. You must war daily with your flesh against the fleeting temptations to sin. You must seek to conform yourself constantly to the image of Christ your Savior. This means you must be diligent students of the Word, knowing your God and what He has commanded of you. It is not enough to say that you love Christ, though well you should. You must grow in wisdom and knowledge that you might grow in the fruit of the Spirit, being a visible witness to the world.

Churches, you must seek to root out sin in your body. This means being diligent brethren to pray for one another, edify one another, and call to repentance any sin you see within the body. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. We are not to be harsh taskmasters, legalists demanding excommunication for every perceived slight, real or imagined. We are to be loving members of a family seeking genuine reconciliation between our loved ones and God. We call out sin in utter humility, understanding we ourselves have been far greater enemies of God before He redeemed us.

We must also call out sin in the world, including sins of racism, bigotry, sexism, and more. We must hold accountable those whom we see practicing such horrible acts and call them to forgiveness in Christ alone. We ought also not ever assume such sins do not occur in the walls of our places of worship. While we know that being regenerated means God gives us new hearts with new desires and the Holy Spirit indwells us, none of us are made sinlessly perfect upon conversion. We must watch out for one another and help identify those sinful beliefs and attitudes which cause us to act so wretchedly to others. If we do these things, then we are in fact loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Social justice activism is a political worldview that is not based in Scripture. While it can find nuggets of truth like statements, its solutions are not in the least connected to the gospel. By allowing ignorance of God’s Word to permeate the professing body, we helped to create a vacuum that false ideologies such as social justice have sought to fill. We must now seek to reverse that course and never falter in promoting the truth of God’s Word. Some may call us names and claim we are not true followers of Christ. They may gnash their teeth and seek to tear us down. But the church has always had to face such trials, and never has Christ allowed the gates of Hell to destroy her. We must seek to be faithful to Christ alone, first, foremost, and always.