One of things we should notice about the drive for “social justice” is that the theory of the thing contains a soteriological contradiction right at the heart of it. This is what I mean.
In true evangelism, the unbeliever is being called from a state of condemnation into a state of no condemnation. This is why the message that accomplishes this is unambiguously good news — Jesus was crucified and is risen, and the sinner who believes in Him is set free. This is a true evangel.
But in the world of social justice, what is the task? What is the mission? It is precisely the reverse of this. It is to get the weak and oppressed from a condition where God identifies with them into a state where they come under His judgment. Advocates of missional social justice identify with the poor and they sneer at middle class values. But this is like a lifeguard identifying with the drowning and sneering at the beach.
We are supposed to minister to the poor, but what does that mean? Does it include actually helping them, so that they are no longer poor? But if we do that, we are moving them out of the realm of God’s favor. If we deliver them out of poverty, we are setting them up for a visiting speaker a generation from now who will come to their church and say that God identifies with the poor — and not with you. You used to have it good when you had it bad, but not any more.
I have noted before that the poor are a cash cow for those who want to have a steady income based on helping the poor. But there are other factors in play as well. The guilty white social worker needs the poor to remain poor for emotional reasons as well. If they stopped being poor, they would stop needing him, and he would have to stop being patronizing. Moreover, they would cease being his friends, for they would have become middle class, the kind of person he has been trained to hold in contempt. They would have been successfully “evangelized,” which means that they now lie under condemnation. Therefore there is no justification for those who are in . . . who, exactly?
But true mercy ministry is effective, which means that it actually shows mercy. It means that it works. It means that the grandchildren of the drug addict you helped out thirty years ago are now growing up in an intact home with two parents, are getting fed every day, are going to sleep warm every night, are receiving a good, Christian education, and so on. According to the theology of social justice, does God identify with them anymore? Nope — they were delivered . . . into condemnation.
If the poor are not to be rejected by God, then, we have to keep them right where they are. So we have created a ministry for the permanent underclass, and a theology to keep them that way. This gives the bureaucrat dispensing the favors of the state a steady job, and it gives sob sister Christians an emotional security blanket (made out of people), who must not be allowed to turn into the middle class enemy.
An entrepreneur who offers a poor man a job has more love in his little finger than the entire man has who creates a job for himself off of that same poor man. True capitalism — not crapitalism, mind you, not crony capitalism — is love. The sooner we learn that, the sooner we will grow up into love.
I say all this knowing that the Bible is very clear that God does identify with the weak. He uses weak and feeble instruments to accomplish great things. But we err seriously when we make weakness an end in itself, instead of understanding it for what it is — a left-handed way of getting to the victory.
Be strong in grace (2 Tim. 2:1). Be strong in the Lord (Eph. 6:10). Be men, be strong (1 Cor. 16:13). These verses should no more be pitted against the many passages on the glory of weakness than the passages on weakness should be pitted against these. For when I am weak, that is when I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10). The argument is not that weakness is ethically better, and too bad it always loses. It is that weakness conquers.
And when that weakness conquers, and the mighty have been thrown down from their high places, and the lowly have been lifted up, what then? When we were released from our captivity, we were like those who dream, and we stopped our mouths at the goodness of God. For the wicked were dispersed like smoke in a gale, and we lifted up our heads because of the redemption that came to us. And after we walked around in the sunlight of our deliverance for a few years, overflowing with gratitude, one day a man came to us, claiming to be a prophet. He said that we were deeply compromised, having accepted some gifts we had quite plainly accepted. How can we escape condemnation, living the way we were living?
Blessed are the poor, he said, for they shall stay like that.
Amen to this.
Do you think its more ignorance with good intentions that drives the leftist welfare programs or a selfish need to have power over a whole group of people?
The State increasingly uses the poor as justification for the expansionist agenda. The more poor, the more power the State has. “Get your food stamps here!” The problem is not in helping the truly needy. The problem is trying to do it through the institution that bears a sword, as minister of God’s wrath. The arms of mercy, and the hands of charity belong to the Church. Its storehouse is to be filled by means of our tribute offering to God. We are invited to test God in this promise. The State has completely usurped the role of the Church… Read more »
Yeah it seems like its inevitable now, the state will be involved in everything. My attitude now has been “eh, fallen world, not my concern”…do you think that’s the right way to go about this? This world seems too bad to “save”.
Boy, oh boy, you lost me at the beginning. It wasn’t till I read “According to the theology of social justice, does God identify with them anymore? Nope.” That it made any sense! I don’t necessarily agree with your conclusions but at least you weren’t saying what I thought you were saying. I would prefer to help in a way that moves someone from poverty to a livable income. However, I can’t get around “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” And “‘Lord, when did we see you… Read more »
Tim, I think if you consult most of the often-quoted social justice proof texts (Matthew 25 being perhaps the most popular), you will find that they inevitably are talking within the context of the church, not general societal relief. Jesus specifies “to the least of these brothers of mine” – which is to say (and I expect that Pastor Wilson agrees) that there should be no-one hungry or homeless in your church unless everyone is hungry and homeless (that’s at a minimum – I haven’t thought through its implications on the international church). It addresses the strength of the church… Read more »
Hi Joel, the parable of the Good Samaritan does not really leave room for the ‘our crowd’ theory: “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.” (Luke 10:33-34). . .but no doubt that’s not going to stop you folks from keeping on trying.
Katecho said: The problem is not in helping the truly needy. The problem is trying to do it through the institution that bears a sword, as minister of God’s wrath. I think you are being reductionistic in your description of the purpose of government. The law, which governed the nation Israel, specifically instructs the Jews to not glean the corners of their fields for the poor. As a result, I do not think it is wise to suggest that the government has no responsibility to force manditory giving. That being said, I am happy to lament the current state of… Read more »
Pastor Wilson, I have to say I second Tim’s comments above. The issue isn’t either you give the beggar $10 *or* find him a job, or evangelize him. You can do – and ought to do – all of this. Ultimately, Christians would want to bring the beggar into the church, baptize him, and give him communion, as well as love them in Christian fellowship. I don’t think that any social justice advocates are saying that God ceases to love a person when they cease to become poor. I don’t even get the impression that that is what they are… Read more »
Tim M. And you are equivocating on “the law.” There is plenty of “law” in the sense of the revealed will of God, that is not intended to be law in the sense of that which the civil sphere is to enforce. God did require the children of Israel to allow their poor neighbors to glean their fields. But notice two important facts. First, the gleaner still had to be approved by the gleanee, and second, there is no civil penalty in the OT prescribed for the man who failed to keep the gleaning “laws.” In our own day it… Read more »
Tim M.
I think that when the law spoke to that, it was also speaking to a theocracy, and one whose God was the Lord.
Just as a thought experiment, I wonder what the response from social justice advocates would be if the quid pro quo for said social justice was for “all men everywhere to repent and believe, and to acknowledge Jesus Christ as King of kings to include all governments, ie, bowing their knees to theocratic rule by the Word of God.
Michael, thanks for your comments. I quite agree that it isn’t an either/or situation. We should deliver them from both physical poverty and spiritual poverty. So no disagreement there. The point I was making, and perhaps I was overly subtle, is this. If I am in violation of Luke 14:33 for having a computer, a truck, a house, regular meals, and hot and cold running water, then what am I doing to a poor man if I obtain for him a computer, a truck, a house, regular meals, and hot and cold running water? Either it is possible to have… Read more »
Fredericka – that’s one interpretation of the Good Samaritan, but it rests on the critical (and in my view rather naive) assumption that Jesus is actually answering the question “who is my neighbor?”. The verses preceding the fellow’s question make it clear that his ostensible inquiry is insincere: “and wishing to justify himself, he said…”. So if you want the parable to be about the definition of a neighbor, you have to ignore Jesus’ usual practice with his Jewish interlocutors – rarely (never?) does he play along with their self-interested attempts at dialogue. Usually he turns the question back on… Read more »
To my responses:
I’m only advancing one argument. It is not amoral for a government to impose some sort of restricted mandatory charity. If God’s law is holy, righteous, and good, then some limited imposed charity cannot be a moral evil or invalid purpose of government. This isn’t an argument for communism.
…found my way here by means of a curious trail of straw. Oh, found the source: it’s falling out of the straw man you’ve been dragging up and down your gauntlet.
For the sake of good rhetoric, can you cite some actual social justice theorists who condemn the middle class as strongly as you say they do?
Rcjr,
I do not recognize the trifold distinction of law. I’m also not a postmillennialist. I understand the Mosaic law as a unity. I like capitalism, I think it’s wise. I thinkthe forced distribution of wealth is stealing.
Bill Buchanan wrote: Yeah it seems like its inevitable now, the state will be involved in everything. My attitude now has been “eh, fallen world, not my concern”…do you think that’s the right way to go about this? This world seems too bad to “save”. Since the culture refuses each day of repentance, a severe default and judgment does seem certain. However, this judgment will actually come because Christ is on His throne, ruling the nations, and because His intent is to inherit the nations and the world. Not by political games, or carnal weapons, but by shrewd ideological and… Read more »
I am a white social worker, I was not trained to despise middle class values. I have no emotional interest in keeping poor people poor, I was poor for a long time, there is nothing glamorous about it . Social work can be a difficult job, the burnout rate is high, it is not insipid hand wringing rather it is working in difficult , situations with people . Unlike other professions social workers actively discourage their children from following in their footsteps as the job exacts a heavy toll . Taking pot shots at social workers is easy however I’m… Read more »
Michael LaFerriere wrote: “What social justice advocates seem to be saying is that because Jesus identifies with the poor and oppressed, the church should prioritize helping the poor and oppressed.” Would that this were actually the case, but as Doug Wilson has used the term “social justice”, he refers specifically to the “bureaucrat dispensing the favors of the state”. Doug is contrasting the Statist “ministry for the permanent underclass” from the proper activities of Church charity and basic freedom of markets: “An entrepreneur who offers a poor man a job has more love in his little finger than the entire… Read more »
katecho,
I do not intend to be or want to seem obsequious, but I invariably come away from reading your posts and thinking “gee, that’s what I think, now if I could only learn to say it that clearly”.
You sir are an encouragement!
It seems to me that except for “small pockets of resistance” (which in reality is probably many more than a 7,000 man “MIKE Force” who have not bowed to Baal), that a broad and large cross section of American Christianity is ignorant of the church, who she is, and our history.
Fredericka, the Good Samaritan rescued someone from a violent attack — he didn’t drop a fiver in a tin can.
Gleaning: picking grain by hand after the reapers have gone through. I’ve paid a begger a wee bit to pick cigarette butts off the parking lot. George Grant in Bringing in the Sheaves (book) tells of having a church he served do similar things, with evangelism and prosperity in mind. That gives out hard work, not plain money. If–IF–we want to take an example for modern laws, maybe order businesses to leave 1% (?) of their income to pay people to do such things?
Andrew,
I like the application, my only point is to suggest that such a thoughtful application like that, CANNOT be morally evil.
Tim
“So if you want the parable to be about the definition of a neighbor. . .”
Hi Joel. There actually is a second ‘is’ or more precisely ‘is become:’ “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was [gegonenai] neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” (Luke 10:36). So, on its face, it seems like Jesus is the one who wants the parable to be about the definition of an neighbor.
Oliver Fugate wrote, “For the sake of good rhetoric, can you cite some actual social justice theorists who condemn the middle class as strongly as you say they do?” Needless to say, no one has ever said ‘I am helping the poor to stay poor;’ Mr. Wilson’s claim to the contrary is no more than animadversion. The funny thing is, you should hear the wailing, the caterwauling, the indignant protest, when anyone summarizes Mr. Wilson’s views in a way which is perfectly apt and fair, but which he dislikes or finds presently inconvenient: “Now here is a simple Golden Rule… Read more »
Thanks, RFB. There are probably more who think like us than we’d guess. It’s not as though we are adequately or fairly represented in the media. That’s for sure. But we should speak up from time to time, as God gives us the occasion. Encouragement works in all directions. I’m encouraged that someone is encouraged. :)
My neighbor is the generation yet to be born, which (apart from a default) has now inherited poverty through many trillions of dollars of debt because of the social-justice agenda of Statists. This robbery succeeded, in large part, because they weren’t even around to scream their objection. Where is the love for these neighbors?
Katecho, I wasn’t advocating statism at all – I am talking about the church helping the poor. One of the problems when we get into these arguments is that we always think of solving the problem of the poor in terms of statism and not the church of Jesus. I also should have clarified my comment – I am unaware of serious orthodox advocates of social justice within the church that advocate that all you need to do is make a poor man rich and not bring him into church life. There certainly are advocates of social justice that don’t… Read more »
I should resist being as snide as I wish to be; for this post has made me very angry indeed. Mr. Wilson, do you actually mean cast social workers as devourers of widows’ houses? And do you agree with the idea that Christian charity is for Christians alone rather than by Christians? A clarification is in order here.
Mr. Joel, your interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan is exactly why the Bible should not be read without the Spirit’s active aid. It leads to gross and self-serving manipulation of God’s message. Christians have always been known for their acts of mercy and generosity towards ALL their neighbours. Please cite great Christian teachers who agree with your tight-fisted innovation.
Vishwanath, happy to clarify. No, I was not talking about about each and every social worker. I was talking about guilty, white ones, and that was as an e.g. I am sure there have been many fine social workers. But I do believe that there are many in the poverty industry who are the equivalent of those who devoured widows’ houses. That is true too. As far as the second question is concerned, I believe that our priority should be within the household of believers, but that we are to do good to all men (Gal. 6:10).
Once again, Pastor Wilson, you’re just using straw men and false dichotomies to avoid the question of how you actually try to follow Luke 14:33. Or 12:33. Or Luke 3:11, 6:24, 6:30, 18:22, 18:25, 18:28-30; Mark 10:21, 10:25, 10:28-31; Matthew 5:42, 19:21, 19:24, 19:27-29; Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-34; 2 Corinthians 8:14-15; James 1:10-11, 5:1-6; 1 John 3:17-18, and many, many others. If certain other self-interested Christians just whisked away a few Biblical lines about sexuality (or baptism, or any number of other issues) as carelessly as you try to avoid applying these commands to yourself, you would have a field day… Read more »
Mr. Wilson, thank you for the clarification. I would like you to consider the following: If I, who am your brother in Christ, am driven to the point of fury by your recent posts, what effect do you think they will have on an unbeliever?
I think a good “side point” here is that it’s very easy for an industry to spring up around the marginalization of certain people, and when that happens, there is a perverse incentive for that group to stay marginalized, or at least for the public perception of their marginalization to continue. If you think about it, one thing that World Witness (my denomination’s missions agency, the NAACP, and the Anti-Defamation league should all have in common is a desire to be able to close up shop. To be able to say “the whole world has heard the gospel” or “Black… Read more »
Jonathan, I know that rich/poor aren’t the only two options. That’s my point.
“I was talking about guilty, white ones”
Aren’t those white people irritating sometimes. . .
Iohannes wrote, “the Good Samaritan rescued someone from a violent attack. . .” Hi Iohannes, I agree, the Good Samaritan helped a robbery victim. I do not think, however, that when the Lord says to go and do likewise, He meant to limit it to an identical case, as if, had the man suffered a coronary instead, it would have been all right to step right over him. What they are talking about is Moses’ law, “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am… Read more »
rcjr wrote, “that is not intended to be law in the sense of that which the civil sphere is to enforce”
rcjr, it would be really helpful if someone could point to the Bible verse which says that the civil government should NOT help the poor. It seems to be missing from my edition. Pagans governments, for millenia, have given financial assistance to the poor; with the Roman government it was bread and circuses. They do this in the interests of social harmony and social unity. And it says they should not, in the Bible, just where exactly. . ?
Something odd is going on here. Something is not being stated plainly. Jonathan (and perhaps Vishwanath) seems eager to repeat the implication that Wilson is somehow against personal giving to actually help the poor. The problem is that Jonathan never showed that Wilson is opposed to helping the poor. Jonathan seems to have skipped that step completely. If he can acknowledge that Wilson fully supports helping the needy, then what has made Jonathan so adamant? What is really the problem? Is it that Wilson refuses to use Luke 14:33 to apply middle-class guilt manipulation regarding the poor? Is it that… Read more »
Quoth Fredericka: “Aren’t those white people irritating sometimes”
When they’re denigrating their own race and culture, or accusing poor whites of automacially being “privileged”: a resounding *yes*.
Fredericka wrote: rcjr, it would be really helpful if someone could point to the Bible verse which says that the civil government should NOT help the poor. It seems to be missing from my edition. Pagans governments, for millenia, have given financial assistance to the poor; with the Roman government it was bread and circuses. They do this in the interests of social harmony and social unity. And it says they should not, in the Bible, just where exactly. . ? Fredericka seems to hold the hermeneutic that the civil government may do whatever is not expressly prohibited of it… Read more »
Joel, While I’d stop short of denouncing your reading as a “tight-fisted innovation,” you certainly have missed something vital. Yes, Jesus has a habit of answering the questioner instead of the self-serving question. And yes again, He acts true to form here. But look at how He does it. The feller asked Him, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ counter-question is, “Which of these three was a neighbor to him that fell among thieves?” Do you see the inversion? Jesus is not simply saying that your neighbor is anybody you meet that needs help. Jesus is saying, “Stop worrying about whether… Read more »
katecho wrote, “It would require a very twisted argument to strip the Church of her explicit role of mercy and give it to the State instead. . .” Hi katecho. You remind me of those alarming citizens who stride the streets of our nation’s great cities. Gazing into the middle distance, they shout ominous sermons while the passers-by scurry past. Their eyes may rest for a moment on a member of their audience, but it’s only a pause before the next random eye movement, because they are not really talking TO anyone, though there are people around. Who is trying… Read more »
Timothy M. Does that mean you are comfortable with me calling the sheriff on my children for not cleaning their room? Or that the state should have sanctions against coveting? One need not embrace the three-fold division of the law (and while I believe in it I do understand our Bible’s don’t come color coded telling us which fits in what category always) but one need only notice that God, in establishing His commonwealth gives no civil sanction for this sin or that. As such I would argue that in fact it is immoral for the state to impose sanctions… Read more »
B Palmer wrote, “Quoth Fredericka: “Aren’t those white people irritating sometimes” When they’re denigrating their own race and culture, or accusing poor whites of automacially being “privileged”: a resounding *yes*.”
Hi B. Oh. So when black social workers do that, it’s all good? (Your name reminds me that my blood type, B Positive, is the only blood type that can constructively be adopted as a motto.)
Hi katecho. Just wondering: in your system, are the atheist poor left to die in the gutter?
Hey rcjr, I appreciate the question. I would respond in this way: I am not so much arguing for what should happen as I am arguing that we cannot call something evil which God declares good. When we look at the Mosaic law, it is declared to be holy and good. What nation has statutes that are so wise as Israel? The law was intended to be obeyed and intended to be an example of a wise government. So yes if your child is stubborn and rebellious, you will never hear me say that it would be evil to call… Read more »
City gate :)
“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you will say, ‘How have we robbed Thee?’ – Malachi 3:8 On cue Fredericka asks: Who is trying to strip the church of its calling to assist the poor? Those who have abdicated and acquiesced to the State, and no longer give tribute to God and to His House, the Church. Those who say, “let the State take care of the poor”. These have robbed from God and God’s House. Why are we surprised that the Church is so impotent today? Perhaps it is because many Christians want it… Read more »
Fredericka continues: You are insisting that no one but the church can help the poor. This is simply false. I specifically said that the Church is not even the first line of help for the needy. First is family, then friends and neighbors, and finally the Church, as last safety net. One would almost suspect you don’t want to see the poor helped, you don’t want to see the task accomplished — many hands make short work — If one was not reading what I wrote, they might suspect that. However, I’ve repeatedly said that the issue is not whether… Read more »