Beware of Christians preaching “social justice,” says Fox News talk-show host Glenn Beck. But the stridently individualistic gospel that he’s touting hardly resembles anything found in Scripture.
I watched the Glenn Beck show on Fox News recently. His topic was how churches that are using the term “social justice” are misinterpreting Scripture in order to spread Marxism. Now I don’t want to suggest that this might not be true in some cases, but to offer a sweeping brush stroke that claims all uses of the term social justice to be Marxist and in no way biblical is a major blow to true evangelical theology.
One of the hallmarks of evangelical theology is the authority and centrality of Scripture. The Bible is full of Kingdom mandates from God that call for a justice that goes beyond individualism. For those that don’t believe this is the case, they have to wrestle with the Exodus story as well as the book of Esther and the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, beginning with verse 31. This mission of God in the world includes salvation, which is individualistic in nature, but also includes what the corporate church should do concerning the widow, the poor, the orphan, the stranger, and the sick in society. The society makes up the social structures. This isn’t a political ideology, nor Marxist philosophy, this is the Word of God.
Glenn Beck’s show on social justice and the church included guests from Liberty University and Westminster Theological Seminary who stated that the gospel is individualistic in nature. The guest from Liberty University even said that the parable of the talents (which just happens to come before a parable about feeding the hungry and visiting the sick and those in prison) is about free market enterprise. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ, according to the opinions of the guests, is rooted in individualism and capitalism. It is about a person, as an individual, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and then investing their resources into the marketplace.
This is a very limited and unbiblical view of salvation. Salvation itself is communal because it includes the community of the Trinity and in many cases the community of the person that God used to bring the person to Christ. This is why the evangelical church has a strong history of global missions. If the gospel is rooted in individualism, we should shut down every department of world missions in every evangelical denomination.
Read the Old Testament and the Gospel letters and it won’t take you long to realize that justice in society is a biblical theme presented as an act out of the overflow of an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ, as well as a significant part of the mission of the church. The church is called by God, through Scripture, to be about the whole mission of God, which includes evangelism, discipleship, mission, compassion, mercy, and justice. The church is called to make disciples and to do justice and love mercy.
Let the Word of God drive the evangelical church and its theology, not a political talk show host.
Amen, Pastor Smith! Amos 5 is just one of many, many scriptural passages that come to mind on the subject of social justice… and God is the One speaking! Seems way too often we, the American church, try to conform God into our image and our culture rather than allow Him to change us into His likeness. May the Lord have mercy on us.
Sir,
I wanted to comment on your article, but before I did I wanted to see the show for myself. I couldn’t find the show, but I found a transcript of it and I have some comments I want to make.
In the Exodus story, justice for the children of Israel was definitely an aspect of the story, but the primary reason for God doing what He was doing was to fulfill a promise He made, in covenant, to His friend and servant, Abraham (Genesis 15). In the Book of Esther, Israel was in captivity due to their own sin. Their elimination as a people was being designed by one man, Haman, not the whole nation. God preserved the nation against Haman’s conspiracy. Again, justice plays a part in this, but a big part of this is God’s heart towards His chosen people. On top of this, the preservation of the Jewish people was a great part of the plan of salvation because Christ, the Son of God, is Jewish! In Matthew 25, love and generosity is the rule in play here, not justice. One who truly loves Christ is going to give to the poor and needy if they can. If I give to someone who is in need, it’s not because I have done them wrong and therefore am required to right my wrong. It’s because love moves me to do it, not justice.
I’m not sure what you base the Gospel being communal on, but when I look at the Book of Acts, the apostles were spreading the Kingdom not a community. Now communities did develop, in large part, due to the uniqueness of the church and the persecution they suffered from. Each one of us will stand before God in judgment and we won’t be doing that as a community!
Lastly, your take on Mr. Beck’s show. After reading the transcript, Glenn Beck is not coming against justice for all people. He is coming against what is referred to as “social justice”. Social justice has become a code word for taxing the rich to give to the poor (government enforced) in order to advance the agendas of different political organizations. This is not a part of the Gospel of Christ. The reason why he is targeting his message to churches is because this message is being targeted at saints. Unfortunately, some churches are preaching this to their congregations. Just recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was shown exhorting Catholic priests to tell their parishioners that supporting immigration reform (i.e. amnesty for all illegal immigrants) was a part of the Gospel of Christ and therefore should be backed by them.
My biggest concern is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is being used by many people and movements to advance their own ideas, platforms, and agendas. The Gospel is “Good News” for all people. It is the story of God announcing to the world that He has bridged the divide that existed between God and man due to our sin. That Bridge is the Lord Jesus Christ and anyone can cross that bridge by receiving Christ as Lord and Savior. It is not a means of obtaining so-called social justice by government fiat. True justice is the by-product of it.
Glenn Beck may have a distorted definition of social justice. The churches I know that use the term social justice refer to activities that advance God’s justice, including ministering to the poor, defending the rights of the unborn, and rescuing victims of human trafficking. Many of these churches aren’t advocating a government redistribution of wealth. On the contrary, they are urging Christians to take responsibility for meeting these needs through a voluntary redistribution of wealth as modeled in Acts 2:44-45 and Acts 4:34-37, where believers sold their possessions to help others in need. If Christians gave generously and worked vigorously to fight injustice, we would not need the intrusive and inefficient government programs for the poor that we currently have.
Yes, some churches advocate government involvement in these issues when voluntary action and private solutions have failed to bring justice. Christians can disagree on the best policies to address social justice issues, but we must remember that Jesus said that He came to “proclaim good news to the poor,” not to make capitalists rich.
Was looking for info on that. I wrote it off as yet another charge, but I am about to look into it once again.