Why Do Christians Resist the Idea of “Social Justice”? A Theological Question

joechristianwarrior said:

​

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the tension many Christians feel around the phrase “social justice.” It’s a topic that seems to trigger strong reactions from different sides of the church — both progressive and conservative — even though Scripture speaks frequently about justice, mercy, the poor, and the oppressed.


In studying this subject, I’ve noticed that there seems to be one main reason many believers push back against the idea of “social justice” today. What’s interesting is that I’ve heard this same objection from both sides of the political spectrum, even though they frame it differently.


Rather than turning this into a political debate, I’m curious from a theological standpoint:

What do you think is the primary reason Christians object to talk of “social justice”?​

Is it:

• a misunderstanding of the biblical meaning of justice?
• a reaction to how the term is used culturally or politically?
• fear of drifting into works-based righteousness?
• concerns about ideology?
• something else entirely?

I recently explored this topic in the final part of a video series I’ve been working on, and it led to some interesting insights. For anyone who wants to see how I approached the question, I've linked the video below. But the main purpose of this post is to hear your theological perspective and learn from the broader Christian community here.


Video link:

Looking forward to a respectful, Christ-centered discussion.


Grace and peace.

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Hey
I don't think we should separate sharing the gospel from doing acts of justice. Jesus preached the kingdom of God, and His message was accompanied by tangible acts of kindness, healing, and helping the poor.

Maybe we don't do more acts of justice because we've started to see them as separate from sharing the gospel. I see the good news as holistic.

So I would consider adding to your list (something else)
How have we compartmentalized or dichotomized the gospel?

Rose_bud said:

Maybe we don't do more acts of justice because we've started to see them as separate from sharing the gospel.

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Yet the Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus' only gospel, was in following the Father's Kingdom/will was to act in servitude to both God and each other. It is the gospel.

joechristianwarrior said:

​

I’ve been reflecting a lot on the tension many Christians feel around the phrase “social justice.” It’s a topic that seems to trigger strong reactions from different sides of the church — both progressive and conservative — even though Scripture speaks frequently about justice, mercy, the poor, and the oppressed.


In studying this subject, I’ve noticed that there seems to be one main reason many believers push back against the idea of “social justice” today. What’s interesting is that I’ve heard this same objection from both sides of the political spectrum, even though they frame it differently.


Rather than turning this into a political debate, I’m curious from a theological standpoint:

What do you think is the primary reason Christians object to talk of “social justice”?​

Is it:

• a misunderstanding of the biblical meaning of justice?
• a reaction to how the term is used culturally or politically?
• fear of drifting into works-based righteousness?
• concerns about ideology?
• something else entirely?

I recently explored this topic in the final part of a video series I’ve been working on, and it led to some interesting insights. For anyone who wants to see how I approached the question, I've linked the video below. But the main purpose of this post is to hear your theological perspective and learn from the broader Christian community here.


Video link:

Looking forward to a respectful, Christ-centered discussion.


Grace and peace.

Click to expand...

"Social justice" has specific secular political science meaning that goes far afield of the given mission of the Body of Christ. There is some overlap, but there would also be considerable "mission creep" if the Body of Christ were to sign on to something devised and defined by secular political scientists rather than the Gospel of Christ.

Matt5 said:

We can see social justice at work in the Tower of Babel. Here, the leaders transformed stones (everybody unequal) into bricks (everybody equal.) Their path put civilization on a dangerous path where everyone could get wiped out in a war. Hence, God was forced to step in to save everyone. This is based on the oral Torah as told by Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

Bricks or Stones? - YouTube

Take a look at how God feels about brick or hewn stone (cut stone or brick):

Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

Isaiah 65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

Altars of brick are a no-no because the brick has symbolic value. People are stones, not bricks.

Social justice seeks to transform people from stones into bricks.

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You heard it here first folks. If your neighbor is hungry, don't feed him, because it'll turn him into a brick.

So it boils down to who participate in hammering a culture. "Social Justice" as an afterfact action bears almost zero meaning. You personality is firmly formed starting from childhood till youth education in one form or another, in one way or another. Punishing an adult for that matter is completely meaningless.

Society runs like this. Through a mixture of cultural/social/parental education, if a society can achieve like 98% law-abiding citizens, the running of such a society is quite automatic. It can be run by itself through Rule Of Law. You set up laws for a society to run its own course. Both the western societies and the Japanese society were built this way. The devil can lay a hand on this society building process, the "education" actually starts when one is still in his/her mother's womb just as David put, but humans wrongly comprehend the situation as "original sin". Modern science however confirms that children education when in womb is possible.

The devil has track record in Canaan for building the Canaanites' cultures serving the purpose of stopping the Jews from settling down in Canaan. Since humans have no consent on this society building process, they don't have a measure to counter its effect. The Japanese won't fight their own culture, nor will the Chinese or Indians. They just choose to let it be it. Let it be so if you receive the Japanese childhood education to be the Japanese, Chinese childhood education to be the Chinese, Indian childhood education to be the Indians. We can't even consider that the fight is futile as such a fight never happened.

The West is rather blessed to have a Christian culture. In the process of society building two crucial factors are basically dealt with. 1) rebelliousness, and 2) greediness. Greediness is a more common phenomenon. You have both if you received the Chinese childhood education. The rule of philosophy of life is to maximize personal gain whenever possible, and to the extent that at all cost. That's the effect of greediness. As a result, this is a society repeatedly built by the Chinese (but strangely without their own awareness, the devil is doing a "superb" job);

"Behind the vermilion gates, wine and meat go stale and stink; On the roads lie the bones of people frozen to death." (society summarized by a famous poet 1500 years ago.

Did the Chinese seek "social justice"? They did. The death toll of Taiping Heaven Kingdom (around AD1950) is between 45 and 95 million. Did the death toll changed anything in terms of society building? The answer is No. That's why another 50 million human lives were added to the death toll in the next revolution. This period of history is called the Century of Humiliation. Within this 100 years, the price paid for "social justice" possibly exceeded a death toll of 100 million human lives. Does it change anything? It's absolutely NONE! Nothing would change unless the style of childhood education is changed. The Chinese culture promotes childhood competition through which everyone learns and pursuits maximizing personal gains whenever possible and even at all costs.

The possible way to change this is, 1) gain awareness by bursting the bubble formed by the devil, and 2) through Christians acting as the salt and light of this world by setting an example of countering the cultural greediness and rebelliousness. In the meantime, it loops through the process of building a society by greediness, and overthrowing it by rebelliousness with "social justice" in disguise.

In a nutshell, humans societies roughly fall into 2 categories, one where rule of law runs by itself (even the West is sloping) and other rule of law fails. Law-abiding citizens serving as the base of a society. Rule of Law will be a success if childhood education being a success. If childhood education is a success, it simply means over 98% citizens can achieve a state of law-abiding to allow rule of law to run its course. When that 98% number drops, it means your society is going crappier (that's the what it seems how the West now is going, along with the sloping of Christianity in the Western societies, that's by my speculation). The devil is doing his job. "Social Justice" has little to none effect on this process.

Build a greedy society and they, the greedy, will come. Build a compassionate society and the greedy will still come.