Ch. 8 – Why Do Social Action?
For those who are of the persuasion that social action is a lesser concern for Christians when compared with things such as evangelism, we ought to consider the fact that
The Bible says more about God’s concern for the poor than it does about prayer or the atonement or Jesus’ resurrection.
Sider continues,
The biblical insistence on God’s concern for the poor is first of all a theological statement about the Creator and Sovereign of the universe.
But what role does social action play? Where does it fit in with what it means to be a Christian, and how does it relate to evangelism? Sider says that
social concern need not be pre-evangelism to be legitimate. Our doctrine of creation tells us that it is good for all people to enjoy the bounty of the Creator… Certainly we want them also to know and love our Lord. But if God continues to shower the good gifts of creation on all, regardless of their faith or unbelief, then Christians too should work for physical, social, economic, and political well-being for all. Simply on the basis of creation, those tasks have validity and importance.
Do you agree that “social concern need not be pre-evangelism to be legitimate”? Is social action a means to an end? If so, what is the end? How does this line up with the example of Jesus’ approach to ministry?
How does the following sit with you?
Christ identifies very closely with the poor, the mistreated, and the oppressed. Hence, we meet our Lord when we minister to the needy neighbor… Regeneration links justification by faith alone and involvement in social righteousness. When we help change institutions that oppress the poor, we minister to him who atoned for our sins. Wherever we look we see Christ. Christ forgives us. Christ lives in us. And Christ confronts us in the faces of the oppressed.
Are we regularly coming face to face with the oppressed? If we are, what are we learning about the heart of the God we serve? Is it possible that by surrounding ourselves with only certain kinds of people, we limit our understanding of who God is?
Sider believes that in addition to caring for the poor, Christians also need to consider how their faith will translate into the political sphere, and not just in the trademark evangelical issues of abortion and gay marriage, but in terms of poverty and oppression and other social or institutional evils that we often overlook. For example, it should trouble us that
Most slaveholders were Christians who accepted without much thought the rationalizations of this systemic oppression.
If the idea of being concerned about oppression and other societal evils seems like a peripheral issue for us, perhaps we need to re-read the Old Testament, and especially the Minor Prophets (so named, contrary to popular opinion, not because they are any less important, but because they are short and to the point). So as we consider what this means for us, we need to ask, “Who in our society is being oppressed? What systemic evils am I advancing without even knowing it? What can the Church do about systemic evils that other organizations or institutions are unable (or simply unwilling) to do?”
We say that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives. Do we mean he is Lord of us as autonomous individuals, or do we mean that he is Lord of us as persons-in-community? And when we speak of Jesus being the light of the world who stepped down into darkness, are we speaking merely of the darkness of individual hearts, or are we speaking also of societal darkness as well? Do we really believe that Jesus has the power (and the desire) to bring his kingdom to our very real lives on this very real earth?
Here’s what my old church is doing about this topic (taken from their webpage):
“CHBC understands that we are called by Christ to take the gospel both to the far corners of the earth and to the corners of our block. Our home missions efforts center around the public preaching and teaching of God’s revealed Word, as we invite all to come and find truth in a world overrun by falsehood. We supplement the preaching of God’s Word with various efforts to reach out to our community. Over the course of the year, CHBC’s calendar will include evangelistic talks at Starbucks, evangelistically minded musical programs held at the church, and other grassroots attempts to witness to the people around us.
Our Deacon of Community Ministry works to involve members in a number of local ministries, including Angeltree, a program to aid families with a parent in prison, the Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center, Central Union Mission, and Cornerstone Community School. With the Word faithfully preached and taught, members are equipped to go into the community as witnesses and specific ministries rise up to take the gospel to Capitol Hill. It is our prayer that this witness would grow in scope, in intensity, and in effect as God calls His people to Himself.”
The church that I attend, work, and serve at is pretty young, and we don’t necessarily have anything this formalized at this point, but I know that our elders/leaders of the church are equipping us for just this kind of task.