I happen to have two leanings that some find to be paradoxical if not contradictory: Reformed Theology and Marxism. To say that I lean to either one includes the idea that I have both agreements and disagreements with each ideology--counting theology as a religious ideology. I am use to those unbelievers who share my political and activist leanings thinking that to get Christians to become allies in social justice movements, they must first be deconverted and I have argued against such an belief (click here for an article).
Thaddeous Williams (click here for a very brief bio) of Biola University argues against the same point but to a different audience (click here for the article). Whereas I was addressing my fellow activists and those who held to a political ideology that was roughly similar to mine, Williams is addressing my fellow Christians who are considering leaving the Church because of the disparity between their concern for social justice and that of the churches they belong to.
In his article, Williams makes a distinction between two social justice camps: Social Justice A and Social Justice B. The former one is a view of social justice based on what God says while the latter one is not. Williams is worried that some Christians will leave the faith because of their dissatisfaction with the Church to head to the Social Justice B camp. He strongly disapproves of that camp because of its views on Christianity. He would rather have these disgruntled Christians join the Social Justice A group and thus remain in the Church though they might have to change their individual church membership.
Williams wants Christians who are considering leaving the Church because of what the Social Justice B groups says about Christianity to consider 5 questions. Those questions are listed below and will along with my attempt to represent how Williams's commentary on those questions along with my own responses.
- As I seek social justice, have I distinguished a breakup from a breakthrough?
Williams wants disgruntled Christians to consider that their dissatisfaction with their church's lack of stance on social justice issues as a sign that they have broken through their church's barriers to working for social justice. He characterizes all such churches to be neo-gnostic or, as Francis Schaeffer called them, 'super spiritual.' And right there we have a problem with social justice.
After all, social justice includes battling against all kinds of prejudices. And to describe those Christians who disagree with us on social justice as a monolithic group is at the heart of prejudice. For myself, my own church is terribly deficient in addressing social justice issues. But for me to respond to that lack in the same way that Williams does not only promotes bigotry, it also strongly indicates that I believe myself to be a better Christian than those who don't share my views on social justice. In Biblical terms using the parable of the two men praying (see Luke 18:9-14), Williams is telling these Christians to think of themselves as the Pharisee from that parable and to think of those neo-gnostic Christians as the tax collector about whom the Pharisee thanked God that he was not like him.
Sure, I believe that my views on social justice are better and more biblical than that of the leadership of my own church. But my Christian faith can't be reduced to my views on social justice. And where I might be stronger on social justice than many, but not all, in my church, I have many faults where they have strengths. In addition, it isn't the person who bragged about his spiritual superiority who was justified before God in that parable, it was the person who could only ask for mercy because he was too aware of his own sins who received mercy. - As I seek social justice, am I breaking from a one-sided stereotype of Christianity?
Here, Williams is asking social justice conscious Christians if they are breaking the mold of what Social Justice B people say about Christianity. To do this, while acknowledging some major sins committed by Christians in the past, he painted a picture of Christians as leading the charge in social justice. He said that it was Christians who rescued unwanted babies in the Roman Empire. It was Christians who founded the more hospitals and orphanages than any other group. It was Christians who started major universities, drove up literacy rates and led the way in abolishing slavery in the UK, US, India and other places in the world.
But in listing those accomplishments by Christians, Williams forgets to mention that Western Civilization was dominated by Christianity and so some of those accomplishments are due to that place of supremacy that Christianity had. But with its place in supremacy in Western Civilization, came religious wars, harsh anti-semitism, imperialism, colonialism, and white supremacy. In addition, yes, some Christians opposed slavery but some other Christians not only supported slavery, they also supported Jim Crow and white supremacy.
Also, Christianity has had its intellectual struggles with science over heliocentrism, verified parts of evolution, and climate change. And in teaching people from other continents how to read in English, French, and German, Christians were, in part, replacing the cultures of many indigenous people with a European culture. - As I seek social justice, am I taking the deconversion stories of other Christians seriously?
Williams addresses this question by citing Monique Duson who had been battling evil systems. Then she came to realize that while she was battling evil systems, she was forgetting about the evil in her own heart.
I've seen many protesters who are very angry and self-righteously indignant against evil systems and elites. And the way Williams answers this question is very biblical and needed. On the other hand, we should be reluctant to think that all unbelievers are unaware of their own faults or who are protesting out of hate and anger. The true Christian faith is about Jesus's followers who recognize their own sinfulness and are told to forgive others as they have been forgiven. That is what Jesus taught as well such as in His parable of the man who was forgiven a great debt but could not forgive a person who owed him a small debt (Matthew 18:21-36).
We could also include the previously mentioned parable of the 2 men praying and ask ourselves whether we want to protest against the injustices of the world as the Pharisee prayed or having the same mind as the tax collector had who begged God for mercy.
But we should note here that quite often, long standing social injustices are initially corrected with a phobic mindset so that everything that could be merely associated with a given injustice is lumped together with those factors that contributed to a given injustice. That is because there is a fear that we can't distinguish between the two. This kind of thinking also produces the anger and self-righteousness that Williams mentions in his question. - As I seek social justice, am I replacing the fruit of the Spirit with resentment, self-righteousness, and rage?
Here, Williams has a legitimate concern. And that concern is addressed by the parables mentioned in the commentary on the previous question. - As I seek social justice, am I heeding the grandfatherly wisdom of John Perkins?
What did Perkins teach? Perkins taught that to pursue justice, one must start with God. He also said that we can't pursue justice if we replace the Gospel with a human agenda.
These are disturbing points because they seem to imply that only Christians can promote social justice. And thus, Christians must take the lead in promoting social justice because unbelievers cannot promote social justice because of their unbelief. Thus, there is no working with unbelievers as equals when pursuing social justice.
Williams makes a similar point when citing Abraham Kuyper. It was Kuyper who said that 'every square inch of human experience' is under the lordship of Christ. But how does that work in nation and society in which there is religious freedom. What does that imply for all Christians who live in a multi-religious nation and society?
Though there are problems with some of the other things Williams has said, it is his answer to the last question that is disturbing. Shouldn't the work for social justice be a collaborative effort between Christians and non-Christians as equal partners. And if we take Perkins's statements seriously, what we should consider social justice to be for those in the LGBT community?
Overall, Williams's article is lacking. It does make a some good points and express some legitimate concerns. But the overall tenor of the article strongly suggests, if not implies, a Christian place of supremacy in both working for social justice and in society in general. And history teaches us that that is not a good idea
No comments:
Post a Comment