For those who will attend the Southern Baptist Convention, we note that there are various opportunities for, presumably, encouraging and developing people in their public witness of Christ and Christian way of life. We note with curiosity on June 10 at 7:30pm at the Westin Hotel ballroom in Birmingham the panel discussion The Dangers of Social Justice in Evangelicalism.
The panel will discuss “the way social justice, intersectionality, and critical theory are impacting the topics of race, complementarity, and homosexuality in the Southern Baptist Convention and evangelicalism.” If we allow our imagination to wander not one bit we can predict that the panel, notably composed of five white males, will determine that social justice is very dangerous indeed.
We don’t have to be prophets to predict the questionable exegesis and theology that will inform the panel discussion (it pains us to say this, since one of the panel members is a former teacher and another is an acquaintance for whom we have respect), but we do have to wonder how discerning those who attend, who no doubt care deeply about being “biblical,” will be.
We have said it before, and we must say again, that to claim to be Christian and to claim to be biblical and to dismiss, ridicule, or reject the work of social justice is both oxymoronic and immoral. You may not like those who fight for social justice, you may feel you are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, or whatever causes you to experience distance between you and others.
But if you want to be “biblical” and you can’t trace a line from texts like Amos 5:24 or Isaiah 1:17 or James 1:27 (to cite a very few of the plethora of such texts that permeate the Scriptures) to a call for Christians to work for justice, then you aren’t very serious about being “biblical.” More importantly, if you don’t care about social justice, then you aren’t very serious about being Christian.
We suspect the panel that will assemble on June 10 is filled with serious men. We know they want to be “biblical.” We hope they will be Christian. If they are, then perhaps we’ll be surprised, pleasantly so, and they will urge attendees to take up the cause of justice and equity in communities across the country. Perhaps they’ll prophetically tell Christians to take down their Confederate flags, take up the cause of black and brown bodies that too often face violence, and take on the systemic inequity that ravages our country.
Perhaps the panel will acknowledge the privilege of white males in our society, and will advocate for the rights of marginalized in the US and around the world. Perhaps they will critique the financial inequities rampant in our country and will challenge believers to do something about it.
Perhaps they will warn evangelicals that the danger facing evangelicals is that if they refuse to stand for social justice, they will inevitably ruin their witness to the world and will eventually face the judgment of their God. The Bible tells us so. We look forward to Tom Ascol, Tom Nettles, Josh Buice, Tom Buck, and David Miller laying out the real dangers facing evangelicals.
The panel will discuss “the way social justice, intersectionality, and critical theory are impacting the topics of race, complementarity, and homosexuality in the Southern Baptist Convention and evangelicalism.” If we allow our imagination to wander not one bit we can predict that the panel, notably composed of five white males, will determine that social justice is very dangerous indeed.
We don’t have to be prophets to predict the questionable exegesis and theology that will inform the panel discussion (it pains us to say this, since one of the panel members is a former teacher and another is an acquaintance for whom we have respect), but we do have to wonder how discerning those who attend, who no doubt care deeply about being “biblical,” will be.
We have said it before, and we must say again, that to claim to be Christian and to claim to be biblical and to dismiss, ridicule, or reject the work of social justice is both oxymoronic and immoral. You may not like those who fight for social justice, you may feel you are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, or whatever causes you to experience distance between you and others.
But if you want to be “biblical” and you can’t trace a line from texts like Amos 5:24 or Isaiah 1:17 or James 1:27 (to cite a very few of the plethora of such texts that permeate the Scriptures) to a call for Christians to work for justice, then you aren’t very serious about being “biblical.” More importantly, if you don’t care about social justice, then you aren’t very serious about being Christian.
We suspect the panel that will assemble on June 10 is filled with serious men. We know they want to be “biblical.” We hope they will be Christian. If they are, then perhaps we’ll be surprised, pleasantly so, and they will urge attendees to take up the cause of justice and equity in communities across the country. Perhaps they’ll prophetically tell Christians to take down their Confederate flags, take up the cause of black and brown bodies that too often face violence, and take on the systemic inequity that ravages our country.
Perhaps the panel will acknowledge the privilege of white males in our society, and will advocate for the rights of marginalized in the US and around the world. Perhaps they will critique the financial inequities rampant in our country and will challenge believers to do something about it.
Perhaps they will warn evangelicals that the danger facing evangelicals is that if they refuse to stand for social justice, they will inevitably ruin their witness to the world and will eventually face the judgment of their God. The Bible tells us so. We look forward to Tom Ascol, Tom Nettles, Josh Buice, Tom Buck, and David Miller laying out the real dangers facing evangelicals.
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