Justice in Churches

My friend, the Rev. Jacob Breeze, has a phrase that describes the absence of a critical element that defines an institution. Jacob says, “it’s the thing without the thing that makes the thing the thing.” An example would be decaffeinated coffee: It’s the thing without the thing (caffeine) that that makes the thing the thing. So you may ask me, “What is the role of the social justice in the church?” The answer is that it is one of the things that makes the thing the thing.

Scriptural Christianity

On June 19, 2016, the 150th Anniversary of the first Juneteenth, Rev. Sean J. Nickleberry stepped into the pulpit of Hope AME in Prairie View, Texas. A century and a half earlier, news that slavery in the United States was over had finally reached the pulpit of another AME Church, Reedy Chapel, in Galveston, Texas. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had taken place two and a half years earlier in 1863, it took time for the news to be proclaimed in Texas.

A Christian Justice for the Common Good

In the letters of the Apostle Paul, the righteousness of God is made manifest in Jesus Christ. That is, God has put things right in Jesus Christ. God’s righteousness, God’s justice has been done in history and will be ultimately completed in Christ’s return.

In Paul, God’s righteousness involves at least three major dimensions of God’s justice.

Unity In Diversity

 

Many of us who identify ourselves as Christians are allowing ourselves—and Christ’s Church—to be hijacked for partisan, political purposes. At best, many of us have remained silent about the blatant racism and fear mongering that have helped to fuel campaigns and pollute the airwaves and political process. At worst, some of us have become complicit, hitching our wagons to the stars of politicians and platforms that little reflect the love and inclusive community of Christ.

Jesus calls us to be engaged in the political process to serve the world without becoming entangled in the partisan divide. It’s hard to actively participate in God’s redemptive work when we allow ourselves to be enmeshed in worldly ideologies and values.