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Thursday, December 13, 2018

The mission of the church

Some Christians respond to the social justice movement by framing the issue in terms of the church's mission, or gospel/non-gospel categories. Now, there's certainly an important debate to be had regarding the mission of the church. And it's true that when the church suffers from mission creep, it loses focus, which contributes to doctrinal drift. 

That said, evaluating the social justice movement in terms of the church's mission or gospel/non-gospel categories is too abstract and roundabout. For the more direct issue is that Christian conservatives sharply disagree with secular progressives and progressive Christians on what the social issues should be. We don't see eye-to-eye with what's wrong. Off the top of my head, this is the agenda of the social justice movement:

Affirmative consent
Black Lives Matter
Climate justice (e.g. climate change, sustainability)
Economic justice (e.g. minium wage)
Feminism
Gay rights
Gun ban/confiscation
Immigrant justice
Income redistribution
Intersectionality
Reproductive rights (abortion, "free" contraception) 
Student debt
Toxic masculinity
Transgender rights
Universal basic income
Universal healthcare
White privilege 

Conversely, these are some social issues that concern many evangelicals, libertarians, and/or conservatives: 

Abortion (oppose)
Administrative state (oppose)
Affirmative action (oppose)
Capital punishment
Complementarianism
Due process
Euthanasia (oppose)
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of association
Illegal immigration (oppose)
Muslim immigration (oppose)
Police state (oppose)
Privacy rights
Property rights
School choice
Self-defense
Parental rights
Surveillance state (oppose)
Tech giant censorship (oppose)

Where the debate comes to a head is over specific issues and political philosophy. "Social justice" is a euphemism as well as an umbrella term. 

The primary reason that conservatives and Christians like me resist the social justice movement is not because I agree with their agenda but think that falls outside the mandate of the church. It's not as though I believe we need to work on those issues, but from a different platform than the church. No, the fundamental objection is that I don't agree with their menu. Indeed, I oppose their agenda. I oppose their priorities. I have a different menu. That's where the argument must be met. 

2 comments:

  1. How you frame the issue matters,so I would definitely want to consider very carefully issues of poverty, racsim and adoption but those would be important social issues which concern many Evangelical. So I would want to add them as concerns in some form.

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    Replies
    1. The problem is that real racism is ignored (e.g. colleges discriminate against Asian-American applicants) while progressives imagine they hear racist dog whistles.

      The issue of poverty involves the question of causes and solutions. Libertarians and conservatives think progressives are wrong on both counts.

      I oppose homosexuals adopting kids.

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