Justice.
All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
~ Blaise Pascal
The spiritual life does not mean abandoning the world but engaging it more deeply through life-giving action.
~ Parker Palmer
The first in a series on Jesus and social justice.
Historically, the spiritual journey has been understood as the joint priorities of both contemplation and action. Without contemplation, social action is unformed, angry, and unable to produce lasting healthy change. Without action, contemplation turns inward and self-indulgent. We simply cannot thrive or follow in the pattern of Christ without both, and I imagine that most Christ-followers would agree.
By both nature and nurture, however, we are hardwired for one more than the other. Which is good: We need leaders to champion both sides of this divine movement in the community of faith. I am more contemplative while Kellie is more activist. (She’s pretty darn contemplative too, but more intuitively oriented towards justice than I am.) As The Vining Center develops, slowly during our doctoral studies, we want to inspire and equip our community for both of these vital ventures. That’s why our tagline is “Growing Your Soul, Serving Our World.” That said, the modern church knows more about action than contemplation, so The Vining Center is focusing first on the contemplative side.
Originally, I thought “serving our world” sounded a little grandiose… but honestly, if our little corner of the world isn’t improved by the presence of The Vining Center, what are we doing? And if your town isn’t improved by the presence of your local church, what are you doing? The perception of the church being ingrown and self-serving is one of the reasons that people are leaving the modern church, according to my research.
So let’s talk about improving our world, which is often termed social justice. What is the role of the Christ-follower in working for equity, freedom, and justice these days? What does that look like? For starters, it looks like Jesus… who challenged the power inequities among both the religious and the political. Who championed the weak, the alienated, and the powerless—children, lepers, adulteresses, and even tax collectors. Who dismissed the rich and welcomed the poor. That’s a good start.
I think that the white American evangelical church has been mostly ineffective with social justice (generally speaking, there are exceptions) because of theological, political, and commercial obstacles. Theologically, the evangelical emphasis on getting people out of this world and into the next has naturally led to a very passive look at the problems of this world. Liberation Theology, for example, from our South American sisters and brothers, was dismissed as utterly inconsequential by the evangelical world… largely because it wasn’t our lives in the crossfire of injustice.
Politically, the evangelical emphasis on legislative power, military might, and racial and economic privilege has buffered it almost entirely from matters of social justice, which concern itself with the powerless and the unprivileged. The Religious Right champions the haves, not the have-nots, which is completely at odds with the priorities of Jesus. Commercially, the evangelical church has embraced wealth, capitalism, and consumerism—hardly the domain of the oppressed. Hardly the audience of Jesus. Christianity has been baptized in the waters of privilege since Constantine… and these days is fighting to reclaim its dominance in the face of institutional obsolescence.
We have lost the way of Jesus.
So as we champion ancient practices to deepen our intimacy with Christ, let’s remember where it’s all headed. Spiritual formation is for the sake of the world. In my next few posts, I will focus on a few issues that may disturb some of my more conservative friends—flash points like gun violence, healthcare, and immigration. Although these issues have been deeply politicized, and thus made off-limits for polite conversation, they are not essentially political matters. They are matters of morality. They are Jesus issues, which makes them our issues. Yours and mine. Let’s work together to solve them. The kingdom of God is now.
growing the soul
Where do you find yourself on the contemplative - activist continuum? Which emphasis resonates more immediately with your personality, upbringing, and passion? Whichever good side it is, how does this lead you to intentionally develop the other side?
serving the world
What matter of global or local injustice grabs you with most urgency? What is in your power to do to make an impact in that area? How can you help the rest of us join you in that effort?
takeaway
The soul, the world.