Did Jesus Come to Bring Social Justice?
Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
Many people seem to believe that Jesus came to earth primarily to establish social justice. But is this really the case? Sure, Christ and his disciples, along with those from the early church, had a way of life that could be called socialistic. It would be intellectually dishonest to try to deny that fact.
Churches are supposed to be socialistic in how they treat their members as well as those outside the church. Jesus and his disciples advocated the voluntary sharing of one's earthly goods with others. Those who have plenty are supposed to share with those who do not have so much. Doing so will ensure that everyone will get what they need, regardless of their means. That's completely biblical.
When Jesus was on earth, he often healed and fed people and attended to their other physical needs. However, He didn't place whole lot of emphasis on how people fared during their brief existence on this earth. In other words, it wasn't a big deal to Him whether someone was rich or poor, a success or a failure, healthy or diseased, pretty or ugly, famous or infamous, comfortable or uncomfortable, privileged or deprived, free or slave. His primary concern was and is getting people ready for the world to come.
What's 100 years on this earth compared to eternity? He would rather have seen someone be lame for a lifetime and go to heaven, than for them to be completely healthy for a lifetime and end up going to hell. He stated as much on at least one occasion. He even told people to yank out an eye or cut off a limb if keeping it was going to prevent them from getting to heaven.
While one would should never ignore, dismiss, or criticize His commandments regarding social justice, we need to realize that Jesus' primary mission for coming to earth was to save people from their sins. If he also got a chance to heal their physical bodies or pull them out of poverty, that was just a byproduct or icing on the cake, so to speak. But He never intended for the later to come at the expense of the former.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Hi Terry. Perhaps Jesus had the view that social justice was tied up in His command to love one another? I wrote an article about what was greater, "Faith, Hope or Love" and why Paul said Love was the greatest. While I agree that forgiveness of sins is a huge part of His ministry, reconciling us to God...think of how he upset the social status quo of forgiving the unforgiveable in that society and how he did so...and what that really meant to those he did forgive?Craig, thanks for reading and commenting. You make some excellent points. The only thing I would disagree with is your assertion that "forgiveness of sins is a huge part of His ministry." That's like saying that making movies is a huge part of what Hollywood does. It's not just a huge part, it is the major focus.Hi Terry. I thought you would pick me up on that. I was distracted when I made that comment. I agree that forgiveness of sins is the major part of Christs mission. I think we loose a lot of the impact today of what that meant in Jesus time...and when we think it through we can see it made a huge social impact....The religious elders of the day were really condemning the population without giving them hope..Jesus really blasted them for that...His offering them forgiveness was both a reality and social justice in the making. There is a verse of scripture in Micah..6:8 from memory..God says through the prophet he is a God of social justice...and in the parable of the good Samaritan Jesus gives a perfect example of social justice happening... I don't focus on one or the other...if your going to truly preach the fullness ofnChrist.. you cannot ignore social justiceYou are right, social justice cannot be ignored and must alse be put in its proper place. It is one of the indvidual duties of those who have been forgiven by Christ.
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