the church and social justice

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow's cause,” (Isaiah 1:17). “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

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Objective: They will investigate the lives, theology, and methods of servants of God who committed their lives to the liberation of people oppressed and the struggles that ensues. The students will have a clear understanding of the roll of the African American contextually and be able to discuss and identify the liberation of people against the backdrop of the Scriptures. Prerequisite: None Recommended Text: To Serve This Present Age: Social Justice Ministries in the Black Church, Danielle L. Ayers, Reginald W. Williams Jr. The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice, Charles Marsh The Holy Bible, KJV or NASB Instructor: Rev. Ricki Gardner, [email protected] , 561-573-3011 Tuesday: Introduction to Social Justice (the root cause) Understanding Social Justice Ministry The Bible and Social Justice Jesus and Social Justice Wednesday: Discovering the power of relationships Part 1 Discovering the power of relationships Part 2 Thursday: Laying the Foundations Part 1 Case Study Friendship West BC Laying the Foundations Part 2 Case Studies Pursuing Things Hoped For Friday: Sustaining The Work Considering Common Justice Issues and Strategies Part 1 Considering Common Justice Issues and Strategies Part 2 Staying on the Wall Course Cards

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SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE CHURCH

Martin Luther King arrived in Montgomery Alabama in late summer of

1954. Eager to deliver on his promise to raise Dexter Avenue Baptist

Church to “such heights as will stagger the imagination of generations

yet unborn, and which God Himself will smile upon,” civil rights

activism was not high on the agenda. Earlier that year, King had

preached his trial sermon at Dexter, a cool affirmation of moral religion

entitled “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life.” The sermon which

recalled Harry Emerson Fosdick’s mannered presentation of the Gospel,

proceeded as an exegesis of St John’s vison of the heavenly city, but all

fears of a coming apocalypse had been removed. King said, “There are

three dimensions of any complete life to which we can fitly give the

words of this text: length, breath, and height.” Now the length of life as

we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare. In

other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward,

to achieve his own goals and ambitions. The breath of life as we shall

use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the

height of life is the upward reach of God. Now you’ve got to have all

three of these to have a complete life…


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INTRODUCTION

Dr. Lani Guinier’s book The Miner’s Canary opens with the description of a miner’s canary. It is a startling image of a beautiful bird that is carried into the noxious environment of a mine. Because the canary’s fragile respiratory system is much more sensitive than a human’s, the toxic fumes would cause the canary to choke and collapse. Guinier notes that the suffocation of the bird signaled that it was time to leave the mine because existence in the environment was becoming too dangerous. In many ways, oppressed people worldwide are like these suffocating canaries; their distress is too often the first sign of a danger that can soon overwhelm an entire society. In a cursory assessment, the noxious odors may be perceived as impacting only communities of color. Ignoring such odors though, can cause an entire society to become vulnerable. This canary metaphor can be expanded beyond those who are marginalized by race to those marginalized by their economic situation, physical appearance, gender, or sexual orientation. This course endeavors to empower local church ministries to alert their congregation and communities to fumes of oppression before they incapacitate communities of color and cripple God’s children at large. For God has created all of people children as equals, especially in the Church. This is a matter of justice. In his letter from a Birmingham jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Today social injustice in many forms plagues the entire planet. Bruce Malchow, in Social Justice in the Hebrew Bible, says “If justice is defined as the quality of being fair and just, then social justice can be defined as the quality of ensuring fairness and justice are intricately interwoven into each and every society.” At times the word injustice implies illegal acts that deprive people of their rights. However, many recurring unjust acts in the present age are legal, and the present structure of society allows them to recur. People with moral sensitivity recognize that their acts are inherently unfair because they place certain groups at economic disadvantage by preventing them from having equal access to the basic necessities of life.


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WHAT IS SOCIAL JUSTICE Social Justice

• Social Justice is “justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society”. Classically, “justice” (especially corrective justice or distributive justice) ensured that individuals both fulfilled their societal roles and received what was due from society.

• The fair and proper administration of laws conforming to the natural law that ALL persons,

irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, possessions, race, religion etc., are to be treated equally and without prejudice

Use of social justice in a sentence:

• The actions of ISIS, ISIL as President Obama calls them, can be seen as the complete opposite of social justice.

• Large company CEO’s are paid disproportionately in comparison to many of their workers

and some think the fairness of social justice would help this disparity.

• Rawls believes that the first principle that must be secured in any society IS social justice because if social justice is achieved, all other necessary principles will shortly follow* (John Rawls contends that the most rational choice for the parties in the original position are two principles of justice: The first guarantees the equal basic rights and liberties needed to secure the fundamental interests of free and equal citizens and to pursue a wide range of conceptions of the good. The second principle provides fair equality of educational and employment opportunities enabling all to fairly compete for powers and positions of office; and it secures for all a guaranteed minimum of all-purpose means (including income and wealth) individuals need to pursue their interests and to maintain their self-respect as free and equal persons.) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, published Tue Feb 27, 1996; substantive revision Tue Sep 9, 2014.


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PERSONAL CONTEXT – WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BIBLICAL CONTEXT – WHY IS IT OR SHOULD BE IMPORTANT TO THE CHURCH ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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BIBLICAL SUPPORT – OLD TESTAMENT First let us look at the ROOT CAUSE which necessitated “social justice”. Genesis 1:25 – 28, 31; 2:7; 3:22 ______________________________________________________________________________ Second let us look at Biblical instances of “social justice”. Exodus 1:8-12; 5:1-18. God sends Moses 3:9-14 ______________________________________________________________________________ Exodus 20:1-17 God sets up social justice with the Ten Commandments ________________________________________________________________________________ Exodus 21 Treatment of Servants Exodus 22 Laws Against Violence, Laws About Repayment and Human Relations ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Leviticus 19:9,10; 23:22 Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers 'fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in a number of Christian kingdoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleaning Leviticus 25 The Sabbath and the Year of Jubilee ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleaning

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleaning


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BIBLICAL SUPPORT – NEW TESTAMENT Matthew 5:13-18 Salt and Light ______________________________________________________________________________ Matthew 7:1-5; 7-12 The Measurement of Judgement ______________________________________________________________________________ Matthew 11:28-30 Bring Burdens & Matthew 12:1-8 Hunger ______________________________________________________________________________ Matthew 18:21-35 The Unforgiving Slave ______________________________________________________________________________ Luke 4:18 (Isaiah 61:1-3) Jesus’ Authority ______________________________________________________________________________ Luke 18:1-6 The Unjust Judge ______________________________________________________________________________ Romans 15:1-3 Pleasing Others Not Ourselves ______________________________________________________________________________ 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Ambassadors ______________________________________________________________________________ Galatians 6:1-2 Bearing Others Burdens ______________________________________________________________________________ James 1:22-27; 2-8 ______________________________________________________________________________


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UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY Charity of itself does not complete the definition of social justice ministry. While linked, charity and justice are two separate entities Church. Biblical Foundations for Social Justice Ministry Social Justice and the Historic African American Church Oppression of the Poor Today The Need for Social Justice Ministries Today DISCOVERING THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS Internal Ministries of justice within the church should be internally based and externally relevant. To accomplish this, ministries of justice must be comprised of several components. The Care of the Soul involves helping to meet people’s holistic needs. We must not only be concerned only about a person’s spiritual salvation; we must be concerned with ALL of a person/s needs. Education of the Congregation and Community Education about HIV/AIDS must include distinguishing between facts and falsehoods Political Action and Awareness Collaboration


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External In social justice work, many issues are overwhelming and therefore require key collaborations Six benefits Levels of Engagement Individual Congregational Communal LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS From Inside the Church Infrastructure Mission Impact Areas Strategies From Outside the Church 3 Case Studies pgs. 49-54 Clergy Alliances Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conferences Partnerships for Global Missions PURSUING THINGS HOPED FOR Hebrews 11:1 Inspecting the Wall (Community Asset Map) Political Landscape Social Networks (Connectors) Community and Congregational Profile


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SUSTAINING THE WORK Important Issues

Accountability and Integrity Communication Research

CONSIDERING COMMON JUSTICE ISSUES AND STRATEGIES Mass Incarceration Food Deserts in Communities of the Poor Predatory Lending Tactics and Tools

Talking Points Letter Campaigns People Power Mass Meetings and Rallies Spread the Word

STAYING ON THE WALL Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, struggling, and suffering; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. – Martin Luther King Jr. In the context of social justice, it is important to uphold three guiding principles: First, actions should be public and collective. It is important to keep in mind that activities are political, economic, and group related. Second, actions are geared toward permanent changes. Social justice ministry engages in policy driven direct actions and engages elected officials and in community partnerships. Lastly, such actions are aimed at resolving structural injustices – that is, they seek to be transformational in nature.


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