Isaiah 61:1 says- “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” The Lord set apart the church for the specific call to care for those who are oppressed, poor, marginalized, and struggling. The church is to come alongside to help and to be an advocate for those who can’t always help themselves. This is an example we saw in Jesus when He was on the earth. Jesus often taught, or healed, or blessed someone before He preached to them. We as the church, the visible sign of God’s presence, should be seen caring for those to whom Jesus did. When Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus was referring to the outcasts and the downtrodden.
I am thankful for how our church seeks to respond to social justice, and yet I know there is always so much more that we could do. Currently we have a small food pantry, we give away free loafs of bread, we served 140 people at our Thanksgiving dinner, and we seek to help people with their special needs when we can and in the ways we can. I am the moderator of the Evangelism committee in our Presbytery, and we are seeking to team up with the Social Justice committee to find ways to combine social justice acts with the message of God’s love. These 2 go hand in hand, and the church is remiss is she fails to do both.
Many Christians are fine with focusing on themselves and not worrying about the social justice issues. But I don't think this is what God desires from us. We need to seek to do our best with the resources we have available to us. What do you think Christians should be doing in this area? Click on the "comments" button below and tell me what you think.
