The notion of social justice makes me think of last year’s General Assembly, when Rev. Dr. Dale Woods, principal at Presbyterian College, Montreal, led commissioners through a short survey—a few questions to help them figure out their “spiritual style, and that of their congregations. (The Record featured an article about this in its November 2014 issue).
When the question period was complete, Dr. Woods asked commissioners to divide themselves up in the room according to the style that best represented them. Two styles were most common: A “spirituality of the mind” where “the primary way of knowing God is through the use of the intellect. Here the goal is to understand things as opposed to changing them,” and “personal renewal,” concerned mostly with “personal spiritual experience, a personally meaningful walk with God, identity and intimacy with God, repentance, renewal, and a positive, constructive witness in the world.”
The smallest group (and I mean small!) was the fourth, “social regeneration.” This group is most concerned with “working toward a world that reflects the values inherent in the kingdom of God. Many of the prophets in the Bible would be part of this quadrant. It looks toward that time when God’s vision for the world will be fulfilled.” In short, social justice.
The fact that this group was the smallest made quite an impression on me. Simply put, I was disappointed.
Justice is something Jesus was especially concerned with. Justice for the poor, the oppressed, the widow and orphan. People who had few or no rights, who couldn’t speak up for themselves.
And justice was a huge concern in the Old Testament. The psalmist reminds us that God “loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord” (Psalm 33:5).
One of the many books I’m currently enjoying is by Rachel Held Evans. Raised in a conservative, evangelical family, Evans now practices a more liberal, “radical” Christianity and writes about it on her blog. In A Year of Biblical Womanhood, she includes a chapter on justice. Here’s something that stood out for me: “Judaism has no word for ‘charity.’ Instead, the Jews speak of tzedakah, which means ‘justice’ or ‘righteousness.’
“While the word charity connotes a single act of giving, justice speaks to right living, of aligning oneself with the world in a way that sustains rather than exploits the rest of creation. Justice is not a gift; it’s a lifestyle, a commitment to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam—’repairing the world.'”
Of course, our friend Shane Claiborne is so concerned about justice that he started a like-minded community in the middle of an impoverished Philadelphia neighbourhood where he lives, works and prays, helping and serving and befriending the people he meets there.
“A homeless mother once told us that there is a big difference between managing poverty and ending poverty,” writes Claiborne in The Irresistible Revolution. “‘Managing poverty is big business. Ending poverty is revolutionary.'”
I’m hoping that my visit to Evangel Hall in Toronto (a ministry of the PCC dedicated to helping the city’s homeless) will introduce me to some people who are making a difference, as well as some of the people who live on the streets of Canada’s largest city. I’m also hoping to chat with the Presbyterian Church’s associate secretary of Justice Ministries, to help me learn more about what’s needed to create lasting change, and how ordinary people like you and me can help make that happen. And also this month, I’m going to be visiting Rev. Joel Sherbino at Paris Presbyterian Church. The congregation is devoted to outreach and creating strong relationships within their community. The church has even started a soup-making business that employs local people in need. How cool is that?
Justice isn’t just about giving money to a person on the street, or writing a cheque for an outreach project, or giving your old clothes to a charity. Those are all good and necessary things, but justice goes way beyond that.
“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved,” said Martin Luther King Jr., in a 1967 sermon entitled, A Time to Break the Silence, and referenced by Claiborne. “We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.”
