A piece in response to The Statement on Social Justice that too many people have signed.
Sounds like they're in denial.
Sounds like they're in denial.
Afraid of what they see as Belial.
Not sure
How to
Take the steps to
Make sure of survival.
Survival of their own case.
Is just like
The very mace.
That is used to
Beat down on
People cuz of race.
They don't see the world that hurts.
The world that stings, that burns.
While the pushed down
Lie breathless
As they wash their hands from dirt.
When will the Lord
Give taste.
When fasting
For everlasting
Is in the way
He appreciates?
Sure we're all one race.
Just look at any place.
The equality
That sings through
As people
Discriminate.
My song is full of why's.
My heart is full of sighs.
It's ok
To admit that
We all fall for lies.
Lies about our skin
The entitlement within
Who has no supplies
Who believes in the lies
That he's worthless
What a crime.
To help us
Please Lord
Will you show us.
Beyond our cafes and mochas.
How to sign a declaration
By joining hands with our brothers.
Show us how to build your church.
In a way that heals the hurt.
That stands up
For those who
The world has cast as dirt.
This piece references the following excerpts that are listed below (from the link https://statementonsocialjustice.com/):
Section on Gospel:
"WE DENY that anything else, whether works to be performed or opinions to be held, can be added to the gospel without perverting it into another gospel. This also means that implications and applications of the gospel, such as the obligation to live justly in the world, though legitimate and important in their own right, are not definitional components of the gospel."
Section on The Church:
"WE DENY that political or social activism should be viewed as integral components of the gospel or primary to the mission of the church. Though believers can and should utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society, we deny that these activities are either evidence of saving faith or constitute a central part of the church’s mission given to her by Jesus Christ, her head."
Section on Race/ethnicity:
"... While we are to weep with those who weep, we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice."
Section on Racism:
"...We deny that the contemporary evangelical movement has any deliberate agenda to elevate one ethnic group and subjugate another. And we emphatically deny that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture. Historically, such things tend to become distractions that inevitably lead to departures from the gospel."
Section on history and formation:
"The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel grew out of a meeting that took place on June 19, 2018. Fourteen men met in Herb’s House coffee shop in Dallas, Texas, having all expressed our growing concern with much that was taking place within evangelical circles under the banner of “Social Justice.” "
Some wider commentary on The Statement on Social Justice:
https://www.christianpost.com/news/john-macarthurs-social-justice-statement-theologically-weak-misguided-some-conservative-christians-say-227276/
https://www.christianpost.com/news/john-macarthurs-social-justice-statement-theologically-weak-misguided-some-conservative-christians-say-227276/
https://americanvision.org/16796/response-to-the-statement-on-social-justice-and-the-gospel/
https://founders.org/2018/09/04/the-statement-on-social-justice-and-the-gospel/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/conference/mlk50/
Isaiah 58 passage from the link https://www.biblestudytools.com/nirv/isaiah/58.html:
Isaiah 58
What True Worship Is All About
1 The LORD told me, "Shout out loud. Do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell my people that they have refused to obey me. Tell the family of Jacob how much they have sinned.
2Day after day they worship me. They seem ready and willing to know how I want them to live. They act as if they were a nation that does what is right. They act as if they have not turned away from my commands. They claim to want me to give them fair decisions. They seem ready and willing to come near and worship me.
3 'We have gone without food,' they say. 'Why haven't you noticed it? We have made ourselves suffer. Why haven't you paid any attention to us?' "On the day when you fast, you do as you please. You take advantage of all of your workers.
4 When you fast, it ends in arguing and fighting. You hit one another with your fists. That is an evil thing to do. The way you are now fasting keeps your prayers from being heard in heaven.
5 Do you think that is the way I want you to fast? Is it only a time for a man to make himself suffer? Is it only for people to bow their heads like tall grass that is bent by the wind? Is it only for people to lie down on black cloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast? Do you think I can accept that?
6 "Here is the way I want you to fast. "Set free those who are held by chains without any reason. Untie the ropes that hold people as slaves. Set free those who are crushed. Break every evil chain.
7 Share your food with hungry people. Provide homeless people with a place to stay. Give naked people clothes to wear. Provide for the needs of your own family.
8 Then the light of my blessing will shine on you like the rising sun. I will heal you quickly. I will march out ahead of you. And my glory will follow behind you and guard you. That is because I always do what is right.
9 You will call out to me for help. And I will answer you. You will cry out. And I will say, 'Here I am.' "Get rid of the chains you use to hold others down. Stop pointing your finger at others as if they had done something wrong. Stop saying harmful things about them.
10 Work hard to feed hungry people. Satisfy the needs of those who are crushed. Then my blessing will light up your darkness. And the night of your suffering will become as bright as the noonday sun.
11 I will always guide you. I will satisfy your needs in a land that is baked by the sun. I will make you stronger. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water. You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.
12 Your people will rebuild the cities that were destroyed long ago. And you will build again on the old foundations. You will be called The One Who Repairs Broken Walls. You will be called The One Who Makes City Streets Like New Again.
13 "Do not work on the Sabbath day. Do not do just anything you want to on my holy day. Make the Sabbath a day you can enjoy. Honor my holy day. Do not work on it. Do not do just anything you want to. Do not talk about things that are worthless.
14 Then you will find your joy in me. I will give you control over the most important places in the land. And you will enjoy all of the good things in the land I gave your father Jacob." The LORD has spoken.
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