Something has been bugging me for a while in relation to evangelical culture’s response to justice issues. Why does it seem like evangelical churches were apathetic to issues of justice? Is this something that can change? And if yes, then how? Of course there are exceptions, but in general, I have found that the apathy is consistent in evangelical theology, regardless of culture or melanin levels.
I have grown up in primarily evangelical circles, even my home church in Zambia was reformed in its theology. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for many aspects of this heritage, especially how much it grounded my view of God. In the Zambian context, it certainly shielded me from a lot of harmful teaching, like the prosperity gospel, which is pervasive in that culture.
Polite Indifference
Because of my upbringing, I never really stopped to interrogate the whole theological “package” as it was until I started a justice ministry. The interactions I’ve had when talking about my work have been eye-opening. I received support mainly from people close to me but beyond this circle, I noticed a different reception. It’s wasn’t hostile, I certainly received lots of kind words and encouragement, but that’s where it stopped.
I wondered if it was because people are generally more drawn to issues closer to home, and the subject matter of church abuse and Zambia was far away from that. But that theory fell apart when I was on sabbatical in Zambia where my work involved engaging church leaders on the issue of abuse, a massive problem in Zambia. I engaged with a few church leaders and people from churches in the reformed movement that I grew up in and…same chat.
It was: “Sister, what a great work you’re doing, I wish you well”. In contrast, another conversation stood out to me with a church leader from a different church tradition. My expectations were set very low at this point, so I assumed I would get similarly distanced responses and boy was I wrong!
Within an hour of the meeting, his response was very different: “What can I do to help?” and “Will you train our leaders?”. It was action, which contrasted so heavily from the polite indifference I had experienced from others (James 2:15-16). Two groups of church leaders, contrasting responses to a pervasive injustice – this was a theological issue.
That got me wondering about what was missing in evangelical theology that made this the case. And while attending a leaders conference on justice by FIEC, I listened to a helpful seminar titled What is Evangelical Theology’s Problem With Justice? which pretty much nails it!
Our theological Blindsposts
I recommend listening to the whole seminar. It explains how some of the doctrines emphasised in reformed theology have had some unintended consequences in how we view social justice: Creation and fall; original sin and innocence; personal and corporate sin; vertical and horizontal implications of justification; grace and reparation; and love of neighbour and love of God. I won’t go through all of his points, but want to highlight a couple that really stood out.
Original sin and innocence – In our emphasis on original sin and our guilt before God (total depravity), we forget that there is a sense in which we can be innocent especially as innocent sufferers of injustices, sometimes inflicted by others. We cannot do justice well if we do not appreciate that people are innocent and suffer as innocents.
Personal and corporate sin – We have a heavy emphasis on the individual and so we view sin, guilt and salvation purely with reference to the individual. But if we only think of responsibility and sin in terms of individuals, we will struggle to think through justice properly because justice demands that we think of sin and how we rectify the effects of it not just in terms of individuals, but also systems.
So where do we go from here?
I think for anything to change, we need to first come away from having a defensive posture. This is something I have had to unlearn myself. I used to be suspicious of any church that had justice ministries and assumed they must be compromising the gospel. I am sure that there are many in our churches who think in this way because of the theological diet they have been on. This theological diet is then passed on and comes to define aspects of evangelical church culture.
But pursuing justice is not a distraction, it is an opportunity to demonstrate that we have truly grasped who Jesus is and what his Kingdom should be like. We don’t have to pick between preaching the gospel and embodying what it means to pursue justice as we mirror our JUST God. We don’t have to force the issue either – if we preach the whole counsel of God, we will find plenty of application in relation to justice!
But I think it has got to start with our leaders, and how we train them.
Our Training
I asked the Zambian church leader I was speaking with what it is that made their leaders more aware of the injustices in the nation, and one of the reasons he gave was that care for justice forms a key part of their seminary curriculum and their churches specifically have ministries addressing issues of social concern. They somehow manage to do this whilst still teaching the bible, crazy right?
Is this a topic that is covered in our church leaders training, with practical examples, pastoral issues to consider etc?
It certainly hasn’t been in my experience. I have the books and I have attended the conferences, discipleship training and bible handling training in evangelical institutions and as I reflect on my training, I recognise that I have not received much teaching on justice. When the topic does come up, it is usually as a theological debate. A ‘how NOT to do justice’ defending against some (genuinely unhelpful) cultural narratives, but not much on what justice actually is and importantly, what it looks like.
My own theology on this that has developed over the last few years has come outside of these circles, from self learning and engagements outside evangelical circles. This gap is so noticeable because I had had no problem with getting training on teaching the bible or evangelism, areas I believe God has gifted me in too. Which brings me to another area that we need to look at and that is our discipleship.
Our Discipleship
“You should be a lawyer”. I’ve been told that since I was about 12 years old by various people who grew to know me. It was clear from very early on in life that I was passionate about certain injustices and actively wanted to do something about it, but no one linked any of this to spiritual gifting. It was only ever a career thing that you do out there.
In contrast, my teaching/speaking and evangelism gifting were picked up. I was encouraged to use my gifts, supported in training and given plenty of opportunities to use and nurture these gifts which I am so thankful for. It has only really been in the last few years that I realised that my desire for justice and removing suffering of others in practical ways is also a spiritual gift from God (Romans 12:6-8). A gift that ought to be used in the church too.
How many more people are there in our churches who have this gift but don’t recognise it as such? Or those who do recognise it but have no way of using that gift in the church so either leave or become idle. When I think of the ways in which some of my gifts have been nurtured, it has followed a pattern of helping me identify my gift, encouraging me to use that gift, providing training, providing opportunities to use and nurture it and encouragement.
How can we encourage and disciple those gifted in this area in our churches?
Our Worship
The songs we sing shape our theology in ways we often don’t realise. I attended a girls catholic boarding school in Zambia, which gave me some interaction with what was a charismatic catholic movement. There was singing, dancing, african drums… mass was lit! And I noticed that a lot of the songs were about giving and charity.
Now I am in no way suggesting that we adopt catholicism, but I can see the fruit of that emphasis in Zambia where many charitable initiatives are driven by the catholic church. Our songs engage our affections in ways that sermons can’t.
How many songs about giving, charity or justice do you know of?
Another thing to consider is WHO writes our songs and the experiences that have shaped them. I was listening to a short video clip from an African American comedian, he was highlighting how the songs he remembers growing up in the black church just hit… different. The lyrics talked about everyday struggles like the bills being due and how God showed up. These songs often have themes of liberation and of God as provider.
How many of our songs have been written by the marginalised? Those who know what it feels like to suffer horrific injustices? Even our songs inspired by the Psalms tend to skip over those with heavy themes of justice and the cries for justice, we seem uncomfortable with them.
What we sing shapes how we think and what we prioritise in church, so if we want to remove our apathy, we need to consider our corporate worship diet.
Can things really change?
Some might say I am being naive in thinking evangelical churches can become places where justice is not a mere theological debate but is embodied. But I am optimistic. I know of church leaders who embody this and churches that do too. It’s not impossible and I believe that God can transform and shape church cultures.
He can use us, but there needs to be a deliberate effort; it’s not going to happen just by running a seminar or attending a conference. We will have to re-think a lot of what we do, go beyond our own denominational bubble and work this through our training, preaching, worship and our discipleship, and do so unapologetically.
I challenge you to interrogate your theological influences, the justice culture in your personal and church life and how that embodies/reflects a just God. After an honest introspection, what are you going to do about the apathy in your life regarding justice issues?
