So, it seems Glenn Beck didn't really mean to say that people should leave the churches that preach social justice. That's a good thing, because the pews would be empty at pretty much any church worth attending. Yet, the original statement still exists, and can't be redefined to mean anything other than what it seems to mean.
Over at Dan Trabue's Through the Woods, in two threads, discussions seems to take on a surreal quality, as one commenter, in attempting to defend Beck, ends up not only arguing points not in the discussion, but makes it clear that the real issue isn't social justice as preached from a Christian perspective. Rather, what gets their panties in a huge wad is the idea that believing in Christian social justice might actually lead some people to think and believe and live in such a way that leads them to become . . . liberal.
Except, this really isn't the case. The pursuit of social justice in the name of Christ has no political label attached to it. This isn't about supporting government programs, or particular partisan agendas, or political ideologies. It can lead those who come to live out their faith this way to do some of these things, but the pursuit of social justice in the name of Christ, in the first instance, is just that - hard work, in communities sidelined by a society that deems them of little or no worth. I have always believed that the starting point for Christian work such as this is the oft-repeated statement in the Bible - in Exodus, in Deuteronomy, in the Prophets - referring to the Exodus event, "Once you were no people; now you are My People." Just as the LORD took the slaves of Egypt and made of them the chosen vehicle for Divine revelation, so, too, we are to live in such a way that those who are despised, dehumanized, degraded are to be at the center of our attention, our concern, our mission. We are to serve them so that they come to see themselves as human beings, as people God loves.
This isn't part of any political theory of which I am aware. This isn't some secret Marxist agenda gussied up in Biblical quotes. It's just living as God calls us to live.
Anything else, any attempt to make of discussions of social justice some secret plot by liberals to take over the church is ignorant. Pure and simple.
