A Social Justice Who’s Who

the storm hello and welcome to wretched my name is Todd Reil I am your host the wretch the song refers to it was just a few months ago we did a program here on wretched announcing a brewing storm well it appears that it is dawned on the horizon and we are currently in a bit of an evangelical skirmish the storm has brewed what was the impetus what set off all of the different elements I think it's something called the Dallas statement on social justice it was 14 affirmations and denials regarding the Christian the church's role in society how do we treat people how do we go about effecting change what are the best methods for human flourishing now whether you like this document or not I do believe that it has had a magnificent effect to help us have a little bit of well my my sizing isn't very good clarity that's right this statement I believe has finally caused a conversation where we're starting to define terms where people are starting to get a little bit more specific with what they believe and don't believe and I think right now in the continuum of this debate it is absolutely time for clarity so that this war does not cause irreparable division there are people who would say they are on the social justice side and didn't sign that statement there are other people on the Dallas statement side who would say social justice it's it's really really bad and Wow you've got this just set up to happen I would like to suggest to you it shouldn't there's no need for this because I think we're getting a little bit more clarity and with clarity I think we can resolve some confusion and continue to have unity let us begin with the BG's words they're all we have and they absolutely have meanings why is this important because I think this is where most of the confusion has come from people just say oh yeah I'm for social justice and some people go die you're a Marxist communist socialist feminist deconstructionist awful person is that true what do words mean let me give you an example of the importance of definitions specifically in this conversation if I said to you let's empower women what do you think that's a good thing or a bad thing some people would say oh well it's a good thing we should be empowering women others would go no that is not a biblical term instead we use the term equip women what's the difference well empowering women is kind of a feminist term it's a liberal term designed with little motives behind it I suspect most people aren't aware of the ideas to topple males and have women at least equal if not superior and therefore we need to empower women to not just break the glass ceiling but to rise above and make more money have more power than males do a biblical concept of women and how we should help them would reject empowering women and would say no no we need to equip them because you see in Acts chapter 6 when there was a discrepancy the Greek widows were not receiving the food that they should have been receiving there was some favoritism being shown so the male disciples call everybody together this would have been an excellent opportunity to empower women did they did they mandate that women should be in control of the food distribution program because we want to empower women and the answer to that is no they didn't they actually assigned men to it and then went about the business of equipping women to play their role in the church to teach other women and Wow do we need that these days to teach children what a valuable role that is and so you've got a big difference between empowering women and equipping women and that's not the only word that is up for debate let's get to our definitions of words the big question right now is is social justice a gospel issue I think Kevin DeYoung did an outstanding by the way he didn't sign the Dallas Theological on social justice he did an outstanding job of answering the question is social justice a gospel issue his final conclusion was well it depends on what you mean by gospel and it depends on what you mean by social justice the gospel is that Jesus died for sinners and rose from the dead period if you mean by the gospel yeah Jesus died for sinners and we have to do things to make culture a more equitable place then it's no longer the gospel what is social justice it depends on your definition some people would say well that's just helping folks that's basically Christian charity social justice is actually acting justly as defined by God to do justly it's an individual thing where we do acts of kindness and mercy and charitable miss and justice so you've got some people who would say wait a second social justice that's that's a perfectly fine word because it just means that I'm supposed to act justly and try to help people there are other people who would say no no social justice is far more than that social justice means we to be actively engaging in different realms of authority to accomplish a social improvement do you see how definitions are important so if somebody says the the social justice is a gospel issue don't automatically conclude now you're a heretic then are you instead we need to understand definitions meanings and where exactly people stand so that we don't label good brothers and sisters heretics are worse because we don't have clarity on definitions we will do that that was different tones next this is Karen these are caring shoes Karen claims she has nothing to do all she does is twirl her finger in this pond all day sometimes she'll even try to grab the water don't be like Karen instead of needlessly poking water all day go visit wretched org for all things wretched where are your parents Karen you must preach the Word of God it is critically important that we invest in training men to preach the Word of God because that is the God ordained means by which his kingdom expands would you please consider supporting the master's Academy International in their endeavor to train indigenous pastors to rightly preach the word magnificent wretched org slash pastor sorry my OCD won't live welcome back to a wretched social justice it's the big conversation right now in evangelical Christianity and I'm no prophet I can't predict the future nobody can these days because that office specifically for predicting the future gone because we have the Bible but it seems to me if we don't get some clarity and understand who's who in this debate which has a broad range of evangelicals we're gonna have ourselves a radical divide from good brothers and sisters that is totally unnecessary there is a major conference two of them coming up these days and you've got speakers on the pro-social justice side and the anti social justice side together at the same conferences gasps what does that mean well what it means is we need to figure out exactly what we're talking about when we talk about social justice and the gospel because if we import our understanding of the terms and impute that definition to everybody who says for social justice we're gonna conclude some wrong things we need to understand what people mean by this so that when we have a disagreement we can determine alright how big of a disagreement is this is this like baptism you know paedo baptism versus believers baptism is this like speaking in tongues or is this like Christology and sola scriptura where are we at in all of this right now I think is the perfect time to start asking questions of one another and not conclude immediately where somebody stands because they did or didn't sign the Dallas statement on social justice that was the document that served as the catalyst for all of these conversations and I'm grateful for it because we're starting to see hmm wait a second I thought that guy was really into like Marxism and stuff and now that they're starting to write and talk about where they stand on the issue it's becoming increasingly clear that we've got ourselves a broad range of evangelicals for instance this is the Pro social justice side look at the continuum you've got people who are like well social justice that's personal responsibility remember our Christian charity concept which i think is a much better word to use than social justice but they would say okay Christian charity individual responsibility to be just and maybe we talked to the government to get them involved to do they think that we should have a rally that there should be some sort of petition we all sign that we get a political action committee no they're just well you know let's vote right and smart on all of this stuff and let's send a letter to a congressman I guess if you want to that's that's one level of pro-social justice the second level was definitely government yeah of course personal justice personal responsibility but we need to get the government involved because there's a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed here that's different isn't it third they affirm social justice without them Marxism this is important there are many people who do not know that a lot of the language being used these days regarding social justice really has its roots in Marxism tearing down of society equality of outcome deconstructing everything bringing down the oppressors because the oppressed have been oppressed for too long and there needs to be complete equity they aren't aware of that but they would say yeah we need to be doing social justice we need to be getting the government involved we need to be active in this churches need to start getting involved and stop being so segregated on Sunday morning and start becoming more salt and pepper we got a doo doo doo stuff and they are social justice people but they're not Marxist let's move on to our next level you've got people they are in the pro-social justice side you've got people and then they they would probably like this if they don't flat-out ascribe to socialism and Marxism look at the range that we've got we've got some people who could be Marxist you've got some people who I suspect you you might be this person and you wouldn't even put yourself under the social justice umbrella so do we see how broad this range is here's my question for you should we react the same way to each one of those four groups of people if they indicate they're for social justice and I think the obvious answer is no not really because we understand some of those things socialism Marxism that's a big problem however if somebody just uses the term social justice it doesn't make them a communist we have a broad range of people that are on the pro-social justice side and for those of us who would be on the quote anti social justice side I think we need to remember this because I know there are good brothers and sisters who fit all three of those really kind of concerned about this because this is pretty whacked but we still need individual testimony to see where they stand but couldn't you worship with somebody who is a one could you have communion with somebody who's a - I suspect you already do you see this conversation al Mohler was very helpful in this he said this isn't new this is not a brand new debate that we're having evangelicalism really was launched based on this issue evangelical Christianity was in response to fundamentalists who said absolutely no involvement any way shape or form in society a group of evangelicals give or take the late 40s early 50s said no no the role of the Church of the Christian is to be involved to get involved in government realms to get involved in Hollywood education and let's bring the kingdom some people would say or let's just have a kingdom influence in those realms and you have listened to preachers who believe that very good preachers you might disagree but does that suddenly mean because we've slapped the term social justice warrior on them that they're heretics when we return the anti social justice side and what is hopefully a help in making sure that this dialogue is not divisive because remember Jesus really wants unity where the essentials are both believed by both sides next [Music] Bible league international bringing a whole lot of joy to a whole lot of people when they receive their very own Bible in their very own language for just five dollars a Bible you could send Bibles overseas into prisons to fellow believers it's such a deal five dollars a Bible how many could you send to bring somebody joy simply visit rection org slash Bible wretched org slash Bible thanks then I had a hotel welcome back to wretched an effort to bring clarity to protect unity which is something that God is very fond of that we can divide over essential issues but not non essentials right now I think we need some clarity if you recall when we did a program on this called the Gathering Storm a number of months ago we said we really need some definitions while we're starting to get definitions and here's what we're learning there's a spectrum of people on the pro-social justice side there's a wide range of people and we're starting to hear it's like wait a second I thought this guy was like a communist and it turns out he's just a number one he's not a number four he's a number two and suddenly were confronted with well how then do we treat one another I think the way we treat one another is by determining where somebody is at on this continuum let's see how this dance happens but first our second partner would be anti social justice do you fall in that camp which part of the camp are you in because you see you've got people on the anti social justice side who would say look there's no such thing as social justice in the Bible there's no adjective if you're gonna put an adjective before justice the only one that should exist is God's God's justice his standard his judgment how we are to live on this planet and behave rightly in other words we need to be preaching the gospel to people and therefore they would say we're anti social justice because it attracts any of these things potentially getting government involved etc or becoming socialist no no that detracts from the cross and I ain't about that second you've got the cross people these folks right here plus you know I don't maybe there's like oppression and systemic racism we should probably figure that out and see what we should do about that maybe study the issues of corporate repentance national guilt I'm open to that as long as we stay really biblical third they reject social justice and not want anything to do with it they are just more hardline then say number two is who it says well you know we can consider that no we don't need to consider this there's no such thing and I'm not interested in definitions per se just know and then finally you've got white supremacist and you've got nationalism white nationalism now let's define those terms because if you recall words do indeed have meanings what do we mean by a white supremacist or white nationalism well if you mean that there is a race of people who are intrinsically better based on their skin color than your a white supremacist and that is not biblical and that is a sin and you need to repent of that and there are people in the anti social justice side who go that far now what did we just see not only is there a broad range of folks in the pro-social justice side there's a broad range of folks in the anti social justice side what do we do about this that is really the question to bring about clarity and not to jeopardize unity which is very valuable to God I think we can look at this whole issue on a continuum not just your this side of the Dallas statement or your that side and therefore I don't have fellowship with you you and remember this can go two ways by the way the anti social justice side can call everybody over here a Marxist and people over on the pro-social justice side would say you're anti social justice then you're a member of the KKK it could be that extreme but it shouldn't be automatically we need to recognize there is a continuum you've got your force you've got your Marxist and socialists sweating out here to the left and then you've got you know the young for social justice without the Marxism part I do think the government should be involved and you know just individual justice and responsibility maybe the government that is such a broad range on the other side of the spectrum however you've got one two three four also do you remember no no no no this is just this is cross business this is cross plus concern this is no I reject so social justice totally and then ultimately you've got people are like the white people are better than black people whoa what a wide range of people and I suspect let's just say you're a number one how would you feel if somebody called you a Ku Klux Klan member because you're antisocial justice you'd say that is entirely not fair and I think that that is something we need to remember because not everybody on the pro-social justice side is a Marxist so now let's just see if we can begin the conversation about where we should separate and where we shouldn't divide with one another and I'm not telling you I've got this down perfectly these are the rings I'm about to draw they're not going to be perfect because even within these groups there's all kinds of nuances and subtleties that are involved because this is a big messy conversation that we are having but let's just see if we can get started with this I would suggest to you these folks right here the ones on both side is there any reason we can't have fellowship with one another what about twos now remember these are people right here who think that government involvement is is important in fact it's man there are millions of evangelicals who believe that they're not communists so when you hear them say well I'm for social justice and they fall in this camp you shouldn't put him out here and suddenly you can't have fellowship you can't worship together no communion together we can't even go to a conference if a number two is speaking at that conference what about the threes can we have fellowship with one another if you recall they reject social justice the anti social justice people they affirm social justice sans Marxism yeah all about social justice really being active in stuff dealing with issues of incarceration government legislation drug issues poverty issues racial issues all about that of course I'm not a Marxist could I draw a circle here now I grant you it's maybe getting a little bit trickier but I think we could at least have this conversation to see and the only way to do that is if we actually talk to one another I think we'd all agree look if you're a KKK you got big problems and you should be under church discipline you're a Marxist I don't know what Bible you're reading but that is not what Scripture teaches at all and I would not be inclined to go to a conference or to fellowship with somebody like that because it doesn't mean heresy necessarily but it means something needs to be repented of there's something really big wrong here now that's just my take and that's that's just my start on this you may disagree with whether there should be a circle or not but we can talk about that but can't we at least agree that there are some people with whom we can still have fellowship we can still enjoy and appreciate their teaching we can still listen to their podcast because they're not a Marxist heretic hopefully this helps bring a little clarity so we can speak lovingly so that we can have unity where Ruth exists surprise next unwrapped [Music] clearly this is a baby and yet so many women are persuaded it's nothing but a blob of tissue what will persuade them otherwise what you are seeing 80% of the time a woman sees an ultrasound of her child she does not abort it would you please consider sponsoring as many ultrasounds as you can for 28 dollars each at preborn org slash wretched wretched has a gift for you no strings attached we have a brand new resource snatched them from the flames extricated a loved one from a false religious system like the prosperity movement or the NA our mess it is designed to help you get them out and it is our gift to you no strings attached simply visit wretched dot org slash flames legend Dodd towards slash flames sign up we'll even send you a copy if you don't like doing the internet stuff or you can watch the video right there in an effort to help you please note it is only because the generosity of our Gospel partners that we are able to do these things we'd like to consider partnering slash flames hi Todd my name is Nathan I'm a caster Pennsylvania I'm a wretched radio listener I'm here in eastern Ukraine of tomorrow clubs to teach English and to teach the children about the Bible thank you very much for what you do way to go Nathan perhaps you'd like to take a trip to say Ukraine to start a tomorrow club and if you don't want to go that far just go to tomorrow clubs dot org slash wretched and you could support your own tomorrow that still doesn't look right to me welcome back to a wretched surprise let's get to a Bible verse shall we first John 4:20 if anyone says I love God and hates his brother well this is appropriate he's a liar for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen Wow am I ever tempted to go back over this chalkboard we should be loving one another ones twos potentially threes fours that might require a little bit more of a a conversation to figure out the lines but with those with whom we have unity if we are not doing it lovingly in unity clang clang clang let's see who won something as shall we congratulations to a Cameron Webber untethered excellent resource you could win a to simply visit wretched orgs subscribe to the free wretched newsletter and your name will just cross his out and put yours there and until tomorrow go serve your king thank you for watching wretched TV a ministry that 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Channel: Wretched

Views: 30,107

Rating: 4.792717 out of 5

Keywords: Todd Friel, Wretched TV, Wretched Radio, Evangelism, Gospel

Id: QWyja573zYg

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 01 2018