Who Isn't One?: Brian McLaren and Social Christians

Brian McLaren, Emergent leader and author, has posted two videos recently.  The first is of an advertisement of a number of people saying that they are social justice Christians.  The second video is of McLaren himself saying that he himself is a social justice Christian because the Old Testament prophets were, the apostles were, the early church was, the Catholic Church has been throughout the centuries, the radical reformers were, and because John Wesley was.

But then again, who isn't one?  If by social justice you mean concern for the poor then who isn't a social justice Christian?  I realize that there is anger over Glenn Beck's language that has been misunderstood and used as an opportunity for his opponents to rip him apart, but can anyone honestly say that Glenn Beck or orthodox Evangelicals hate the poor?  Why is it that those who refuse to support government hand outs that only encourage poverty are against poor people?  I am broke and yet I have concerns over a growing government, hand outs, accusations against conservatives, capitalists, republicans, and those who are more concerned with preaching the gospel than preaching humanitarian aide.

It is time for Christians to stop this sort of madness.  We all care about the poor.  Can we move on and have an honest discussion on how to reach the poor, the rich, the suicidal, the abandoned, the honored, the prisoner, the model citizen, the politician, the anarchist, the atheist, the legalists, the abused, and the abusers with the gospel of Jesus Christ?  When will the gospel take priority over policy?  Yes I know that politics and policy is important, but Jesus never ran for office and Paul never complained about the tax code.  They preached the gospel:  Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Shame on us for just coming off of celebrating Easter and all it seems we care about is just meeting temporal needs at the cost of eternal truths.  There is a God who demands everyone, everywhere to repent.

What really concerns me is that in all of this we are missing the gospel.  In all of this debate, little (and at times nothing) is said of Jesus' call to repentance and surrender, the substitutionary nature of the cross, and the demand to righteousness and the finished work of salvation brought about through the resurrection. We seem to be convincing ourselves that theology has nothing to do with concern for the poor.  In fact, we seem to be suggesting that sound theology stands in the way of concern for the poor.

The gospel is at stake.  Does no one care about the gospel anymore?  We say much about poverty and global warming and yet we are silent about sin, salvation, the cross, the resurrection, worship, fellowship, obedience, righteousness, or damnation.  We are slipping from orthodoxy the moment we forget to mention the gospel.  We should celebrate the concern for the poor, but unless we are grounded in the gospel nothing separates from welfare, universal health care, or any other hand out or humanitarian organization.  In other words, without the gospel, we cease to be Christian.

We can offer both water (leaving us thirsty again) and living water (which truly satisfies eternally) and yet we mention nothing about the living water of salvation granted to all men who repent as the result of the sacrificial death and triumphal resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Let us preach the gospel as loud as we preach social justice.  That is what Jesus did.  Lets follow Him as He commanded us all to do.

I am Kyle McDanell and I am gospel-proclaiming Christian!  Make an ad about that!



For more:
Brian McLaren - Are You One? 
Commentary - Have We Forgotten the Gospel?  Glenn Beck, Social Justice, and the Gospel