Each generation of the church has to grapple with issues of orthodoxy as the culture around them shifts. The first generation of the church had to grapple with the Gospel itself-what was the complete gospel and what was extra? Since then, various truths have been scrutinized and rejected. Various social and cultural issues have found their way to the doorsteps of the church, demanding a verdict.
For Luther, the most pressing issue of orthodoxy was justification by faith alone. His insistence on this point sparked the Reformation. Christian abolitionists in the first half of the nineteenth century were concerned with addressing slavery. Their children and grandchildren were concerned with caring for the poor and reforming labor laws among other things.
Problems and priorities shift with each generation. The cultural currents at work now are bringing issues of orthodoxy once again to the attention of the church. This generation of Christ-followers must grapple with sexual orthodoxy and biblical justice.
Recoil From Justice
The term “social justice” is quite loaded today.
In the midst of a cultural shift that is very occupied with the idea of “justice”, the church must anchor itself in biblical truth. The Bible tells us where we stand. The problem with being a “centrist” is that the center is always moving. As left and right shift, the center also shifts. What was considered left or right in the past is now considered center as the polarization grows.
This is important to remember because the church is faced with three choices on the issue of justice: flow with the cultural march to the Left, recoil and retreat to the Right, or rise above the left and right and hold fast to the biblical standard of justice.
I have noticed something: conservative Christians aren’t against justice, per se, but they often (rightly) offer qualifiers. A phrase like “God cares about justice” is met with a warning against critical theory. This is, in one sense, good. We must be diligent to protect biblical doctrine from the tainting of cultural currents. Warnings against false doctrines are good. But we can’t throw the baby out of the bathwater. We shouldn’t embrace worldly philosophies and push the Bible in to fit them. But we also shouldn’t reject all talk about justice to avoid accepting critical theory.
The truth is: the church can talk about justice without accepting critical theory and other worldly philosophies that have saturated the discourse on justice.
Justice Isn’t a Dirty Word
Sadly, it seems that in some churches, justice has become a dirty word. At the very least it is a word that is so burdened by qualifiers and warnings that it cannot stand as it should.
Our instinct to throw things (and people) to one “side” or another is not helpful. Justice is not a “leftist” ideal. It is found in the Bible. In the same way, sexual obedience isn’t a “right-wing” ideal. It is also found in the Bible. Biblical doctrine rises above our political and cultural divides and reveals the reality that we live in.
We must be careful to hold onto orthodoxy. We shouldn’t cave into pressure from the culture to say something that is not true. But we can’t neglect parts of our Bible because they remind us of what our rivals across the aisles are saying.
Orthodox Justice for the 21st Century Church
As our culture wrestles with the issue of justice, the church is presented with an opportunity to speak the truth of God’s word into this cultural moment. That is a profound opportunity that should be cherished. We have a beautiful chance to introduce a justice-hungry culture to a justice-abundant God. This is not the moment we recoil for fear of aligning with the “wrong side”. It’s the moment we move forward and stand for biblical truth, lifting the banner above our divisions.
Sexual orthodoxy is under attack from some on the Left. I think that biblically-orthodox justice is also in peril from the worldly philosophies on the Left as well as from the recoiling Right. If we continue to judge biblical orthodoxy in relation to the shifting standards of our culture, we’ll also shift. If we stand firm and trust the Bible for what it says, we will be anchored.