Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Social Justice and the Gospel

Social Justice and the Gospel

Last updated on: March 1, 2019 at 6:11 pm by Henry Karlson

Social Justice and the Gospel 2019-03-01T18:11:44-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus Healing Peter’s Mother-in-law
Source: Rembrandt / WikimediaCommons

At the beginning of his ministry, when Jesus was in Nazareth, he gave an indication of his messianic mission. After reading from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus told his audience that what was said by the prophet was being fulfilled in their presence:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:18-21 RSV).

How was this fulfilled? It was fulfilled in Jesus, in the incarnation. The messianic mission, the Gospel, the good news, was the new good news to the poor. The poor, the mistreated, those broken down with disease or oppression, not only have Jesus as their spokesperson, but also as the one who sets them free, liberating them from the grave injustices which they received from the hands of the rich and powerful. Isaiah promised them freedom, and Jesus gave it to them in his person. Jesus, filled with the spirit, as the messiah, had come to bring justice to the world.

Social justice is at the heart of the Gospel. It is impossible to have an authentic representation of the Gospel without it. Jesus not only preached social justice, he indicated that in and through him, social justice would be brought to the world. To oppose social justice is to oppose Jesus, and to reject the good news which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (Jas 1:27 RSV). True religion, the true faith, cannot be found apart social justice; to pit social justice against the Gospel is to ignore the Gospel itself, as it would ignore the words of Jesus who proclaimed throughout his ministry the demands of social justice:

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.
“Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger.
“Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Lk. 6:20-26 RSV).

Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich. “And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matt. 19:23 RSV). Blessed those who are hungry; woe to those who are full – satisfied in gluttony at the expense of the poor and needy. Blessed are those who weep due to injustice: woe to those who laugh and ridicule at those suffering from need. The heart of the Gospel is the dictate of love, and love will seek for justice for the beloved.

Our salvation is given to us as we are freed from all sin. Before our salvation, we are poor and needy, having suffered under the oppression of death. Jesus, the good savior, works to reorganize the world, to restructure it, ending the dominion of sin. However, that reorganization requires us to work with him and in him, to be baptized into Christ, to put on Christ, and fight injustice wherever it is found. Injustice is rooted in sin: to be indifferent to injustice is to be indifferent to sin; to join in with injustice is to join in with sin and be among those who were warned by Jesus as to the woe they face if they remain attached to sin: woe to those who accept injustice, because God’s justice is coming, and is already here, transforming the world.

Just as faith without works is dead (cf. Jas 2:14-20), so the Gospel without social justice is dead, indeed it is a false Gospel which must be rejected. Jesus preached social justice. He said that our eschatological fate will be tied with how we treat others in relation to justice (cf. Matt. 25: 31 -46). If we are with Christ, we promote social justice and act upon it. Indeed, as John said, this is how we know we are with Christ:

But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him (1Jn. 3:17-19 RSV).

Truth is one with deed: without it, it is not yet truth. Faith without works is not faith, because faith without love is not faith in the God who is love. The Gospel is the good news that God has become man in order to destroy the works of unlove, the works of injustice, that is the works of the devil. “He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1Jn 3:8 RSV).

Those who would warn Christians against social justice, fearing that a focus on social justice detracts from the Gospel, fail to see the unity of the Gospel with social justice itself. It is like those who say talk about works detracts from the Gospel. It can only come from an unbalanced position which not only ignores much of what Jesus said during his earthly ministry, it would risk condemning him because of the focus he put on social justice throughout his preaching. In the Apocalypse, Jesus warned against this attitude, of those who thought their prosperity proved their faith:

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. `I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked’” (Rev. 3:14 – 17 RSV ).

If we have faith, we will be faithful to the dictates of Christ. We will preach the fullness of his preaching. Not only will we preach as he did, offering liberty to the oppressed, we will work with Christ to establish such liberty, such justice in the world. Instead of thinking we are fine for having some right beliefs, we will act on such beliefs, and have right livelihood as well:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Heb. 10:23-25 RSV).

We must encourage each other to follow the dictates of love and the justice it wants to establish, so that God’s will can be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are called to work for this. The good news is the good news that all of sin is being undone and the power and dominion of sin, of injustice, is being rooted out and destroyed. Social justice is at the heart of the Gospel, and so let us, as Isaiah indicated, “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Is.1:17 RSV), thereby showing we truly live out the Gospel and are children of the Most High.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook

Previous Post

February 4, 2019

The Eschaton In Time

Next Post

February 6, 2019 Pope Francis and The Plurality of Religions

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz