Together For Adoption - Session Four - Ed Stetzer

The title of Ed’s Message was “The Gospel, Social Justice, and The Missional Church”

Is it dangerous to talk about social justice in the church? Historically speaking, yes it is, but we have to continue to do so. Jesus inaugurated his ministry (Luke 4) by describing it as a ministry of restoration and recovery. Matthew 25’s account of the sheep and the goats reminds us that living out the implications of the Gospel, by serving the poor and helpless, is central to our very mission.

Ed was very clear to remind us that it’s not the Great Commandment vs. the Great Commission, but we often pit those two mandates against one another in that way.

It is interesting to note that Paul is far less vocal about social justice than Jesus was. There is a perceived tension here and historically churches have not resolved this very well. The solution is not in the dichotomy but in the robust engagement in both proclamation AND pursuit of societal transformation.

But... While we pursue societal transformation we need to be fully aware of the dangers. Church history should cause us to be cautious to not forget proclamation. This has been the trend. Many people in the past have sought to make the gospel “wider”. This has resulted in the Gospel being redefined as simply doing good deeds. This is clearly a death warrant for the church.

We need to also be careful though to not overreact to this trend. This has also occurred in recent church history. Some would say that the church only exists for gospel proclamation and not societal transformation. This would be a wrong assumption as well. We are clearly called to both.

Ed reminded us that the church is not the kingdom of God, but is a sign and instrument of the kingdom of God. People should be able to look at the church and say, “Oh! That is what the kingdom of God looks like! That is what God’s rule looks like in people lives!” The church is a tool in the hand of God to join Jesus in his mission.

His ending conclusion was a powerful reminder. We must be clear that social justice is close to the heart of God and should be close to ours as well. But don’t be naive to think that we are not susceptible to the same mistakes that people in the past made. When you speak of justice they will praise you, when you speak of Jesus they will resist you. Jesus is a stumbling block. We can be accepted by the world if we place the proclamation of Jesus as secondary. If every orphan is adopted and we lose the gospel we lose everything.