Thread by @tim_fall

1. The “Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” perverts both the gospel and one of its components, social justice.

#Gospel
#SocialJustice

2. The first paragraph of the statement’s introduction asserts there is “an onslaught of dangerous and false teachings that threaten the gospel.” This is error.

The reality is that the gospel is not threatened by lies, and falsehoods pose no danger to it.

3. The statement’s introduction then identifies the culprit as social justice but places the phrase in quotes, allowing the reader to assume that social justice is not a real concern for those seeking to live out the gospel of Jesus.

4. Once the concept of social justice is dismissed, the statement is free to list a number of other aspects of life that are supposedly not gospel. The statement slowly builds to sex and race divisions, reaching them in articles XI (Complementarianism) and XII (Race/Ethnicity).

5. The statement’s line “we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice” (Art. XII) is a straw man argument.

6. No one says feelings are always necessarily proof. The point is that if a woman or person of color says they feel oppressed or offended, the next step is to listen and investigate. If oppression or offense exist, the Bible says to do something about it.

#racism #sexism

7. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:8-9.)

Rather than dismiss social justice we are embrace it as part of the gospel of Jesus. (Luke 4.)

8. Did the authors of the statement have good intentions? It doesn’t matter, since they deny the gospel in dismissing the pursuit of justice the Bible calls for.

“Justice, justice shalt thou pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20.)

Not a bad pursuit indeed.

/end

9. P.S. Getting back to its statements on race: there’s a whole lot of you’d-be-better-off-if-you-knew-your-place in that document, and it’s ugly. No matter how many times it asserts not to be racist, it perpetuates #racism. Women get the same treatment, perpetuating #sexism too.