157. Freedom From Social Justice

I found my freedom in you I found a joy I can't lose And thank God it's true You wrapped your arms around me And heaven broke through From the moment you found me I found my freedom in you Welcome to the For Freedom Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, James Safer and Brad Martin. Welcome back to the For Freedom Podcast. We are digging ourselves out of the snow. Well, James, you're digging yourself out of the snow. We got all the cold weather, all the potentially water pipe busting coldness, bone chilling 14 degrees, and none of the snow. It's weird because a week, like two weeks ago, the snow went north of us. And now the snow went south of us. I mean, they got like 10 inches down in New Orleans. And we don't have any snow. I mean, I'm glad I don't have to drive on ice, but there's a little boy in me that always likes to play with a plane of snow and build snowmen. James, do you want to build a snowman? My kids built a couple of them a couple weeks ago. We actually didn't get any snow on this last storm. We got cold. We had 72, almost 80 hours of cold of below freezing. And so it's been cold. It's been frigid, man. It's been very much freezing. And just trying to figure that out. We had a wonderful time at the Capitol when we were recording this for the D.C. for the inauguration. I mean, my son stood outside for four hours. We got in. And about 10 minutes after we walked in the door, they shut the doors because the stadium was full. And so what a blessing that was to be able to spend that weekend with him. And, man, we had a great time. This cold weather, it's been great. But it puts a hindrance on everything. I mean, you just feel drowning. I love cold weather. Don't get me wrong. But when it gets this below freezing, I like it cold like in the 40s, 50s cold, not like waking up in the morning and it's four degrees outside cold. So that's the difference. But, yeah, man, things have been going good. And I hope things are going well with you guys. Churchwell has been doing great as well. And we originally talked about TikTok being banned. And now it's back on for 75 days. Trump, man. You know, Trump brought us back TikTok. And then, you know, you know, Trump, Trump wasn't even president for a day. And he fixed global warming. He's like, I'm going to send you some snow for voting for me down there in the south. Here you go. So he took care of that. Now, we talked, we touched on you being at the Capitol last week. But I want to ask specifically about what it was like being in that stadium. I want to know how long you waited for Trump to get there. What did he do? Did he sign executive orders? What was the parade like? What did you like best about that? Yeah. So we got there, had a great time. We waited in line. We got in line about 630. There were about 20,000 people in front of us. And we were about 14 blocks away. So we swiveled our way through the line. We finally got there. We turned the corner. And when we turned the corner, we were about two blocks away from the arena. So I sort of looked back, and there were about 100,000 people behind me. Because you could see the Capitol building behind me that led to the National Mall. So that was the road we were on. I mean, full of people. So, I mean, those 100,000 people didn't get in. So lots of people there waiting in line. Lots of people trying to get in. It took us about four hours waiting in line. Had some great conversations with people around us. We got in right as Trump and Vance were taking the stage in the rotunda to take their inauguration, their swearing in. And then after that, there was some music. And we got to see his other speech as well. And then he went to his lunchtime. And so during his lunch, they had people from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, the Secretary of Commerce, several other dignitaries that were there that came over to the arena and made some speeches. He was supposed to show up at 3.30. Schedule got delayed. He got there about 5 o'clock. And so we got there. We ate lunch. We watched everything. My son got a little sick in the afternoon. And so he actually went out and upchucked everywhere during the parade. So I didn't get to see all of the parade. The parade was cool. I got to see it on the TV and got to hear it from the outside there. And then he got some medicine and he felt better, went out. Trump got there. We got to see him come out. He gave his speech. And then we got to see him sign nine executive orders in front of us. To the best of my knowledge, that is the first time ever that a president has signed executive orders in front of people that aren't special, you know, dignitaries, little things that, you know. Yeah, always the press. And, you know, your AG and vice president never has he signed up any president signed executive orders in front of the common folk is where I put it. And then he got up and started throwing his pins into the crowd, which was awesome. So nine people got a pin that Donald Trump had signed with. So, man, overall, it was great time. I told the guys I went with, I will go to any inauguration, no matter who it is, if the opportunity comes up in the future. I don't care if it's Democrat, Independent, Republican. The excitement, the transfer of power, the festivities that were around it were awesome. And I would go back no matter what. Well, cool. Cool. I'm glad y'all had a good time. I hated it and get to go. But, you know, I was also wondering, you know, I mean, I hated it and get to be outside. There are a lot of people that took off work and went up that went up there that didn't get to didn't get to see anything. And so I'm sorry for that. You're almost like Trump put on a pair of, you know, thermals and, you know, let people come out there if they want to come out there. But then again, on the other hand, he's older. And so I understand there was another president who caught pneumonia during his inauguration and died a month later. So, I mean, I do understand the precaution. But the big thing is we got four years of Trump ahead of us. And I think that's a good thing for our country. I especially like the way, you know, Biden can take all the credit for the ceasefire he wants to. But that was because of Trump. Because Trump said if there's not a ceasefire done, he's going to unleash 80 double hockey sticks. And that's exactly what they were afraid of. And that's why they made the deal. You know, at this point, I don't care who gets the credit. I'm just glad it's done. You know, we don't need that. We don't need the malicious warfare. We don't need the prisoners of war. They had some people that were there that were from Israel that family members were in captivity. And one lady, she said, my son is dead. I know he's dead. He's in a body bag. We just want his body released. We just want to be able to bury him with dignity. So, you know, it's to the point where let's just end the senselessness and move on. And I think that's where we're sort of at. And I'm excited about that. Either way, I'm excited about the future. Excited about what's going on. Of course, the media storm is crazy. Everyone's reporting on everything. And, you know, he signed 200 executive orders or actions in one day, which is unheard of. But, hey, it was done. And he's correcting some courses. And so we're excited to see what's going to be going on in the future. But, Brett, we talk about it often. This might be the last time we do it for a while. But we're talking about social justice and wokeness. But other than that, we've got our cigars on sale at 4 Freedom Cigar Collection at 1689. You can see that there. And we've got some deals going on right now. They're about 40% off if you want to go and grab some. Just a great opportunity for you to support our podcast, to support our endeavor. And we've got one more cigar that's coming out that will be coming out soon. It's sold out right now. But it's our sweet cigar. And, man, we are pumped about that and pumped about what we've got going on. Lots of things going on with the whole cigar industry right now. Trump just launched an inaugurational cigar with the same company we're with. And so lots of great things going on. And hopefully you can get a part of that and jump on board and enjoy that. Maybe coming up for a Father's Day gift or a birthday gift for someone. And stand by for trip information. Like literally, no lie, within the next two months, we're going to make an announcement about a trip either to Israel or to Greece. And so stand by for more information on that. Now that things are opening up, things are looking better. It's just a little while we're going to get something in the books, get something planned and get over there. We cannot truly worship God while we stay silent on injustice in all kinds of areas. And I know as a white pastor, I have blind spots. So I am part of the problem. James, Paul, elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures. And my friends, we must as well. White people fear black men. That's not fair. But it's true. Jesus repents of his racism and extends healing to this woman's daughter. I love this story because it's a reminder that Jesus is human. He had prejudices and bias. And when confronted with it, he was willing to do his work. I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads, and saw everyone as a sibling child of God. I believe in the rainbow spirit who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity. I believe in the church of everyday saints, as numerous, creative, and resilient as patches on the eighth quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud, and whose eyes gaze at the stars in wonder. I believe in the calling to each of us that love is love is love. So, beloved, let us love. I believe, glorious God, help my unbelief. Amen. This woke self-loathing And we will never let the woke left take it away. It's because they're putting woke ideology to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is. In this season of the For Freedom Podcast, we want to bring to you some enlightening topics that deal with the wokeness of the church. We want to bring to light some issues that are often overlooked, and we hope that it will be a blessing to you in your listening experience. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, it's right there. Everybody okay? Well, let's dive into a conversation that's becoming increasingly vital for Christians in today's world, and that's the term social justice. It's a widely used term. It's used on social media, TV, news, everywhere, and, you know, the words have definitions themselves, but unfortunately, this is a concept that has been twisted. It's been misused in many circles, especially in Christian ones. What was once a call for the fair treatment of people, especially the marginalized, which, by the way, is what Christianity is all about, the marginalized have only had a voice for the last 2,000 years because of Christianity, but now it has become an ideology with a radically different agenda. Yeah, that's exactly right, Brett. It's like the famous quote from the Princess Bride. You keep using the word. I don't think you know what it means when you're using that word. We're seeing that phrase, social justice, quotation marks there, social justice. It's becoming a loaded term, and what it once meant, it's not quite what it stands for now. When we think about social justice today, it's not just about helping the poor, standing up for those who are oppressed. It's a loaded term that carries baggage that is political baggage and ideas that contradict the Bible's teaching on justice. We're going to break it down today for us, and we're going to ask ourselves these questions. What does justice mean? What does it look like through the Scripture of Lynn, the lens of Scripture, and how do we, as Christians, navigate this confusing landscape? We'll also ask the tough question, should we also be using the term social justice at all? Sometimes we get in these realms of using words that are popular. My son, he's a middle school sixth grader, and he comes home almost every day, Brett, with a different word that it's like made up letters put together, and they mean something. And so it's like these crazy things that they're saying, and oftentimes we get to this point where we get to the word social justice, and it's like, should we even be using it at all? Right. So buckle up. You know when James starts quoting Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, it's going to be a bumpy ride. So we're going to take a hard look at what's behind this term and if it aligns with God's truth. So James, let's dive right in. Perfect. Let's start by answering the first question, Brett, and I'll ask it to you. What is social? What is justice? We hear the term all the time, but what does it really mean? Well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, justice is the maintenance of what is just or right with the authority to carry out punishment or reward accordingly. Simply put, it's about ensuring people get what they are due, whether that's rewards for good behavior or punishment for wrongdoing. But like many terms in our society, this definition only scratches the surface. Absolutely, Brett. And that's exactly right. But the question we have to sort of get to is where this is where things get complicated. Who decides what is just? We think about human justice. We have a legal system, man. We have a courtroom. We have the Supreme Court. We have a judge and a jury that you can go to when things happen. But as we know, not all human laws are just. A great example of this is Roe v. Wade, the legalization of abortion in the U.S. As Christians, we believe that just because something is legal doesn't make it right in God's eyes. Exactly. This is where we need to turn to God's word for clarity because God's word is supreme. God's law is supreme over man's law. And we obey man's law as long as it doesn't contradict God's law. And in the Bible, justice is defined by God's character. It's not based on human whims and preferences or societal preferences. In fact, Psalms 89 and 14 says, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. So God's justice is always righteous. It's always perfect. It's always grounded in his holiness. That's right, Brett. And justice isn't subjective. It's not about what feels right to us in the moment. As the theologian Augustine wrote, human justice must reflect divine justice because only God is perfectly righteous. Without his standard, we're left trying to define justice on our own, which all will inevitably lead to error. So now that we've defined justice, let's talk about biblical justice. As we said, it's grounded in God's character. And we see that clearly in his law. For example, let's take, for example, the Ten Commandments, which were given to the Israelites. They're more than just rules. They reflect God's perfect nature and show us how to live justly with each other. Absolutely. The Ten Commandments were not just given as to regulate external behavior. They were revealed God's heart for his people. When we live in alignment with God's commands, we reflect his judgment. But it goes even deeper than just following his laws. Exactly. In the New Testament, Jesus summarizes the whole law in two commandments. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. We see in Matthew 22, he says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. Absolutely. And this is the foundation for biblical justice. It's not just about rules, but it's about a relationship. How we treat God and how we treat others. Jesus redefines justice, not just as fairness, but as mercy, compassion, and love. When we love God fully, we reflect his judgment by how we live with each other. It often reminds me of, Brett, the way we were raised in the IFB. There were all the rules that we had, but there were no relationships behind them. The famous quote that I always repeated that I was told was, rules without reason stems to rebellion. And I want to change that a little bit because rules without relationship, it's a cause for rebellion. If you just tell your kids what they can and can't do and there's no relationship, there's no love behind that, then your kids are gonna, they're not even gonna care what you have to say because there's no love, there's no relationship behind it. Yesterday as I was leaving, I left really early in the morning to go to our Bible study prayer at the middle school. And I walked out and I'd forgotten to give my youngest kid, he's normally at that time, Hudson, forgot to give him a hug and a kiss. And he ran outside in the nine degree weather, Brett, and said, dad, wait, you forgot to give me a hug and a kiss. And it broke my heart because it was so important to him. And I'd forgot about it because I was busy and I was grabbing my coffee and everything else. But he knew that there was love there and he wanted to make sure that I knew that he loved me as well. Amen, amen. And that's the beauty of biblical justice is biblical justice. It's ultimately grounded in grace. It makes us think of Micah 6, 8, where God says, he has shown you, O moral, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you to act justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God? Biblical justice is about acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God. So Brett, we've already talked about biblical justice and what that is. Now we sort of need a transition to what is social justice. Now we have a solid foundation of biblical justice. Social justice doesn't, didn't always mean what it does today. In the past, it referred to addressing societal wrongs, like helping the poor, fighting systemic injustice, and advocating for the oppressed. And, you know, those are noble causes, no doubt. But today, social justice has become something very different. It's no longer a care for fair treatment. It has evolved into an ideology that demands a radical reordering of society and one that contradicts the biblical teachings. Absolutely. And in a book called Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth, written by Dr. Thaddeus Williams, he explained that the modern version of social justice is often based on postmodern philosophy. It's about deconstructing societal structures, focusing on power dynamics, and redistribution of power in ways that undermines traditional institution, especially those based on biblical principles. That's right. Dr. Owen Strahan in Christianity and Wokeness, he expands on that by saying that social justice is often used as a tool to dismantle what is referred to as whiteness or patriarchy, viewing them as the root causes of societal oppression. Social justice in this context becomes about identifying power imbalances according to its proponents. The way to achieve justice is by redistributing power to marginalized groups. And Brett, as we look through this, we begin to ultimately see that the problem here as Christians is we're called to minister reconciliation, not division. The goal of biblical justice isn't just to divide people among competing identity groups. It's to bring us all together into one lordship of Christ. I'm reminded as I think through this and as we think through this topic of social justice and biblical justice of Galatians 3.28. It tells us that there's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Biblical justice is about the unity of Christ, not the division that the world wants us to have. Some examples of social justice in the Bible we can begin to look at and see is social justice when it's rooted in helping marginalized and oppressed is something we can all get behind. When we start conflicting with biblical principles or pushing values that don't align with our faith, that's when things get tricky. You know, when you read that verse in Galatians, it made me think of that, you know, God actually does call us to be colorblind. And I've seen a lot of woke shows and woke agendas that say, yo, we're not supposed to be colorblind. Well, actually, we are. That's what scripture calls us to, calls us to not see color. But the attitude of social justice is, okay, color, the only thing you see. In fact, you can't get rid of it. You can't escape it. You're racist whether you like it or not. You know, this is just the way things are. So, what we want to do now is we want to give some modern examples of social justice. So, the first, and some of this stuff we're going to touch on that we'll examine more in future episodes. We'll touch on a few things here. The first example we're seeing a lot is a redefinition of the biblical sexual ethics. And this is a big one. We're talking about the push for same-sex marriage, gender fluidity, and even the inclusion of LGBTQ plus individuals in church leadership roles. Yeah. And Brett, you know, when you say that, it's, I mentioned this this past Sunday on the Second Day of Human Life Sunday, and I made the statement, I'm glad I don't have to define what life is because God defined that in Genesis chapter 2 where he says, I breathe the life into man. God determined what life was. It's the spirit that he breathed into us. We don't get to determine that. God did. We don't get to determine what marriage is. God did. And oftentimes, throughout scripture, we begin to see Christ and God developing these ideas for us, and we don't have to worry about it. And as we begin to continue through this, from a Christian perspective, that really challenges the foundation of what we believe about marriage and gender, the Bible's pretty clear on those things. And when society starts saying, no, you have to affirm this, or you're out of step, that's where a lot of Christians start feeling uncomfortable because we begin to say, well, what do I, who do I bring into line with? Where do I stand at? Am I, am I going to be wrong if I disagree with the world? Am I going to be wrong? And there's this challenge in the hearts and the minds of us as believers. And it's not just the redefinition of marriage or gender. It's the expectation that if you don't celebrate or endorse these things, you're seen as intolerant or hateful. It puts believers in a tough spot because standing by traditional views doesn't mean that you don't love or respect others, but the societal just, the social justice movement can sometimes leaving you feeling like you're being forced into accepting something that goes against your faith. And it is this thing of just because I don't affirm you, just because I don't agree with the way you live your life doesn't mean that I don't love you. Absolutely. Another issue, and we're going to talk about this in just a couple of weeks, is cancel culture. It's one thing to speak out against injustice, but there's another thing when anyone who holds a traditional Christian viewpoint, let's say on marriage or abortion, gets publicly shamed or even canceled for speaking their mind. James, this is such a huge problem, especially on social media. And here's the thing, as Christians, we're all about loving people and showing grace. So when cancel culture comes in and creates this environment where everyone's walking on eggshells, not able to speak freely, it really stifles a healthy conversation. When you've got Christian businesses out here that make wedding cakes and their whole livelihood comes under fire and under scrutiny and in danger of losing their house and everything they have just because they won't do something that goes against their faith. That's where we're at in today's society and in today's world. Yeah, and speaking of a healthy conversation, Brett, let's talk about affirmative action for a moment. Identity politics. He went there. Look, there's a big push for politics that gives preferential treatment based on things like race and gender, and they all categorize this under the banner of social justice. Absolutely. But for many conservative Christians, this starts to feel like a form of division where we're focusing more on group identity rather than individual merit. The Bible teaches that we're all equal in Christ regardless of race or gender, but these movements can sometimes make it feel like we're divided into categories of oppression. And you know, Brett, that's a tough balancing act because of course there are real injustices that need addressing. But some people feel like these identity politics aren't unitedness. They're continually to further divide us. And then that's where the whole debate about redistribution of wealth comes in, correct? Right, yes. The push for policies like universal basic income or wealth taxes to reduce inequality is another example. See, Christians feel that this crosses the line into socialism, which isn't just a political concern, it's a theological one too. The Bible talks about personal responsibility and stewardship, but many believe that extreme wealth distribution takes away people's freedom to choose and give out of their own abundance, which makes a lot of sense when it comes to especially like New Testament giving that kind of goes against what the Bible teaches on that. Yeah, that's a big one, Brett. And then there's the issue of radical environmentalism. Some of the extreme policies being pushed in the name of climate justice are making people question whether we're elevating environmental concerns above human needs. You know, in this moment where we talk about this, you know, right now we just have these massive wildfires ravaged through California. California. And I loved how Dr. Al Mohler said it on his podcast. He walked through and said that there were species of fishes that they were afraid that they would endanger their point of going extinct if they build a dam or reservoir around where these fishes were at. And they had whole big studies about how if we put this dam up, this fish is going to go extinct. A fish that we've never even heard of or even thought about. We don't consume it. We don't eat it. That has nothing to do with anything. And it came out that they didn't put a dam up in a reservoir in that area which would have helped stop these wildfires and helped stop the spread of this because they would have had water accessible for them. And it came out later, like 10 years later, that this fish was a subset of another fish that would never go extinct because of the population of this fish. But we made some huge big deal about one little area and now we're risking the livelihoods of human beings because of a fish where this is the climate culture. This is the viewpoint where we let the climate begin to dictate what we do over human needs. Right. And from a Christian viewpoint, from a Christian worldview, we're called to steward the earth. But at the end of the day, people come first. It feels like some of these radical policies are taking the focus away from human flourishing in favor of an almost idolized view of nature. It's one thing to care for the planet. It's another thing to restrict people's livelihoods in the name of saving it. We were created and given dominion over the earth for a reason. And Brett, last but not least, we've seen the push to restrict religious expression in public life. The demand to remove crosses nativity scenes and even Christian prayers from public spaces is definitely something a lot of Christians are concerned about. I know me as a pastor, these are areas that I'm concerned about all the time is where is our religious freedom and what is going to be taken away in the future and what is already allowed to be taken away today. And these are questions that we wrestle with all the time. People in different realms of the world are asking themselves, America used to be a free nation. We used to be someone who could do these things in the freedom of the name of Christ and now it feels like we do things in our freedom that our Constitution gives us and then it gets taken away because of someone else getting their feelings hurt. Exactly. And, you know, it's not even just about public spaces either. It's about schools, workplaces, pretty much anywhere that intersects with the public. Many conservatives believe that efforts to silence religious expression are an attack on religious freedom, especially when it comes to living out your faith in everyday life. So, Brett, there's a lot to unpack here. The main takeaway is this. While social justice can and should address real pressing issues, when it starts to overstep and contradict biblical values, that's when we need to pause and reassess where we're at. For sure. At the end of the day, we want to make sure that we're loving all people well, standing for justice, and staying faithful to God's Word. There's got to be a balance. We can't lose sight of that. We can't promote social justice above everything else in the Bible. Make the gospel centered around social justice, and that's a false gospel. All right, so let's talk about some key differences between biblical justice and social justice, now that we've given you some examples of social justice. First, biblical justice reflects God's character, while social justice is rooted in human philosophy. Absolutely, Brett. I love that statement. God's character in human philosophy. Because biblical justice is objective because it's based on God's moral law, which doesn't change with times. There's no public opinion that changes what God believes or His standards. God's standards for just are unchanging, and they're laid out in Scripture. They're like loving your neighbor, things like loving your neighbor, defending the widow and the orphans and standing up for the oppressed. That's grounded in who God is, His holiness, His love for humanity, but social justice, as we see it today, is much more fluid and subjective. It's not necessarily based on a set of universal moral laws. Instead, it's shaped by people's feelings, their personal experiences, their political ideologies of that time, and Brett, it could even be just the way they feel that day when they wake up in the morning. Exactly, and that's a huge distinction. When we talk about biblical justice, it's not swayed by public opinion. Biblical justice isn't swayed by the latest social media trends and what meme is on Twitter. The social justice often shifts with the political climate. What's deemed just today may look very different in a few years or even a few months. It's driven by emotions and collective grievances rather than by an eternal truth. You got people that made a movie 10 years ago that said something that may be faux pas today and they want to retroactively cancel that movie or cancel that actor because of something they said 10 years ago that really wasn't all that bad. Yeah, that's why from a Christian perspective, Brett, we can't rely solely on shifting sands of human philosophy. The Bible gives us a firm foundation. when we aim for justice, we're doing so based on God's righteous standard, not a popular vote. So God doesn't say, okay, you guys get together and vote on what you think is just and right and then we'll sort of go that way because when we do that, it's the shifting sand. The popularity changes. And that brings us to our second point. Biblical justice is impartial while social justice is partial. In biblical justice, we're called to treat everyone fairly without favoritism. Leviticus 19.15 says, do not pervert justice, do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. The Bible calls us to impartiality where everyone else is held to the same standard regardless of their background, race, or status. The heart of biblical justice is that everyone is made in God's image. And so everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. There's no room for biasness. There's no room for discrimination in God's economy. When we look at social justice, it often calls for a different kind of justice, one that's based on a group identity. Right. Social justice tends to prioritize certain groups over others, often based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status. In many cases, it demands that we elevate those who have been historically oppressed, sometimes at the expense of others. The idea is that in order to balance the scales, certain groups need special treatment or corrective measures to address past injustices. And that just reminds me of the elemental principles of the world that Paul talks about. You know, Paul says, you know, karma. Karma is something that Paul says that's what the world believes in. And, you know, they're saying, oh, we got to fix our karma with this. Yeah, and as we see in scripture, God doesn't show partiality. He doesn't choose one person over another because of their social or economic standard. He's concerned with righteousness for everyone. In the kingdom of God, we're called to treat all people with the same level of dignity and justice, regardless of their identity markers. That's a huge point. The Bible teaches us to show compassion to the poor and the oppressed, but it never tells us to favor one group at the expense of another. Everyone is made in the image of God and that's what should drive our sense of justice. I just preached this past Sunday on the sanctity of human life and the title of my message was Image is Everything and we talked about how the Pharisees came to Jesus and, you know, said, should we pay taxes? And Jesus said, give me a denarii. And he said, whose image is this? And they said, Caesar's. And then Jesus said, probably one of those profound and famous words that he said. And he said, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's. So we know that money holds images. Even our money holds the image of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson. But where is God's image? Well, we need to look in the mirror because we are the image of God. We are all image bearers from the baby that is a microscopic clump of cells to the person and the nursing home who can't take care of themselves and everybody in between. We all share the image of God. That's why we shouldn't treat one group of people with less honor, less worth, less value simply because of the color of their skin. And that goes both ways. Yeah, and this really leads us into our third and final point. Biblical justice is about restoring right relationships. While social justice often seeks to create division and conflicts, Brett, in biblical justice, God desires, God's desire is always to reconcile. Whether that's between man and God or man and man, the ultimate goal is peace, harmony, and the right relationships. You hit the nail on the head. You see, this is the gospel itself. Jesus came to reconcile us to God through his death and resurrection. He broke down the walls of hostility between Jews and Gentiles to live at peace with one another. Biblical justice restores, it heals, it reconciles. It's all about bringing people back together, mending broken relationships, living in unity with each other. God's justice is tied to love and grace. God's justice isn't about punishment or retribution. It's about restoring what was lost. In the same way as Christians, we're called to pursue justice that leads to healing and restoration in our communities. But social justice, Brett, often operates in the opposite direction. They want to bring division in our communities. They want to cause destruction in our communities. They want to heal anything in our community. They want to see one person elevated over another. Right. And social justice can sometimes create more division. It tends to focus on identity-based oppression, and instead of bringing people together, it often fuels resentment and division. It labels people as either oppressors or victims based on group identity, and that can cause more harm than good. Yeah, when social justice focuses solely on who's been wronged and who the oppressors are, it can lead into a way of us-versus-them mentality. And instead of reconciliation, it creates a sense of separation. The Bible calls us, Brett, to reconcile, not to drive wedges between people. So the bottom line is, biblical justice brings people together and seeks to restore right relationships. While social justice often ends up dividing people and fostering a sense of conflict. In the Bible, justice always aims at healing, restoring, and reconciling. But today's social justice movement can sometimes create more division by focusing too heavily on identity politics. And that's why as Christians, we need to be vigilant about what kind of justice we're pursuing. Biblical justice justice is grounded in truth. It's impartial in the ultimate goal of reconciliation and restoration. Social justice, on the other hand, can be subjective, partial, and at times, Brett, it will be divisive. Exactly. As believers, we want to stand for true justice, the kind that reflects God's heart and character. It's not about perpetuating division. it's about bringing people together under God's righteous rule. Yeah, and that's why we have to be so careful with our words. Not everything is labeled as justice today begins to align with God's definition of justice. We need to be discerning and make sure that our pursuit of justice always points back to the truth of Scripture and the heart of God. I'm one that's guilty of it, Brett. I will throw out hot topic words and I'll say people are woke and I'll say people are whatever just because I've just been funny. But oftentimes we will use terms to define things and we label them in a way that is wrong and unjust and we must be very careful in how we do that or we will find ourselves causing division as well. Exactly. So let's go into talking about actions for Christians. What can we do with all of this, James? How do we navigate these ideologies in a world that's absolutely obsessed with social justice? Yeah, I would say first and foremost when you hear someone use the term social justice it would be good for you to stop and ask them to define what they mean by it. If they're talking about helping the poor or standing up for the oppressed just call it justice. There's no need to add the complicated term if it's just about doing what's right. second, immerse yourself in God's word. Study passages like Matthew Micah 6 8, Isaiah 117, and James 127. Understand God's heart for justice, mercy, and compassion. The more we know God's standards, the better equipped we'll be to stop, to spot counterfeit ideas. Absolutely. You know, you've heard the illustration before of a banker who deals with money all day long. They never teach a banker to find counterfeit by studying counterfeit. They tell the banker when they're studying money to get so familiar with what true money is that when you pick up a fake bill, your hand automatically knows that it's a fake bill. By the touch, by the sensation, by knowing what a true bill feels like. And so often, this should be our goal in life. We should be so familiar with truth, so familiar with God's word, that when something comes up that's contradicting to God's word, we automatically know, that's not right, that doesn't sound right, that doesn't act right, that doesn't jive with what I know, because we're so familiar with truth. And so not only do we need to study truth, but we need to be vigilant. Second, Colossians 2, 8 says, warns us not to take captive by hollow or deceptive philosophies. And social justice might sound good on the surface, but at its core, it can distort God's truth and lead us astray. As Christians, we need to be discerning, and we must, I'm sorry, we must guard our hearts above all. Right, so, you know, as we're here, we're wrapping up today, I just want, you know, as we wrap up today's episode, let's make it clear, social justice as defined in today's culture is not the same as biblical justice. It's important that we stand firm in God's truth, even when the world is pushing us to embrace ideologies that lead us further away from him. James, do you have any final thoughts? You know, I just want to thank you guys for joining us today. We would not be able to have this show if you didn't listen and we're always thankful for you. If you found this episode helpful or encouraging, please subscribe, share it with a friend, leave us a review, and together we can continue to seek God's justice in a world that desperately needs it, in a world that is searching for truth, that is searching for freedom. we have the answer to life. Who else can we go to other than Jesus? Until next time, to God, not the pastor, be the glory. I found my new name, found that good grace, found that healing, and the tears fell down my face when I found my beginning that has no ending, found that second chance, found my best friend, found my forgiveness, found my happiness, I've been singing ever since, I found my freedom in you. Thanks for listening to the For Freedom Podcast. If you enjoyed our content, do us a favor by liking, subscribing, or sharing our podcast or whichever podcast platform you use. Be sure to join us next time for the For Freedom Podcast. For Freedom . Thank you.

Auto-generated transcript · 7,453 words. May contain errors.