Sunday, March 21, 2021

 

Sunday Reflection: The heart of it

 



A lot of people sent me a recent column from David Brooks (you can read it here) about a Christian ideal of social justice. Many of them said "I think you will like this!" Spoiler alert: I didn't.

The "Social Justice" vision Brooks describes is rooted in the idea of sin, not love-- and it encourages identifying the sin in other people. That's the opposite of what Jesus taught. Yes, we need to root out our own sins, but we aren't to judge others. Jesus taught this clearly. I mean... how much clearer can it be than "Judge not?" 

It is the "let's root out the sin of others" approach that has taken us to most of the bad things Christianity has done. We can root our ethic in love and still seek out sin-- we just must look inward rather than outward in that search. It should be love that we extend to others.

I have no problem with the idea that God will judge us, or that there is right and wrong. But nothing in Jesus's teaching suggests that our role is the same as God's. 


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