Random thought #2: Social justice and the church

"These impious Galileans [Christians] not only feed their own poor, but ours also." - Julian the Apostate,

When people think of Christianity and the Church today, do they associate it with social justice? They certainly did early in the history of Christianity.

Julian the Apostate was a Roman emperor in the fourth century, given his rather impious title for his attempts to restore paganism to Rome, undoing the work of his Christian predecessors, and suppression of the development of Christianity. In other words, he despised the Christians, but nevertheless had to admit in his writing that under its church, Rome's impoverished were being looked after.

The early church was scoffed at for the demographic of its flock; the critics called it a religion for "the lower classes, the slaves, and the women." And little wonder - Christianity preached about hope for the future, the transient nature of present sufferings, equality of all men, and women as well. The Church fed the poor, looked after the widows and orphans, and preached that a man should love and honour his wife, and take up the cross for her if necessary. These were all very novel concepts to the ancient Romans. The pagan Romans were known for leaving unwanted newborn babies to die of exposure to the elements - this most often happened if the child was a girl. The church, on the other hand, were known to going out there and picking up these unwanted children, to be brought up and cared for. Though early Christianity was despised, it was also known for its love, justice, and mercy. No wonder Christianity flourished.

Christianity is inseparable from social justice, just as faith is inseparable from works (James 2:14-26). In the Old Testament, when God saw the oppression of the poor and the widows and orphans being forsaken by the nation of Israel, He seethed with anger, and refused to accept their fasts, feasts, or music (Isaiah 58; Amos 5).

What is the reaction of our churches today, when we look at modern injustices such as human trafficking, poverty, inequalities in access to education and medical care? What about the problems in our own backyard? Is our church complacent and sitting on its hands when looking at its global and local responsibilities? Or does the sight and thought of these injustices stir in us a Godly seething anger?