Jesus gives us the great commission. This command, to go into the whole world and preach the gospel, also says to teach people all that Jesus taught the disciples. Evangelicals would consider all that the rest of the NT authors wrote as needing to be taught as well.
So, I was discussing the merits of social justice with a friend from the Christian Right. He opposes social justice and believes we need to focus on preaching the gospel. As I woke up early the other morning, I was thinking about how part of what James wrote fits so well with what Jesus said as one of his final teachings. It ties together faith and works. James 2 teaches that the justification process has a works component. And while many have argued how James and Paul can be teaching the same gospel, we must wrestle with both sides of this tension. I have come to see how James takes his cue from Jesus in Matthew 25 when He clearly teaches salvation is demonstrated by acts of …
⁃ Feeding and clothing the poor (welfare?)
⁃ Showing hospitality to strangers (foreigners?)
⁃ Take care of the sick (healthcare?)
⁃ Visit those in prison (justice reform?)
Or summarized as taking care of the “least of these.”
As Jesus taught this, there is no faith component in His discussion. It is simply, those who do this inherit the kingdom, and those that don’t are thrown into fire with the the devil and demons. This goes right along with James who said that we are justified by works and not by faith alone. This is uncomfortable teachings for us, especially in the US. But, while there is tension in this, compared to Paul’s strong language that my efforts are like dung, we still have very clear teaching that somehow our “works” of caring for the physical needs of those that need help is a social side of the Gospel.
So this is where I see that some of the very last teachings of Jesus, and those that indicate who does and does not go to heaven, are teachings of a social gospel. The efforts of the social gospel are efforts to bring about a just social order where people that need help get the care that compassion compels us to provide. Evidence of this came early when in Acts 2 it speaks of people giving freely to those in need. And what is so amazing is, that in light of this amazing effort to care for one another (fulfilling Jesus’ command to love one another as He loved them) that unbelieving people came to faith EVERY DAY. This demonstration of sacrificial love (modeled by Christ Himself) is “preaching the Gospel.”
So what I see is that when Christians are willing to sacrifice our own resources (time and money) and show we are willing to forego our own pleasures to help those that are disadvantaged, that this speaks to the unbelieving in ways that words can never accomplish. This is what makes the social component just as important as the spoken/written component of the gospel. Preaching the Gospel by itself is faith without works, and that does not justify anyone, but makes us goats and not sheep.
So I have concluded that efforts at social justice are exactly what Jesus was talking about that demonstrates what sheep do. This is why I find it so hard to believe that so many Christians (like my friend) don’t see this, as it clearly lines up with what Jesus taught us about how to show the love that He commanded us to show, and that this love is what will show all men that we are true followers of Jesus (John 13:35).
Letters from a Fathers Heart 