Jemar and Tyler are back for part two of their conversation on “The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel” from John MacArthur and other pastors.
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Now, onto this week’s episode!
Quotes and Notes for this PTM episode:
Jemar Tisby: We don’t primarily want to be a ministry of responding.
Tyler Burns: If the only invitations we ever receive are from people is with cameras on, with mics recording, and where people can take sides… then what’s the point of this?.. Is this about a conversation or a confrontation?
Jemar Tisby: That’s a reason why I think people reacted so negatively to this statement: They grew up in personal circumstances and ecclesiastical circumstances where justice was a huge part of the Gospel– it was integral to the Gospel and not just a corollary.
Tyler Burns: This statement is really talking about the character and nature of God. When we proclaim God’s kingdom on this earth, we should be proclaiming the holistic character of the King. It’s important for us to recognize that when the Lord says: ‘I love justice’ and ‘Righteousness and justice are the foundation of the throne,’ we have to step back and recognize that this is a core issue because this is God telling us that ‘I’m not for the mistreatment of the people I’ve created. I do not stand on that kingdom.’
Tyler Burns: Where other kings have mistreated the marginalized and the vulnerable, our God comes in and says ‘No! I restore them. I repair that which was broken. I raise up those who were put down. I lift up those who where oppressed. I liberate those who have been captives.’
Jemar Tisby: If you want to have solidarity with the marginalized, you need to get near them.
An Open Letter To John MacArthur About Social Justice by Rasool Berry at The Witness
A Better Statement on Christianity and Justice: The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern by Jemar Tisby at The Witness
Battle lines form over social justice: Is it gospel or heresy? by Jemar Tisby at Religion News Service
John MacArthur’s series on social justice: Part 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Theological Works by Black Theologians, Pastors and Scholars from The Witness
The Charlottesville Declaration: An Appeal to the Church in America
Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern (1973)
Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism
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SHOW DETAILS
Show Hosts: Jemar Tisby + Tyler Burns • Producer: Beau York + Podastery Studios • Pass The Mic: Website + Twitter • The Witness: Website + Twitter
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Looking forward to listening to this when I have time this week.
I’d like to share a link though to Mohler’s response. Mohler didn’t sign the statement, as he had at least one concern that y’all share on the definition of victims. Why I share this though is that you’ll see if you watch his response, is that he responds to the statement without demeaning those who wrote it or signed it. This is wisdom in how to address and respond to this as Christians, and I believe that Tyler and Jemar in their youth need to learn from, as much as the rest of us, so that our Witness is above reproach and far more persuasive.
http://www.dennyburk.com/albert-mohler-answers-questions-about-social-justice/
Thank you for this episode. Tyler, your words at the end of the podcast were prophetic and have deep significance to me. Thank you.
You’ve given me a new resource to check in to–Francis Grimke! I’ll confess my ignorance that as someone raised in the Presbyterian tradition I had not heard of him. I could not figure out what name you mentioned (I was looking for “Reinke”!) as I was listening to the podcast, so when I got home I immediately looked up your archives to find the name, and then used Google to find the book/resource, and found it in his addresses as edited by Carter Woodson in 1942.
It is a *great* quote, and I am going to use it and remember it.
“If justice sleeps in this land, let it not be because we have helped lull it to sleep by our silence, our indifference; let it not be from lack of effort on our part [as Christians] to arouse it from its slumbers.”
I just wish the book could be re-issued in a modern format–it’s very hard to read it online as an OCR’ed book.