Depending on your church tradition, engaging in social justice will seem like a natural part of Christian life, or it may seem like a worldly concern that is a distraction from the gospel.
In NT Wright’s “How God Became King” he shows that Christians need to gain richer understanding of the gospel message in order to do justice in the world properly.
Here’s a quote from the book that frames Wright’s argument:
“To begin with, we must recognize that the four gospels effortlessly draw together, into a rich unity, many things that later tradition split apart…
We have lived for many years now with “kingdom Christians” and “cross Christians” in opposite corners of the room, anxious that those on the other side are missing the point, the one group with its social-gospel agenda and the other with its saving-souls-for-heaven agenda.
The four gospels bring these two viewpoints together into a unity that is much greater than the sum of their parts….
In fact, what we call “politics” and what we call “religion” (and for that matter what we call “culture,” “philosophy,” “theology,” and lots of other things besides) were not experienced or thought of in the first century as separable entities. This was just as true, actually, for the Greeks and the Romans as it was for the Jews.”
The Distorted Music in the Gospels
Wright uses the clever metaphor of a four speaker sound system that is playing the music of the gospel. Unless you have all of the speakers attuned correctly, then you won’t hear what God intended. Here are the four elements of the gospel, the four speakers Wright tells us to harmonize:
Speaker 1: The Conclusion of Israel’s Story
Speaker 2: Jesus is God
Speaker 3: The Start of the Church
Speaker 4: God Kingdom vs Rome and their gods
Wright says speaker 2 is turned up so high, the music is distorted. He says academics mistakenly listen to only speaker 3 and ignore the rest. And Wright makes the case that speaker 1 is turned too low, and speaker 4 hasn’t been plugged in at all.
The Missing Part of the Story
Wright combines the kingdom of the world, Rome and the rebellious spirits that influence the world into one speaker.
“If the story of Jesus was to be seen, somehow, as the story of Israel’s God come in person, one would automatically assume that this element, of triumph over the nations and their gods, would play a significant role.”
I’d say that the dark forces Jesus battled in the gospels are not a speaker, but a subwoofer beneath the entire story. A quadraphonic speaker system is enhanced greatly by a subwoofer that boost the sound of the music in the lowest frequencies. In the same way, our understanding of the gospels are enhanced if we understand the spiritual battle Jesus is engaged in with Satan, demons, and the rebellious spiritual forces.
Famously, Thomas Jefferson edited his own Bible with all of the Jesus’ miracles and talk of demons cut out. It it any wonder why Jefferson is one of the most hypocritical men in history, writing about justice in America’s declaration of independence, while keeping his own children and his wife’s sister as slaves?
We also “toss out the subwoofer” in the gospels when we skip over sections that deal with the-behind-scenes war Jesus was engaged in. Some of my favorite men of justice, like William Lloyd Garrison took this part of the gospel seriously. I believe that’s why he was able to be forceful in his advocacy for freedom, while devoted to peaceful means. Garrison was fighting evil forces, not just men. He learned that from reading the gospels.
A Robust View of Justice
When you let all four of Wright’s gospel speakers play, and add the subwoofer, I believe you’ll have not just a rich view of the church’s role in social justice. With confidence in God’s promises (speaker 1), you’ll be able to respect the authorities in the world (speaker 3), and pray for them (subwoofer), while speaking the truth to power (speaker 4) and advocating for the oppressed (speaker 2).
I highly recommend making this book part of your study on biblical justice.