Confronting Social Justice As Christians

Going off of this week's podcast episode

I just wanted to say that I absolutely love seeing how passionate people are about fighting for other people to be heard and seen and healed. But I think often as Christians we forget to ask for discernment on how we're supposed to get involved and we quickly jump on bandwagons and click that share button before thinking twice and asking for discernment. I know I've been guilty of this.

Keep in mind before jumping into this, I'm speaking directly to Christians here. If that's not you, that's totally fine, just understand that I'm not holding you accountable to this belief system.

It's often assumed that of course God wants you to stand up and fight for His children and if you really were a Christian you would do "x, y and z". That's really love, right?

Well, I want to challenge you on that.

When God says in Romans 12:19

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” That's a pretty powerful statement.

If vengeance is His, I'd say we ought to ask Him before we try to steal that role away from Him. After all, He loves them more than you ever could. I truly believe there is power in prayer and if you're a follower of Jesus I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you believe in that as well. It's our direct landline to God after all.

So keeping that in mind, it should be on our minds to first, before we do anything, consult Whom who created the Earth and all of the people on it before we go and click share and get in Facebook fights and such. Right?

Should we not strive to utilize the tools we have?

Tools such as loving through listening, being prayer warriors, serving in whatever way we can, and turning the other cheek when people who don't understand God's love come after us.

All of these things are so vital to walking with Christ, and especially when it comes to how we treat one another.

It is vital that we remember how short our time on Earth truly is. We need to focus more on our eternal lives and less on our temporary ones.

How much more could we fight for those we care about then by showing them the love of Jesus and fighting for their souls? We were each called as followers of Christ to share the incredible news of Jesus. If we truly want people to be heard, seen and healed- we should be showing them the love of God. There is no better way to go to bat for someone.

You can disagree with me all you want, but this is Bible truth. This is the hard stuff. It feels off and it feels like holding back when we don't hop on the bandwagons, I know, I get it. Sometimes I share things I'm supposed to and sometimes I share things I'm not supposed to and I immediately know it and usually have to deal with consequences in one way or another. But the reality is that in the world we live in, it's going to be uncomfortable to stand up and proclaim the word of God, but we're called to it.

I encourage you that the next time you want to fight for someone, stand up to injustices- you seek God first. Ask Him for permission to speak and if so, the words to say, whom to say them to and when. Truly seek wisdom before sharing posts and joining the majority. Because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what people think about your or say to you for not getting all up in arms publicly about something that they want you to- it matters if you're obedient to what God is asking you to do. At the end of the day you answer to Him. Not your followers and friends and people you've never met before.

Here's the takeaway. Get in your Bible. Get on your knees and pray for people. Ask God to help you see people the way He see's them. Ask God to help you be someone that people can come to when they don't feel seen or heard. Ask God to grant you the words and the self awareness to take your eyes off yourself and put them back onto others who need to be served and ask God to humble you so that you don't try to put the glory back onto you. Serving and fighting for people isn't to make you look good and feel good about what you're doing and who you're helping, it's about them seeing the love of Jesus and what their life looks like on the other side of the temporary world we're living in.

I've shared a little bit more here in this video and given some practical steps of what to do when you're not sure what to do. I've also got all the scripture his is based on listed below so that you can do some studying yourself.

Please feel free to message me if you have any questions.

xoxo - Ry

Scripture mentioned:

1 Timothy 4:1

2 Timothy 4:3-4

2 Corinthians 5:17

Galatians 2:20

Ephesians 4:24

Colossians 4:6

Matthew 5:7

Ephesians 6:18

Psalm 46:1

1 John 3:16-18

1 John 4:7-8

Proverbs 3:5-6

Ecclesiastes 3:17

Hebrews 10:30

Proverbs 28:5

Amos 5:24

Psalm 37:27-29

Isaiah 61:8-9

Galatians 3:28

Romans 2:11

John 13:16

Acts 10:34-35

Ephesians 2:8