Latest / 4-Freedom Podcast / 157. Freedom From Social Justice

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157. Freedom From Social Justice · 4-Freedom Podcast

0:10
I found my freedom in you. I found a toy I can't lose, and
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thank God it's true. You wrapped your arms around me
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and heaven broke through. From the moment she found me.
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I found. Welcome to the Four Freedom
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Podcast. This podcast exists to bring the
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freedom of the gospel for everyday Christians with
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everyday issues. Now here are your hosts, James
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Seyfried and Brett Martin. Welcome back to the Four Freedom
0:50
Podcast. We are digging ourselves out of
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the snow. Well, James, you're digging
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yourself out of the snow. Me, I'm just, we got all the
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cold weather, all the potentially water pipe busting
1:02
coldness, bone chilling, 14° and none of the snow.
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It's weird because a week, like 2 weeks ago, the snow went north
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of us and now the snow went South of us.
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I mean, they got like 10 inches down in New Orleans and we don't
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have any snow. I mean, I'm glad I don't get
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have to drive on ice, but there's a little boy boy in me
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that always likes to play with plane of snow and build snowmen.
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James, do you want to build a snowman?
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My kids build a couple of them. A couple weeks ago we actually
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didn't get any snow on this last storm we got cold.
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We, we had 72, almost 80 hours of cold of below freezing.
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And so it's been, it's been cold, it's been frigid, man,
1:52
it's been very much freezing and just trying to figure that out.
1:57
We had a, a wonderful time at the Capitol when we're recording
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this for the DC for the inauguration, me, my son stood
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outside for four hours. We got in and about 10 minutes
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after we walked in the door, they shut the doors because the
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stadium was full. And So what a blessing that was
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to be able to spend that weekend with him.
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And then we had a great time. This cold weather, it's been
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great. But it just, it puts a hindrance
2:22
on there. I mean, you just feel drowning.
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I love cold weather, don't get me wrong.
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But when it gets this below freezing, I like it cold like in
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the 40s, fifties cold, not like waking up in the morning.
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It's 4° outside cold. So that's the that's the
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difference. But yeah, man, things have been
2:40
going good and I hope things are going well with you guys.
2:43
Church well has been doing great as well.
2:46
And we, we originally talked about TikTok been banned and now
2:49
it's, it's back on for 75 days. Boy, Trump, man.
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You know, Trump brought us back TikTok and then, you know, you
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know, Trump, Trump wasn't even president for a day and he fixed
3:02
global warming. He's like, I'm going to send you
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some snow for voting for me down there in the South.
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There you go. So he took care of that.
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Now, we thought we touched on you being at the Capitol last
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week, but I want to ask specifically about what it was
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like being in that stadium. I want to know how long you
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waited for Trump to get there. What did he do?
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What did he sign executive orders?
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What was the parade like? What did you like best about
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that? Yeah.
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So we got there, had a great time.
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We waited in line. We got the in line about 6:30,
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there were about 20,000 people in front of us and we're about
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14 blocks away. So we swiggered our way through
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the line. We finally got there.
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We turned the corner and we turned the corner.
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We're about two blocks away from the from the arena.
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So I sort of looked back and they were about 100,000 people
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behind me because you can see the Capitol building behind me
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with that led to the National Mall.
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So that was the road we were on, I mean, full of people.
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So I mean those 100,000 people didn't get in.
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So lots of people there waiting in line, lots of people trying
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to get in. It took us about four hours
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waiting in line. Had some great conversations
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with people around us. We got in right as Trump and
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Vance were taking the stage to make their in the Rotunda to
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make their, to take their inauguration, their swearing in.
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And then after that there were some music and we got to see his
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other his other speech as well. And then he went to his
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lunchtime. And so during his lunch, they
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had people from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Elon Musk, Charlie
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Kirk, the secretary of Commerce, several other dignitaries that
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were there that came over to the arena, made some speeches.
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He was supposed to show up at 3:30.
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Schedule got delayed. He got there about 5:00.
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And so we got there. We ate lunch, we watched
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everything. My son got a little sick in the
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afternoon and so he actually went out and up, chucked
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everywhere during the parade. So I didn't get to see all of
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the parade. The parade was cool.
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I got to see it on the TV and got to hear it from the from the
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outside there. And then he got some medicine
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and he felt better, went out. Trump got there, we got to see
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him come out, he gave his speech, and then we got to see
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him sign 9 executive orders in front of us.
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To the best of my knowledge, that is the first time ever that
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a president has signed executive orders in front of people that
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aren't special, you know, dignitaries, little things that
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you know that. Yeah, it will always the press
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and, you know, your AG and vice president, never has he signed
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up any president signed executive orders in front of the
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common folk is the way I put it. And then he got up and started
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throwing his pins into the crowd, which was awesome.
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So nine people got a pin that Donald Trump had signed with.
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So, man, overall, it was great time.
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I I told the guys that I went with, I will go to any
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inauguration, no matter who it is.
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If the opportunity comes up in the future.
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I don't care if it's Democrat, independent, Republican, the
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excitement, the transfer of power, the festivities that were
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around it, we're awesome and I, I would go back no matter what.
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Well cool, cool. I'm glad y'all had a good time.
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I hated didn't get to go but it you know, I was also wondering,
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you know, I mean I hated didn't get to be outside.
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There are a lot of people that took off work and went up, that
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went up there that didn't get to, didn't get to see anything.
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And so I'm sorry for that. You're almost like Trump put on
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a pair of, you know, thermals and, you know, let people come
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out there if they want to come out there.
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But then the on the other hand, he he's older.
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And so I understand there was another president who caught
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pneumonia during his inauguration and was died a
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month later. So, I mean, I do understand the
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the precaution, but the big thing is we got four years of
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Trump ahead of us. And I think that's a good thing
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for our country. I especially like the way, you
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know, Biden can take all the credit for the ceasefire he
7:28
wants to. But that was because of Trump,
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because Trump said if if there's not a ceasefire done, he's going
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to unleash AT double hockey sticks.
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And that's exactly what they were afraid of.
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And that's why they made the deal, you know, the deal maker.
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At this point, I don't care who gets the credit.
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I'm just glad it's done. You know, we don't, we don't
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need that. We don't need the, the malicious
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warfare. We don't need the, the prisoners
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of war. They had some people that were
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there that were from Israel, that family members were in
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captivity. And one lady, she said, my, my
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son is dead. I know he's dead.
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He's in a body bag. We just want his body released.
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We just want to be able to bury him with dignity.
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So, you know, it's, it's to the point where let's just end the,
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the senselessness and move on. And I think that's where we're
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sort of AT. And I'm excited about that.
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Either way, excited about the future, excited about what's
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going on. Of course, the media storm is,
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is crazy. Everyone's reporting on
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everything. And Trump, you know, he signed
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200 executive orders or actions in one day, which is unheard of.
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But hey, it was done. And he's, he's correcting some
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courses. And so we're, we're excited to
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see what's going to be going on in the future.
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But Brett, we talked about, about it often.
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It's probably the last time we do it for a while.
8:53
But we're, we're talking about social justice and then and
8:57
wokeness. But other than that, we've got
8:59
our cigars on sale at 4 Freedom Cigar Collection at 1689.
9:04
You can see that there. And we've got some deals going
9:07
on right now. They're about 40% off if you
9:09
want to go and grab some, just a great opportunity for you to
9:12
support our podcast, to support our endeavour.
9:15
And we've got one more cigar that's coming out that that will
9:18
be coming out soon as the, it's sold out right now.
9:21
But it's our sweet cigar. And man, we are pumped about
9:25
that and pumped about what we've got going on.
9:28
Lots of things going on with the, with the whole cigar
9:31
industry right now. Trump just launched an
9:33
inaugurational cigar with the same company we're with.
9:36
And so lots of lots of great things going on.
9:39
And I hope you can get a part of that and jump on board and enjoy
9:43
that. Maybe coming up for a Father's
9:44
Day gift or birthday gift for someone.
9:47
And stand by for trip information, like literally no
9:53
lie. Within the next two months,
9:56
we're going to make an announcement about a, a trip
9:59
either to Israel or to Greece. And So what?
10:02
Stand by For more information on that.
10:05
Now things are opening up, things are looking better.
10:09
It's just a little while. We're going to get something in
10:11
the books, get something planned and get over there.
10:27
We cannot. Truly worship God while we stay.
10:29
Silent on injustice in all kinds of areas.
10:32
And I know as a white pastor I have blind spots, so I am part
10:36
of the problem. James Paul elected to unhitch
10:42
the Christian faith. From their Jewish scriptures.
10:48
And my friends, we must as well. White people fear black men.
10:57
That's not fair. But it's true.
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Jesus repents of his racism and extends healing to this woman's
11:06
daughter. I love this story because it's a
11:08
reminder that Jesus is human. He had prejudices and bias and
11:12
when confronted with it he was willing to do his work.
11:18
I believe in the non binary God whose pronouns are plural.
11:24
I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic
11:29
and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling child of
11:34
God. I believe in the rainbow spirit
11:38
who shatters our image of 1 white light and refracts it into
11:43
a rainbow of gorgeous diversity. I believe in the Church of
11:48
everyday Saints, as numerous, creative and resilient as
11:54
patches on the 8th quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and
11:59
whose eyes gaze at the stars and wonder.
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I believe in the calling to each of us that love is love is love.
12:09
So beloved, let us love. I believe glorious God help my
12:15
unbelief. Amen.
12:25
This woke self loathing. And we will never let the woke
12:29
left. Take it away.
12:30
It's because they're putting woke ideology.
12:33
To a woke. Mob that can't even tell you
12:36
what a woman is. In this season of the Four
12:45
Freedom Podcast, we want to bring to you some enlightening
12:48
topics that deal with the wokeness of the church.
12:51
We want to bring to light some issues that are often
12:55
overlooked, and we hope that it'll be a blessing to you in
12:58
your listening experience. Hey, hey, hey, man.
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Roster, everybody. OK, well, let's dive into a
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conversation that's becoming increasingly vital for
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Christians in today's world, and that's the term social justice.
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It's a widely used term. It's used on social media, TV,
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news, everywhere. And you know, the the words have
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definitions themselves. But unfortunately, this is a
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concept that has been twisted. It's been misused in many
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circles, especially in Christian ones.
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What was once a call for the fair treatment of people,
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especially the marginalized, which by the way, is what
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Christianity is all about. The marginalized have only had a
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voice for the last 2000 years because of Christianity, but now
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it has become an ideology with a radically different agenda.
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Yeah, that's exactly right, Brett.
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It's like the famous quote from The Princess Bride.
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You keep using the word, I don't think you know what it means
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when you're using that word. And we're seeing that phrase,
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social justice, quotation marks there, social justice, it's
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becoming a loaded term and what it once meant, it's not quite
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what it stands for. Now, when we think about social
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justice today, it's not just about helping the poor, standing
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up for those who are oppressed, The loaded term that carries
14:33
baggage, that is political baggage and ideas that
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contradict the Bible's teaching on justice.
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We're going to break it down today for us and we're going to
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ask ourselves these questions. What does justice mean?
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What does it look like through the scripture of Len, the lens
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of Scripture? And how do we as Christians
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navigate this confusing landscape?
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We'll also ask the tough question, Should we also be
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using the term social justice at all?
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Yeah, sometimes we get in these, these these realms of using
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words that are popular. My son, he's a middle school 6th
15:09
grader and he comes home almost everyday, Brett, with a
15:12
different word that it's like made-up letters put together and
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they mean something. And so it's like these crazy
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things that they're saying. And oftentimes we get to this
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point where we get the word social justice, and it's like,
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should we even be using it at all, right?
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So buckle up. You know when James starts
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quoting Enigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, we're it's going
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to be a bumpy ride. So we're going to take a hard
15:37
look at what's behind this term and if it aligns with God's
15:42
truth. So, James, let's dive right in.
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Perfect. Let's start by answering the
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first question, Brett, and I'll ask it to you.
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What is social? What is justice?
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We hear the term all the time, but what does it really mean?
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Well, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, justice is
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the maintenance of what is just or right with the authority to
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carry out punishment or reward accordingly.
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Simply put, it's about ensuring people get what they are due,
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whether that's rewards for good behavior or punishment for wrong
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wrongdoing. But like many terms in our
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society, this definition only scratches the surface.
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Absolutely, Brett. And that's exactly right.
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But in the question we have to sort of get to is where this is
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where things get complicated. Who decides what is just?
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We think about human justice. We have a legal system and we
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have a courtroom. We have the Supreme Court, we
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have a judge and a jury that you can go to when things happen.
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But as we know, not all human laws are just.
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A great example of this is Roe V.
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Wade, the legalization of abortion in the US.
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As Christians, we believe that just because something is legal
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doesn't make it right in God's eyes.
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Exactly. This is where we need to turn to
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God's Word for clarity, because God's Word is supreme.
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God's law is supreme over man's law, and we obey man's law as
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long as it does it to contradict God's law.
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And in the Bible, justice is defined by God's character.
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It's not based on human whims and preferences or societal
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preferences. In fact, Psalms 8914 says
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righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
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So God's justice is always righteous.
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It's always perfect. It's always grounded in His
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Holiness. That's right, Brett, and justice
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isn't subjective. It's not about what feels right
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to us in the moment. As the theologian Augustine
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wrote, human justice must reflect divine justice, because
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only God is perfectly righteous. Without his standard, we're left
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trying to define justice on our own, which all will inevitably
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lead to error. So now that we've defined
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justice, let's talk about biblical justice.
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As we said, it's grounded in God's character, and we see that
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clearly in his law. For example, let's take for
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example the the 10 commandments which were given to the
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Israelites. They're more than just rules.
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They reflect God's perfect nature and show us how to live
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justly with each other. Absolutely.
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The 10 commandments were not just given as to regulate
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external behavior. They were revealed God's heart
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for His people. When we live in alignment with
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God's commands, we reflect His judgment.
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But it goes even deeper than just following His laws.
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Exactly. In the New Testament Jesus
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summarizes the whole law and two commandments, love God and love
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your neighbor as yourself. We see in Matthew 22 he says you
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shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and
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mind. This is the great and 1st
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commandment and the second is like it.
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Love your neighbor as yourself. Absolutely.
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And this is the foundation for biblical justice.
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It's not just about rules, but it's about a relationship.
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We how we treat God and how we treat other.
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Jesus redefines justice not just as fairness, but as mercy,
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compassion, and love. When we love God fully, we
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reflect his judgment by how we live with each other.
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It often reminds me of Brett, the way we were raised in the
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IFB. There were all the rules that we
19:36
had, but there were no relationships behind them.
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The famous quote that I always repeated that I was told was
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rules without reason is stems to rebellion.
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And I want to change that a little bit because rules without
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relationship, it's a pause for rebellion.
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If you just tell your kids what they can and can't do and
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there's no relationship, there's no love behind that, then then
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your kids are going to, they're not even going to care what you
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have to say because there's no love, there's no relationship
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behind it. Yesterday as I was leaving, I
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left really early in the morning to go to our Bible study prayer
20:12
at the middle school. And I walked out and I'd forgot
20:15
to give my youngest kid he, you know, he's normally at that
20:18
time, Hudson forgot to give him a hug and a kiss.
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And he ran outside in the 9° weather, Brett, and said, Dad,
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wait, you forgot to give me a hug and a kiss?
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And it broke my heart because it was so important to him.
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And I'd forgot about it because I was busy and I was grabbing my
20:34
coffee and everything else. But he knew that there was love
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there, and he wanted to make sure that I knew that he loved
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me as well. Amen.
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Amen. And you know, and that's the the
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beauty of biblical justice is biblical justice.
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It it's ultimately grounded in grace makes us think of Micah
20:53
6-8 where God says he has shown you, O moral, what is good and
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what does the Lord require of you to act justly to love mercy
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and walk humbly with your God. Biblical justice is about acting
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justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God.
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So Brett, we've we've already talked about biblical justice
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and what that is. Now we sort of need a transition
21:18
to what is social justice. Now we have a solid foundation
21:22
of biblical justice. Social justice doesn't didn't
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always mean what it does today. In the past, it referred to
21:29
addressing societal societal wrongs like helping the poor,
21:34
fighting systemic injustice and advocating for their oppressed.
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And, you know, those are noble causes, no doubt.
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But today, social justice has become something very different.
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It's no longer a care for fair treatment.
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It is evolved into an ideology that demands a radical
21:56
reordering of society and one that contradicts the biblical
22:01
teachings. Absolutely, and in the book
22:04
called Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth,
22:08
written by Doctor Thaddeus Williams, he explained that the
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modern version of social justice is often based on postmodern
22:15
philosophy about deconstruction, societal deconstructing societal
22:20
structures, focusing on power dynamics and redistribution of
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power in ways that undermines traditional institution,
22:29
especially those based on biblical principles.
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That's right, Doctor Owen Strahan and Christianity and
22:36
Wokeness. He expands on that by saying
22:39
that social justice is often used as a tool to dismantle what
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is referred to as whiteness or patriarchy, viewing them as the
22:48
root causes of societal oppression.
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Social justice in this in this context, becomes about
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identifying power imbalances. According to its proponents, the
23:00
way to achieve justice is by redistributing power to
23:03
marginalized groups. And Brett, as we look through
23:07
this, we begin to ultimately see that the problem here as
23:11
Christians is we're called to minister reconciliation, not
23:15
division. The goal of biblical justice
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isn't just to divide people among competing identity groups.
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It's to bring us all together into one lordship of Christ.
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I'm reminded as I think through this and as we think through
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this topic of social justice and biblical justice of Galatians
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328 tells us that there's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
23:38
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
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Biblical justice is about the unity of Christ, not the
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division that the world wants us to have.
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Some examples of social justice in the Bible we can begin to
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look at and see is social justice, when it's rooted in
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helping marginalized and impressed, is something we can
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all get behind. When we start conflicting with
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biblical principles or pushing values that don't align with our
24:10
faith, that's when things get tricky.
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You know, when you read that verse in Galatians, it, it made
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me think of that. You know, God actually does call
24:20
us to be colorblind. And I've seen a lot of woke
24:23
shows and woke agendas that say, you know, we're not supposed to
24:26
be colorblind. Well, actually we are.
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That's what scripture calls us to, calls us to not see color.
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But the attitude of social justice is OK color, the only
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thing you see. In fact, you can't get rid of
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it. You can't escape it.
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You're racist whether you like it or not.
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You know, this is just the way things are.
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So what we want to do now is we're going to give some modern
24:52
examples of social justice. So the first and some of this
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stuff we're going to touch on Will that will examine more in
25:02
future episodes. We'll touch on a few things
25:04
here. The first example we're seeing a
25:07
lot is a redefinition of the biblical sexual ethics, and this
25:12
is a big one. We're talking about the push for
25:14
same sex marriage, gender fluidity, and even the inclusion
25:19
of LGBTQ plus individuals in church leadership roles.
25:25
Yeah. And Brett, you know, it's when
25:27
you say that it's I, I mentioned this this past Sunday on the
25:30
second day of human life Sunday, and I made the statement, I'm
25:35
glad I don't have to define what life is because God defined that
25:40
in Genesis chapter 2 where he says I breathe the life of into
25:45
man. God determined what life was.
25:48
It's the Spirit that he breathed into us.
25:51
We don't get to determine that God did.
25:53
We don't get to determine what marriage is.
25:55
God did. And oftentimes throughout
25:58
Scripture, we begin to see Christ and God developing these
26:02
ideas for us, and we don't have to worry about it.
26:04
And as we begin to continue through this from a Christian
26:07
perspective, the really challenges the foundation of
26:10
what we believe about marriage and gender.
26:12
The Bible's pretty clear on those things.
26:14
And when society starts saying, no, you have to affirm this or
26:17
you're out of step, that's where a lot of Christians start
26:20
feeling uncomfortable because we began to say, well, what do I,
26:23
who do I bring into line with, where do I stand at?
26:26
Am I, am I going to be wrong if I disagree with the world?
26:30
Am I going to be wrong if and there's this challenge in the
26:33
hearts and the minds of us as believers?
26:36
And it's not just the redefinition of marriage or
26:39
gender, it's the expectation that if you don't celebrate or
26:43
endorse these things, you're seen as intolerant or hateful.
26:48
It puts believers in a tough spot because standing by
26:50
traditional views doesn't mean that you don't love or respect
26:55
others. But the societal, just the, the
26:58
social justice movement can sometimes leaving you feeling
27:02
like you're being forced into accepting something that that
27:06
goes against your faith. And it is this thing of just
27:10
because I don't affirm you, just because I don't agree with the
27:14
way you live your life, doesn't mean that I don't love you.
27:19
Absolutely. Another issue, and we're going
27:21
to talk about this in just a couple of weeks, is cancel
27:24
culture. It's one thing to speak out
27:27
against injustice. There's another thing when
27:29
anyone who holds a traditional Christian viewpoint, let's say
27:33
on marriage or abortion, gets publicly shamed or even canceled
27:37
for speaking their mind. James this is such a huge
27:41
problem, especially on social media.
27:44
And here's the thing, as Christians, we're all about
27:47
loving people and showing grace. But when cancel culture comes in
27:51
and creates this environment where everyone's walking on egg
27:55
shells, not able to speak, speak freely, it really stifles a
28:00
healthy conversation. When you've got Christian
28:04
businesses out here that make wedding cakes and their whole
28:09
livelihood comes under fire and under scrutiny and in danger of
28:15
losing their house and everything they have just
28:18
because they won't do something that goes against their faith,
28:20
that's where we're at in today's society and in today's world.
28:25
Yeah. And Speaking of a healthy
28:26
conversation, Brett, let's talk about affirmative action for a
28:29
moment. Identity politics, he went
28:31
there. Look, there's a big push for
28:33
politics that gives preferential treatment based on things like
28:37
race and gender, and they all categorize this under the banner
28:42
of social justice. Absolutely.
28:44
But for many conservative Christians, this starts to feel
28:48
like a form of division, where we're focusing more on group
28:52
identity rather than individual merit.
28:56
The Bible teaches that we're all equal in Christ, regardless of
29:00
race or gender, but these movements can sometimes make it
29:03
feel like we're divided into categories of oppression.
29:07
And you know, Brett, that's a tough balancing act because of
29:10
course, there are real injustices that need addressing.
29:13
But some people feel like these identity politics aren't uniting
29:16
us. They're continually to further
29:19
divide us. And then that's where the whole
29:21
debate about redistribution of wealth comes in, correct?
29:25
Right. Yes, the the push for policies
29:27
like universal basic income or wealth taxes to reduce
29:32
inequality is another example. See, Christians feel that this
29:37
crosses the line into socialism, which isn't just a political
29:40
concern, it's a theological one too.
29:43
The Bible talks about personal responsibility and stewardship,
29:47
and many believe that extreme wealth distribution takes away
29:52
people's freedom to choose and give out of their own abundance,
29:56
which makes a lot of sense when it comes to especially like New
29:59
Testament giving. That kind of goes against what
30:03
the Bible teaches on that. Yeah, that's a, that's a big
30:06
one, Brett. And there's, and then there's
30:08
the issue of radical environmentalism.
30:11
Some of the extreme policies been pushed in the name of
30:15
climate justice or making people question whether we're elevating
30:20
environmental concerns above human needs.
30:23
You know, with in this moment where we talk about this, you
30:28
know, right now, we just had these massive wildfires ravaged
30:32
through California. And I love how Doctor Al Mohler
30:36
said it on his podcast. He, he walked through and said
30:39
that there were species of fishes that they were afraid
30:44
that they would endanger their lot of their, their point of
30:49
going extinct if they build a dam or reservoir around where
30:53
these fishes were AT. And they had whole big studies
30:56
about how if we put this dam up, this fish is going to go
30:59
extinct. The fish that we've never even
31:02
heard of or even thought about, we don't consume it.
31:05
We don't eat it. That has nothing to do with
31:07
anything. And it came out that they didn't
31:10
put a dam up in a reservoir in that area, which would have
31:13
helped stop these wildfires and help stop the spread of this
31:16
because they would have had water accessible for them.
31:19
And it came out later, like 10 years later, that this fish was
31:22
a subset of another fish that would never go extinct because
31:25
of the population of this fish. But we made some huge, big deal
31:29
about one little area, and now we're risking the livelihoods of
31:33
human beings because of a fish. Where this is the climate
31:37
culture. This is the viewpoint where we
31:39
let the climate begin to dictate what we do over human needs.
31:44
Right. And from a Christian viewpoint,
31:46
from a Christian worldview, we're called to steward the
31:49
earth. But the end of the day, people
31:51
come first. It feels like some of these
31:54
radical policies are taking the focus away from human
31:57
flourishing in favor of an almost idolized view of nature.
32:02
It's one thing to care for the planet, it's another thing to
32:06
restrict people's livelihoods in the name of saving it.
32:10
We were created and given dominion over the Earth.
32:14
For a reason. And Brett.
32:16
Last but not least, we've seen the push to restrict religious
32:20
expression in public life. The demand to remove crosses,
32:24
nativity scenes, and even Christian prayers from public
32:28
spaces. It's definitely something a lot
32:31
of Christians are concerned about.
32:32
I know me as a pastor, these are areas that I'm concerned about
32:36
all the time is where is our religious freedom and, and what
32:40
is going to be taken away in the future and what is already
32:43
allowed to be taken away today. And these are questions that we
32:47
wrestle with all the time. People in different rounds of
32:51
the world are asking themselves, America used to be a free
32:54
nation. We used to be someone who could
32:57
do these things in the freedom of the name of Christ.
32:59
And now it feels like we do things in our freedom that our
33:04
Constitution gives us, and then it gets taken away because of
33:08
someone else getting their feelings hurt.
33:11
Exactly. And you know, it's not even just
33:13
about public spaces either. It's about schools, workplaces,
33:18
pretty much anywhere that intersects with the public.
33:21
Many conservatives believe that efforts to silence religious
33:24
expression are an attack on religious freedom, especially
33:28
when it comes to living after faith in everyday life.
33:33
So, Brett, there's a lot to unpack here.
33:35
We the main take away is, is this.
33:37
While social justice can and should address real pressing
33:41
issues, when it starts to overstep and contradict biblical
33:46
values, that's when we need to pause and reassess where we're
33:49
at. For sure, at the end of the day,
33:52
we want to make sure that we're loving all people well, standing
33:55
for justice and staying faithful to God's word.
33:58
There's got to be a balance. We can't lose sight of that.
34:02
We can't promote social justice above everything else in the
34:07
Bible. Make the gospel centered around
34:11
social justice and that's that's, that's a false gospel.
34:16
All right, so let's talk about some different, some key
34:20
differences between biblical justice and social justice now
34:24
that we've given you some examples of social justice.
34:27
First, biblical justice reflects God's character, while social
34:32
justice is rooted in human philosophy.
34:35
Absolutely, Brad. I love that statement.
34:38
God's character and human philosophy cause biblical
34:41
justice is objective because it's based on God's moral law,
34:45
which doesn't change with times. There's no public opinion that
34:48
changes what God believes or his standards.
34:50
God's standards for just are unchanging and they're laid out
34:54
in Scripture. They're like loving your
34:56
neighbor. Things like loving your
34:58
neighbor, defending the the widow to the and the orphans,
35:01
and standing up for the oppressed.
35:03
That's grounded in who God is, His Holiness, His love for
35:07
humanity. The social justice as we see it
35:10
today is much more fluid and subjective.
35:13
It's not necessarily based on a set of universal moral laws
35:17
instead of shaped on by people's feelings, their personal
35:20
experiences, their political ideologies of that time and
35:24
bread. It could even be just the way
35:25
they feel that day when they wake up in the morning.
35:28
Exactly. And and that's that's a huge
35:31
distinction when we talk about biblical justice, it's not
35:36
swayed by public opinion. Biblical justice isn't swayed by
35:40
the latest social media trends and what meme is on Twitter.
35:46
The social justice often shifts shifts with the political
35:50
climate. What's deemed just today may
35:54
look very different in a few years or even a few months.
35:57
It's driven by emotions and collective grievances rather
36:01
than then by an eternal truth. You got people that made a movie
36:05
10 years ago that said something that maybe faux pas today and
36:10
they want to retroactively cancel that movie or cancel that
36:14
actor because of they something they said 10 years ago that that
36:18
really wasn't all that bad. Yeah, that's why from a
36:22
Christian perspective, Brett, we can't rely solely on shifting
36:25
sands of human philosophy. The Bible gives us a firm
36:29
foundation. When we aim for justice, we're
36:32
doing so based on God's righteous standard.
36:35
Not a popular vote, though. God doesn't say, OK, you guys
36:39
get together and vote on what you think is is just and right,
36:43
and then we'll go sort of go that way.
36:45
Because when we do that, it's the shifting sand, the
36:48
popularity changes. And that brings us to our second
36:51
point. Biblical justice is impartial
36:55
while social justice is partial. And biblical justice were called
36:59
to treat everyone fairly without favoritism.
37:03
Leviticus 1915 says do not pervert justice.
37:06
Do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great,
37:11
but judge your neighbor neighbor fairly.
37:14
The Bible calls us to impartiality where everyone else
37:17
is held, but to the same standard regardless of their
37:21
background, race or status. The the heart of biblical
37:25
justice is that everyone is made in God's image, and so everyone
37:31
deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
37:33
There's no room for biasness. There's no room for
37:36
discrimination in God's economy. We look at social justice, it
37:41
often calls for a different kind of justice, one that's based on
37:45
a group identity. Right.
37:48
Social justice tends to prioritize certain groups over
37:52
others, often based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status.
37:57
In many cases, it demands that we elevate those who have been
38:01
historically oppressed, sometimes at the expense of
38:04
others. The idea is that in order to
38:08
balance the scales, certain groups need special treatment or
38:12
corrective measures to address past injustices.
38:16
And that just reminds me of the elemental principles of the
38:20
world that that Paul talks about.
38:22
You know, Paul says, you know, karma, Karma is something that
38:25
Paul says that's what the world believes in.
38:28
And you know, they're saying, oh, we got to fix our karma with
38:30
this. Yeah, and as we see in
38:33
Scripture, God doesn't show partiality.
38:36
He doesn't choose one person over another because of their
38:39
social or economic standard. He's concerned with
38:42
righteousness for everyone. In the Kingdom of God, we're
38:45
called to treat all people with the same level of dignity and
38:49
justice, regardless of their identity markers.
38:54
That's a. Huge point.
38:55
The Bible teaches us to show compassion to the poor and the
38:59
oppressed, but it never tells us to favor one group at the
39:03
expense of another. Everyone is made in the image of
39:07
God, and that's what should drive our sense of justice.
39:11
I just preach this past Sunday on the sanctity of human life.
39:15
And the title of my message was Image is Everything.
39:19
And we talked about how the Pharisees came to Jesus and, you
39:24
know, said, should we pay taxes? And Jesus said, give me a deny.
39:28
And he said, whose image is this?
39:30
And they said Caesar's. And then Jesus said probably one
39:33
of those profound and famous words that he said.
39:35
And he said, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto
39:38
God that which is God. So we know that that money holds
39:42
images. Even our money holds the image
39:45
of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, the
39:49
where is God's image? Well, we need to look in the
39:51
mirror because we are the image of God.
39:54
We are all image bearers, from the baby that is a microscopic
40:00
clump of sales to the person and the nursing home.
40:04
We can't take care of themselves and everybody in between.
40:08
We all share the image of God. That's why we shouldn't treat
40:13
one group of people with less honor, less worth, less value
40:20
simply because of the color of their skin.
40:23
And that that goes both ways. Yeah, and then this really leads
40:27
us into our 3rd and final point. Biblical justice is about
40:30
restoring right relationships, while social justice often seeks
40:35
to create division and conflicts.
40:37
Brett, in biblical justice, God desires God's desires always to
40:42
reconcile, whether that between man and God or man and man.
40:47
The ultimate goal is peace, harmony and the right
40:50
relationships. That you hit the nail on the
40:53
head. You see, this is the gospel
40:56
itself. Jesus came the reconcile us to
41:00
God through his death and resurrection.
41:02
He broke down the walls of hostility between Jews and
41:05
Gentiles and to live at peace with one another.
41:09
Biblical justice restores, it heals.
41:12
It reconciles. It's all about bringing people
41:16
back together, mending broken relationships, living in unity
41:21
with each other. Yeah, it's an absolute beautiful
41:25
picture of how justice is tied to love and grace.
41:29
God's justice isn't about punishment or retribution.
41:33
It's about restoring what was lost.
41:34
In the same way, as Christians, we're called to pursue justice
41:39
that leads to healing and restoration in our communities.
41:42
The social justice Brett often operates in the opposite
41:47
direction. They want to bring division in
41:48
our communities. They want to cause destruction
41:51
in our communities. They want to heal anything in
41:53
our community. They want to see one person
41:57
elevated over another. Right and social justice can
42:01
sometimes create more division. It tends to focus on identity
42:05
based oppression and instead of bringing people together it
42:09
often fuels resentment and division.
42:11
It labels people as either oppressors or victims based on
42:15
group identity, and that can cause more harm than good.
42:19
Yeah. When social justice focuses
42:22
solely on who's been wronged and who the oppressors are, it can
42:27
lead into a way of US versus them mentality.
42:30
And instead of reconciliation, it creates a sense of
42:33
separation. The Bible calls us Brett to
42:36
reconcile, not to drive wedges between people.
42:40
So the bottom line is biblical justice brings people together
42:44
and seeks to restore right relationships, while social
42:47
justice often ends up dividing people and fostering a sense of
42:51
conflict. And the Bible justice always
42:54
aims at healing, restoring and reconciling.
42:57
But today's social justice movement can sometimes create
43:01
more division by focusing too heavily on identity politics.
43:07
And that's why, as Christians, we need to be vigilant about
43:11
what kind of justice we're pursuing.
43:13
Biblical justice is grounded in truth.
43:16
It's impartial in the ultimate goal of reconciliation and
43:19
restoration. Social justice, on the other
43:22
hand, can be subjective, partial and at times, Brett, it will be
43:27
divisive. Exactly.
43:29
As believers, we want to stand for true justice, the kind that
43:33
reflects God's heart and character.
43:36
It's not about, you know, perpetuating division.
43:40
It's about bringing people together under God's righteous.
43:43
Rule. Yeah.
43:44
And that's what we have to be so careful with our words.
43:47
Not everything is labeled as justice.
43:49
Today begins to align with God's definition of justice.
43:54
We need to be discerning and make sure that our pursuit of
43:57
justice always points back to the truth of Scripture and the
44:01
heart of God. I'm I'm one that's guilty of it.
44:04
Brett, I will throw out hot topic words and I'll say people
44:07
are woke and I'll say people or whatever just because, you know,
44:11
I'm just been funny. But often times we will use
44:15
terms to define things and we we label them in a way that is
44:22
wrong and in just. And we must be very careful in
44:26
how we do that or we will find ourselves causing division as
44:29
well. Exactly.
44:31
So let let's go into talking about actions for Christians.
44:35
What, what, what, what can we do with all of this, James?
44:38
How do we navigate these ideologies in a world that's
44:42
absolutely obsessed with social justice?
44:46
I would say first and foremost, when you hear someone use the
44:50
term social justice, it would be good for you to stop and ask
44:54
them to define what they mean by it.
44:56
If they're talking about helping the poor or standing up for the
44:59
oppressed, just call it justice. There's no need to add the
45:03
complicated term if it's just going if it's just about doing
45:07
what's right. 2nd immerse yourself in God's word.
45:12
Study passages like Matthew, Micah 6-8, Isaiah 117, and James
45:19
127. Understand God's heart for
45:22
justice, mercy, and compassion. The more we know God's
45:27
standards, the better equipped will be to stop the spot
45:32
counterfeit ideas. Absolutely.
45:34
You know you've heard the illustration before of a a
45:37
banker who deals with money all day long.
45:41
They they never teach a banker to find counterfeit by studying
45:46
counterfeit. They tell the banker when
45:49
they're studying money to get so familiar with what true money is
45:54
that when you pick up a fake bill, your hand automatically
45:57
knows that it's a fake bill by the touch, by the sensation, by
46:01
knowing what a true bill feels like.
46:04
And so often this should be our goal in life is we should be so
46:09
familiar with truth, so familiar with God's word that when
46:14
something comes up that's contradicting to God's word, we
46:18
automatically know that's not right.
46:19
That doesn't sound right. That doesn't act right.
46:21
That's not that doesn't jive with what I'm what I know
46:25
because we're so familiar with truth.
46:28
And so not only do we need to study truth, but we need to be
46:30
vigilant. Second, Colossians 28 says the
46:34
warns us not to take captive by hollow or deceptive
46:38
philosophies. And social justice might sound
46:41
good on the surface, but its core, it can distort God's truth
46:45
and lead us astray. That's Christians.
46:48
We need to be discerning and we must.
46:51
I'm sorry, we must guard our hearts above all.
46:54
Right. So, you know, as we're here,
46:57
we're wrapping up today. I just want, you know, to wrap
47:00
up today's episode. Let's make it clear, social
47:03
justice as defined in today's culture is not the same as
47:09
biblical justice. It's important that we stand
47:13
firm in God's truth even when the world is pushing us to
47:17
embrace ideologies that lead us further away from Him.
47:20
James, do you have any final thoughts?
47:23
You know, I just want to thank you guys for joining us today.
47:26
We would not be able to have the show if you didn't listen.
47:29
And we are always thankful for you.
47:31
If you found yourself so helpful or encouraging, please
47:34
subscribe, share it with a friend, leave us a review, and
47:38
together we can continue to seek God's justice in a world that
47:42
desperately needs it. In a world that is searching for
47:46
truth, that is searching for freedom.
47:48
We have the answer to life. Where who else can we go to
47:53
other than Jesus? And so, until next time to God.
47:58
Not the pastor. Be the glory.
48:00
Found my new name. Found that good grace, found
48:05
that healing. And the tears fell down my face
48:08
when I found my beginning. It has no ending.
48:11
I found that second chance. Found my best friend, found my
48:13
forgiveness, found my happiness. I've been singing ever since.
48:16
I found my feet on me all. Thanks for listening to the Four
48:33
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