Is Social Justice a Christian Doctrine?

Many people today have taken to saying that if Jesus of Nazareth were in his pre-resurrection ministry in contemporary America (maybe from Nazareth, Texas?) he would be a socialist, a conservative, a revolutionary, a protestor, a militia member, and on and on. I don’t think he would be any such thing.

Was Jesus a proponent of “social justice?” To understand this issue you must look at Jesus’ ministry in context of that era. The society he was in was Jerusalem/Judea as a conquered servant-state of Rome. The Judean government was a puppet government of Rome, but was also notably corrupt, filled with self-serving politicians and appointed office holders. Those who were Roman citizens had considerable human rights, but none of the rest of society did.

At least two types of legal servitude were common in Jerusalem at the time of Christ: captive slaves, who were owned by their masters or by the empire, and indentured servants. A slave was owned, had no civil rights, and was completely at the mercy of their master. An indentured servant was in every respect a slave to their master, and could be beaten or used in any way that the master chose to use them, as long as no Jewish or Roman law was broken. There were various ways in which a person could become indentured, two of the more common being, 1) voluntary for a specified time for specified benefits and or payment, or 2) bound, in which the master paid the debt and/or bought the person from prison and set a covenant with the magistrate for the terms of the indenturement. The term for a bound servant was determined by the cost and an expectation of reasonable profit for the master, so could be for many years.

Normally a voluntary indenturement was for three to ten years, and included room and board, and some kind of payment at the end of the agreement. Fairly commonly, the term also included training the servant in a specified trade or skill. (Indentured servants have been used as far back as recorded history, and the practice was very common in Colonial America where it’s estimated that half the white immigrants came as indentured servants.) In Judea, terms of voluntary servitude ranged typically from three to seven years, but could be longer. While most masters were humane in their treatment of indentured servants, some were cruel and abusive.

Jesus never preached against any of these social or government institutions, and in fact, there are several references in the New Testament where church members are told to be obedient to their master. He told both master and slave to live righteously and be obedient to God. He did not tell slaves to resist or protest, nor masters to give up their slaves. (Some will say that Christ said to “sell all you have and come follow me,” but he was talking to a specific individual not all followers.)

The Jews were heavily burdened by the Roman Empire with oppressive laws and taxes. They were convinced that when the Messiah came, he would come as a military conqueror throwing off the shackles of Rome and ending the excessive tribute she extracted from them. Instead Christ told them to obey the Roman law, and pay taxes to Caesar; to worry about their own sins, spirituality, and morality. The people of Judea despised this attitude, and when given a chance chose the militant Barabbas be set free rather the kindly, healing Jesus of Nazareth.

Some point to His driving the money changers from the temple as His dislike of commerce; but this is untrue. He was upset that they were profaning the house of God, making it a marketplace rather than a place of worship. The message here is that giving respect to God is more important that your livelihood or anything else.

Jesus was not anti-military; he welcomed Jewish temple guards and Roman soldiers into his fold. He never told them to abandon their professions. He did warn against violence begetting violence when Peter cut off the ear of a guard coming to arrest Jesus. But being military or an officer of the law was never criticized. The same is true of hated public officials such as tax collectors and publicans, Christ ministered to them; He condemned hypocrisy among them, but welcomed them to join with Him.

Christ never preached “social justice” as some would have us believe. He preached that no matter what your circumstances in life, each person must live life righteously and kindly, serving God and man, while meeting your legal obligations to the government.

The point is not that forced servitude, slavery, corrupt government, or unfair practices are alright, because they are not. The point is that Christ planted a spark in one individual after another to be good, just, kind, and moral, and it grew to encompass and improve billions of lives. Not by social action, activism, or politics but by touching the heart and soul of one person at a time.

So these activist ministers who believe the Gospel of Christ should be administered by force, coercion, politics, demonstration, or “civil disobedience” are not following in the footsteps of Christ. His was a ministry to the inner goodness of the individual, not to politics, law, or civil justice. Those who justify their politics as Christian activism don’t understand His message.