Positive Prospects

After reflecting briefly on my past and where it has brought me to today in regards to my feelings on the church and other issues, I feel a need to look at some of the positive impacts people and experiences have had on my life. I believe that these experiences may be culpable for my strong belief in social justice and creation stewardship. I would like to explore that possibility. Hopefully these reflections will help me to understand more deeply my longing for social justice.

I believe in social justice. I believe that a person who claims belief in Jesus Christ as the prophesied Messiah as I do should have at the front of their minds social justice on the domestic front and on the international front. This is not to say that Christianity is the panacaea for all of the world's social issues, but rather that we as Christians are called to actively advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves and to play our current part towards that end whether we see its success in our lifetime or not. The call from Christ in the Gospel and Old Testament scriptures is in itself the justification for this paradigm regarding the addressing of social problems. I believe these types of activities serve as a conduit carrying us to a state in which we are more like Christ. I also believe this is God's way of allowing us a role--even in its severe inadequacies-- in the restoration of creation towards a state as originally hoped for by God.

I believe social justice includes attention to a wide variety of issues not limited to but including racism, exploitation, and poverty. I am not going to expound much here about my beliefs on how this should be addressed but hope to at some point in the future.