Spirituality without justice or spirituality with justice?

Is the American Church Characterized Primarily by a Spirituality without Justice or a Spirituality with Justice?

This Bible study is designed to help you and your church answer the above question.  By probing deeply into the extensive yet largely neglected Bible teaching on oppression and justice, at the end of this Bible study, you will be asked to write at least a paragraph and preferably a page answering the question about the American church and a spirituality without justice or a spirituality with justice. 

First, some thought starters that raise questions about a spirituality without justice:

1.     From Lowell Noble: “When a religion, whatever its name, neglects justice and the love of God, it becomes a dangerous deceit.  Jesus severely criticized the highly religious Pharisees for being “full of greed . . . . and neglecting justice and the love of God.” (Luke 11:39 & 42)

2.     From The Message, by Eugene Peterson; introduction to the book of Amos:

“More people are exploited and abused in the name of religion than in any other way.  Sex, money, and power all take a back seat to religion as a source of evil. “

“Prophets sniff out injustice, especially injustice that is dressed up in religious garb.  Amos towers as the defender of the downtrodden poor and accuser of the powerful rich who use God’s name to legitimate their sin.”

3.     Lowell Noble: “I needed a second conversion before I understood that most of the white American church was preaching and practicing a spirituality without justice, including me.”

4.     John Perkins, black Mississippian:

“The white church institutions in Mississippi have been the last bastion of racism and discrimination . . . . . so if somehow all the church and church institutions had been wiped out in Mississippi, we would be much further along in terms of progress than we are at the present time.”

Lesson #1

Isaiah 58: 1&2 – Spirituality without Justice

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.  Raise your voice like a trumpet.  Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.  For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.  They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.”

God, through Isaiah declares Israel, his chosen, rebellious sinners, but Israel declares themselves as righteous.  Isaiah sees Israel as social sinners as in engaging in oppression, as in neglecting justice and the love of God, as in spirituality without justice.  Israel is personally righteous as in religious ritual, as in individual spirituality. 

What is going on with the people in the first 6 verses?

3 I’s…Idolatry, Immorality,  & Injustice

Is it more difficult to get self-righteous people to repent and do justice than to get atheists to repent?

Where is the DCC on this issue?  Is it characterized a spirituality without justice or a spirituality with justice; or a mixture of both, with its Haiti emphasis, is it moving quickly towards justice?

Additional Amos 5:21-24 and James 2

Lesson #2

Isaiah 58: 6-12 – Spirituality with Justice

The Message: “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.  What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families.  Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once.  Your righteousness will pave your way.  The GOD of glory will secure your passage.  Then when you pray, GOD will answer.  You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’  If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.  I will always show you where to go.  I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—firm muscles, strong bones.  You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry.  You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past.  You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.”

These verses bluntly describe the demands of a jubilee justice ministry that releases the oppressed.  It also describes the blessings of engaging in such a ministry.  Summarize in your own words what the demands of such a ministry are:

To summarize Isaiah 58: God says Israel is rebellious; Israel replies, we are righteous; Isaiah retorts to be righteous you must release the oppressed. 

Lesson #3

Jeremiah Ch 6: 13&14, Ch 7: 1-10, Ch 25:4& following - Do justice or face judgment

NIV: “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.  They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.”

For a detailed explanation of Jeremiah 6: 13 & 14, read Jeremiah 7:1-10.

Here you will find deceitful religious words used to legitimate idolatry and oppression.  According to Jeremiah, greed and deceit go together hand-in-glove.  The false prophets use the most beautiful word in all of human language – Shalom – to legitimate idolatry and oppression. 

To summarize Isaiah, raise the fundamental issue: spirituality without justice or spirituality with justice.  Jeremiah describes the horrible consequences of spirituality without justice, judgment, which turned out to be the destruction and luting of all the people and resources in Jerusalem and the banishment of the people from the Promised Land into Babylonian exile.  And Jeremiah also lists the causes for judgment; greed and deceit. 

For more detail on the severity of the judgment see Jeremiah 25: 4-11.

Question: Is Decorah Covenant Church heavenly engaged in releasing the oppressed by doing justice?  If not, will God judge the church for its sins of omission, neglect of justice and the love of God and its sins of commission, ethnocentrism and oppression?

Lesson #4

A Transition…

1.     Revisit the issue of the Bible study: spirituality without justice or spirituality with justice

2.     On a continuum from 1-100 with 100 being a perfect blend of spirituality and justice, and 1 representing an extreme spirituality without justice, where on this continuum do you fall, 20, 40, 60, 80, where do you think the white American church falls, and where does your church fall?

3.     The next eight lessons will be on the biblical teaching about oppression and about justice; four lessons on oppression and four lessons on justice.  After lesson twelve is completed, we will revisit number two, and you, again will be asked to evaluate yourself, your American church and your local church on this continuum.

4.     We will also ask the question will the American church and your local church repent, restitute, and repair?

Lesson #5

Definition of Oppression

3 Different Bible passages each from different times: 1400BC, 700BC, and 50AD

In each of these passages we find 3 failures to repent, followed by 3 judgments, the first against the Egyptians, 2^nd against the Israelis, 3rd against the Jews.

Worksheet for Ex 1 especially vs 8-14

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

Isaiah 10: 1-2

Here again there was no repentance by the Israelites so in a few years God judged the Israelites and sent them into Babylonian exile.

‘The Message’:  “Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims—Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, Exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children.”

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

James 5:1-6

James was written in 40-50AD, the Romans destroyed the temple in 70AD.  Jesus had called for repentance by the Jews; there was no repentance so within a generation, judgment fell.

‘The Message’:  “A final word to you arrogant rich: . . . . Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink . . . . You thought you were piling up wealth what you piled up is judgment.  All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment.”

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

Combined Definition of all 3 Scriptural Passages:

Lesson #6

Damage caused by oppression; be specific, define the damage.

Exodus 6:1-9 

Ex 6:9: “But when Moses delivered this message (the exceedingly good news direct from God that their slavery was about to end) to the Israelites, they didn’t even hear him – they were that beaten down in spirit by the harsh slave conditions (the oppression of slavery that had gone on for many generations).” (The Message)

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

Isaiah 61:1&3: vs 1: “To preach good news to the (oppressed) poor.”

vs 3: “To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (NIV)

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

Matthew 5:3 and Luke 6:20&24

Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

This verse means(according to Lowell) a spirit of despair, the poor will only be blessed if the church hungers and thirsts for justice

Luke 6:20 & 24: “Blessed are the poor. . . . and woe to the rich.” (NIV)

These verses bring up, by implication the oppression of the poor by the rich.

First Draft Definition:

Revised Definition:

Other’s Definition:

Combined Definition of all 3 Scriptural Passages:

Lesson #7

Release the Oppressed; the first scripture is from

Isaiah 58:6-9(The Message)

Vs 6: “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. “

The message of Isaiah 58:6-9 is repeated in different words in 58:10-12.

Another way to look at Isaiah 58 is to see verses 1-5 as a description of spirituality without justice which the prophet Isaiah severely condemns.   By contrast 58:6-14 is a description is spirituality with justice.  Only spirituality with justice releases the oppressed.  

Summarize Isaiah 58:6-9 in your own words:

The message of Isaiah 58:6 is so important that Jesus quotes it in the key verse of the Gospel of Luke – Luke 4:18.  All the rest of Luke 4:18 & 19 is a direct quote from Isaiah 61, but Jesus sneaks this one phrase from Isaiah 58:6 into his mission statement: “To release the oppressed or to set the oppressed free.”  But Isaiah 58:6 cannot be fully understood in isolation from all the rest of chapter 58. 

Summarize again this phrase from Luke 4:18:

Who in the Bible practiced the release of the oppressed?  One outstanding example can be found in Nehemiah 5.  The following quotation is from The Message: Vs 1: “A great protest was mounted by the people including the wives against their fellow Jews.  Some said, “We have big families, and we need food just to survive.”  Others said, “We’re having to mortgage our fields and vineyards and homes to get enough grain to keep from starving.”  And others said, “We’re having to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards.  Look: We’re the same flesh and blood as our brothers here; our children are just as good as theirs.  Yet here we are having to sell our children off as slaves – some of our daughters have  already been sold – and we can’t do anything about it because our fields and vineyards are owned by somebody else.  I got really angry when I herd their protest and complaints.  After thinking it over, I called the nobles and officials on the carpet.  I said, “Each one of you is gouging his brother.”  Then I called a big meeting to deal with them.  I told the, “We did everything we could to buy back our Jewish brothers who had to sell themselves as slaves to foreigners.  And now you’re selling these same brothers aback into debt slavery!  Does that mean that we have to buy them back again?”  They said nothing.  What could they say?  “What you’re doing is wrong.  Is there no fear of God left in you?  Don’t you care what the nations around here, our enemies think of you?  “I and my brothers and the people working for me have also loaned them money.  But this gouging them with interest has to stop.  Give them back their foreclosed fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes right now.  And forgive your claims on their money, grain, new wine, and olive oil.”  They said, “We’ll give it all back.  We won’t make any more demand on the.  We’ll do everything you say.”

Summarize this important story of releasing the oppressed in five bullet points:

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Lesson #8

When the church joins forces with the oppressors

The scripture James 2:1-6 from The Message:

“My dear friends don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith.  If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags come in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?  Listen, dear friends.  Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently?  He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges.  This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God.  And here you are abusing these same citizens!  Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind?”

In your own words summarize this message of damnation for the church:

James 1:27: Here the church is told to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction, but the Greek word for affliction is better translated as oppression.   I like to combine Luke 4:18 with James 1:27; as you visit the widows and orphans in their oppression do more than take them a plate of cookies and say, “I will be praying for you.”  In your back pocket have a plan to release the oppressed widows and orphans; anything less than release from oppression is worthless religion. 

Summarize in your own words:

James 2:14-26 describes a church that combines spirituality and justice.  How do we move the church from the damnation column to the blessed column? 

The following are quotations form James 2 from The Message:

“God chose the world’s down-and-outers as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges.”

James also says, “God talk without God acts is outrageous nonsense.”

James says, “Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.”

Biblical justice is love and action that:

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Lesson #9

Study Guide 1 – Justice -- The Hebrews and Justice

According to Nicholas Wolterstorff, reformed theologian and philosopher, English translations of the NT have been “dejusticized”.

For example, there are three hundred dik-stems in the Greek NT with the fundamental meaning of just, justice or justify.  But rarely do you find the word ‘justice’ in an English NT.  There are zero references to justice in King James’ version and only sixteen in the NIV, whereas a typical Spanish, French or Latin translation of the NT will contain about one hundred references to justice. 

So a quick solution to this problem would be cross out every reference to righteous or righteousness in your NT and replace them with just and justice.

The Hebrews were doers; the Greeks were thinkers.  The Hebrews were theologians; the Greeks were philosophers.  When the Hebrews thought about justice, they were interested in how to do justice.  For scriptural references read Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15.  Here God spells out the laws and principles for Hebrew society in some detail.  They were called sabbaticals/jubilee laws.  They define justice for the poor. 

One of these sabbatical principles was that Hebrews should free their slaves every seven years.  This obviously prevented lifelong or generational oppression.  God also said debts should be cancelled every seven years; economic debt could be another form of  slavery.

Hebrew society was an agricultural society, and the ideal was for every family to have their own plot of land so they could be self sufficient.  If you were self sufficient, you can not be in bondage to anybody.  This is what justice looked like to the Hebrews, a very practical real life application.  After reading Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15, summarize the three most important points that you learned:

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2.

3.

Lesson #10

Justice – The Messiah and Justice

Isaiah 9:6-7

At Christmas time Isaiah 9:6 is often quoted, “For to us a child is born. To us a son is given . . . . “ but often 9:7 is omitted. “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness form that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. “  Isaiah 9:7 is as much a part of the Christmas message as Isaiah 9:6.  Isaiah 9:7 is about the Messiah’s kingdom, which it to be characterized by justice.  This is the first of Isaiah’s six messianic passages, all of which talk about justice. 

Why is there so much emphasis on justice in the messianic passages?  Because in Israel, at this time, society was characterized by oppression and poverty.  Isaiah 10:1-2 sums up this massive social evil: “Woe to those who make unjust laws to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”

An oppressed society definitely needs a Messiah who will bring justice.  The next messianic passage is found in chapter 11:1-4: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.  He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.  He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.”

In case we have still not gotten the message of justice in Isaiah 16:5 we can see the same message: “ In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it—one from the house of David—one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness. “

Another messianic passage is found in 28:16-17: “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.  I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.” 

And still another messianic passage is found in Chapter 42:1-4: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.  He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.  In his law the islands will put their hope.”

In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61:1-4: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the oppressed poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Jubilee justice) and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a ferment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness (trees of justice) a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.   They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” 

Only justice can end the spirit of despair that crushes the oppressed.  The Kingdom of God in the New Testament is all about justice, echoing Isaiah’s messianic passages. 

In a sentence or two summarize these messianic passages in your own words:

Lesson #11

Justice – The New Testament Kingdom of God and Justice

About fifteen years ago the Perkins Center held a Christian Community Development workshop in Jackson, MS.  In one of my worship sessions, I handed out a sheet of paper with all of Isaiah’s messianic passages listed.  A Princeton seminary graduate said this one page handout was the most valuable item at the workshop. 

Every seminary grad should have had multiple exposures to Isaiah’s messianic passages.  The Kingdom of God is so central to the Gospel message – Billy Graham, at age seventy, defined the kingdom as justice for all – that it is inexcusable to ignore the messianic passages.

The same thing happened to me; in undergraduate and graduate school, I studied every book in the Bible, but none of my teachers ever taught me that justice was central to the Kingdom of God. 

Over the years I have asked hundreds of people to write down a one sentence of the definition of the Kingdom of God.  The majority of these definitions were shallow and superficial, largely future oriented and spiritual.  Rarely was the word justice included. 

Conclusion: there is massive ignorance in the American church about the nature of the Kingdom of God. 

The Gospel of Mark and The Kingdom of God:

In Mark, the first item of business is repentance.  1:4: “John came baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance.”

In 1:15: the first words out of Jesus’ mouth are, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near/here.  Repent and believe the good news.”

In Matthew 3:1 John the Baptist said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3:7-12, John talks about the necessity for repentance. 

In 3:17, Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

What should the Jews repent of?  Their religio-cultural ethnocentrism and their economic oppression.  Ethnocentrism is a form of idolatry in which the supposed superior ones play God in the lives of the inferior ones.  Lisa Sharon Harper accuses white evangelicals of this sin.  “What if the call of God to white evangelicals is to stop trying to be God, to control everything and everyone,” in other words, white evangelicals far too often hide behind American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny.  To dominate Native Americans and Black Americans and every other ethnic group. So far there has not been much repentance over this enormous sin.  Therefore, American Christians are not eligible for the kingdom of God.   Only if Americans deeply repent and engage in massive restitution and do justice to release the oppressed, then and only then, are they eligible for the kingdom of God.  To be a citizen of the kingdom of God requires love and justice.  Love and justice have not been dominant characteristics of American Christianity. 

Matthew 6:33: The New English Bible describes God’s kingdom as justice.  So for Matthew the high priority of the kingdom of God includes a high priority for justice. 

Let’s go back to the book of Matthew, Chapter five and The Beatitudes.  The Beatitudes begin with blessed are the poor in spirit.  This is only true if God’s church hungers and thirsts for justice; without the church doing justice on behalf of those crushed in spirit verse three is only a pious platitude.  Verse ten, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of justice”. In verse seventeen, Jesus says he has come to fulfill the law and the prophets.  The law and the prophets were built upon love and justice.  So if Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets through the church, this means the church must give high priority to love and justice.

I understand the Sermon on the Mount as being all about the kingdom of God, and all about justice.  It is also about personal character, but much more than personal character.  It is about the characteristics of the kingdom, and the number one characteristic of the kingdom of God is justice, a justice that releases the oppressed. 

Summarize in one sentence the NT message about the kingdom of God:

Lesson #12

Justice – The Spirit and the Kingdom

Romans 14:17: Noble paraphrase, “The kingdom of God is justice, shalom and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

When the Spirit and the kingdom are combined, in the church, they can produce justice, which creates the conditions for shalom, which creates the conditions for authentic joy.  Only when justice and shalom are present can there be authentic joy.

Also read Acts 1:1-8, note that there are two themes, the kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit.  Biblically the kingdom and the Spirit should be closely tied together, but throughout much of the history of the church, sadly, the Spirit and the kingdom have been divorced.  Why?

In your own words summarize the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the kingdom of God.

Lesson #13

Summary & Re-evaluation

1.     Revisit the continuum on spirituality without justice and spirituality with justice.  Now rank the American church on this continuum:.  Where does it fit, 20, 40, 60, 80, then rank your local church on this continuum; where would you place it, 20, 40, 60, 80?

2.     Is your local church in any way, shape or form like the Nehemiah 5 church?

3.     Or another way of putting it, is your local church repent, restitute, repair church? By repentance we mean more than an apology.  Biblical repentance means actual change, which would include restitution and repair of oppressed communities. 

P.S. 

J.D. Vance himself, an Appalachian white. describes with searing honesty, the dysfunction of his people's families and culture.  He also describes in the following quotation from Hillbilly Elegy, the trauma that is tied with this dysfunction:

"Psychologists call the everyday occurrences of my and Lindsay's life "adverse childhood experiences," or ACEs.  ACEs are traumatic childhood events, and their consequences reach far into adulthood.  The trauma need not be physical.  The following events or feelings are some of the most common ACEs:

• being sworn at, insulted, or humiliated by parents
• being pushed, grabbed, or having something thrown at you
• feeling that your family didn't support each other
• having parents who were separated or divorced
• li ing with an alcoholic or a drug user
• living with someone who was depressed or attempted suicide
• watching a loved one be physically abused.

ACEs happen everywhere, in every community.  But studies have shown that ACEs are far more common in my corner of the demographic world."

"four in every ten working-class people had faced multiple instances of childhood trauma."

Children with multiple ACEs are more likely to struggle with anxiety and depression, to suffer from heart disease and obesity, and to contract certain types of cancer."

Vance implies that dysfunction causes trauma, which is probably true.  What he missis is that at first oppression causes trauma, and that trauma causes dysfunction, and then the dysfunction causes more traumas.  I would theorize that Haitians have suffered two to five times the oppression that Appalachian whites have.  So has the Haitian oppression caused two to five times the trauma that Appalachian whites have suffered, and two to five times the dysfunction?