I’ve been thinking a lot lately about social justice and specifically what role the church ought to play. If you have read my wife’s blog in the last few days you have some idea of what God is stirring in our hearts for the people of Sudan.
Today I ran across this great post by Doug Hayes who leads Covenant Mercies, a non-profit orphan care ministry under the oversight of Covenant Fellowship Church in Pensylvania. I love what Doug says about the relationship between social justice and the cross:
At times I sense a hesitance in Christians to get too involved in
social justice and compassion issues because we’re afraid these
“ministries of common grace†may obscure the beauty of God’s saving
grace in the cross. In reality, when properly interpreted, common grace
simply shines a ray of light onto the beauty of the cross from a
different angle, moving us toward a deeper appreciation of the glory of
God in his many-faceted mercies. Let’s not pretend for a moment that
ministering temporal blessings is enough. It’s not, and a truly
merciful person will never want to neglect the greatest mercy of all in
the forgiveness of sins. Apart from this definitive gift of grace,
every blessing of common grace is merely temporary. But in our zeal for
preaching the gospel, let’s remember that God is glorified in mercy of every
kind. If we would promote the glory of God in this world, we must be
about the work of extending his mercy as far and wide as possible, in
keeping with its height and breadth as revealed in Scripture.Everything about God is glorious, but he is especially glorified in his
propensity to show mercy. May this truth transform every experience of
mercy into an occasion for worship. May it also motivate us to put his
glory on display by ministering this mercy to others; and in so doing
to boast in the cross, apart from which there would be no mercy at all.
Post a Comment