Jesus accepted secular government, but he certainly didn’t trust it to be the vehicle by which his own heavenly agenda was to be achieved. He wanted his faithful followers to choose freely to give and to share. Wallis, by contrast, seems to trust the state to compel generosity via forced redistribution rather than trusting individuals to do so out of obedience to God.
This is a “Christian leader”?
Finally, it’s hard to take Wallis seriously as a purveyor of Scriptural teaching when he is so selective in his own right. There is no Scriptural doctrine more dominant than that which states the only way to eternal life is through faith in Christ. When was the last time Jim Wallis preached on this? Or does he ignore that particular doctrine, pre-eminent though it is, because it doesn’t serve as a useful conversation point in the promotion of the political doctrine with which he associates?
The fact is that the needs of the poor can only be addressed as Christ intended by freely acting individuals within an economic system that produces prosperity, thus giving people the means to freely give.
If Wallis’s vision of social justice were to become policy in the United States, it would not only rob society of the wealth necessary to facilitate sharing, it would also rob individuals of the choice – and thus the opportunity – to give generously of their own accord, thus achieving obedience to God and spiritual fulfillment in their own right, which was always Christ’s plan for them when he commanded them to give.
Whether or not Wallis-style social justice is communism, as I guess Glenn Beck thinks, it is certainly not a Christ-centered doctrine, and it is a complete misappropriation of Scripture when a so-called “Christian leader” claims it is.
http://www.northstarnational.com/20...llis-wrong-social-justice-christian-doctrine/
Well said.
This is a “Christian leader”?
Finally, it’s hard to take Wallis seriously as a purveyor of Scriptural teaching when he is so selective in his own right. There is no Scriptural doctrine more dominant than that which states the only way to eternal life is through faith in Christ. When was the last time Jim Wallis preached on this? Or does he ignore that particular doctrine, pre-eminent though it is, because it doesn’t serve as a useful conversation point in the promotion of the political doctrine with which he associates?
The fact is that the needs of the poor can only be addressed as Christ intended by freely acting individuals within an economic system that produces prosperity, thus giving people the means to freely give.
If Wallis’s vision of social justice were to become policy in the United States, it would not only rob society of the wealth necessary to facilitate sharing, it would also rob individuals of the choice – and thus the opportunity – to give generously of their own accord, thus achieving obedience to God and spiritual fulfillment in their own right, which was always Christ’s plan for them when he commanded them to give.
Whether or not Wallis-style social justice is communism, as I guess Glenn Beck thinks, it is certainly not a Christ-centered doctrine, and it is a complete misappropriation of Scripture when a so-called “Christian leader” claims it is.
http://www.northstarnational.com/20...llis-wrong-social-justice-christian-doctrine/
Well said.
