Justice – when you hear that word what do you think of? The word carries some baggage in the church today and has become highly politicized. Too much justice talk and you can be dismissed as Marxist, woke, or a proponent of the “unbiblical” social justice gospel. But if you can remove yourself from cultural baggage, read the Bible with fresh eyes, and look at the life of Jesus, you see justice everywhere. Justice was central to the life and mission of Jesus. And it should be to his followers as well.

One of the best books I’ve read on the topic is a new book by Joash Thomas called The Justice of Jesus: Reimagining Your Church’s Life Together to Pursue Liberation And Wholeness.

Talking about justice shouldn’t cause us to draw tighter partisan political lines. It should cause us – as Joash says – to be politically agnostic, except on behalf of our marginalized neighbors.

This is an eye-opening conversation. He talk about how colonization has shaped the Western church to resist justice. Why we need more teaching on justice and not less. Why it’s important to diversity our theological influences. And some practical ways any local church can pursue justice.

Joash is a kind soul with a deep understanding of justice and Christianity in the global south and what we can learn in the west…from followers of Jesus all over the world.

Topics Covered:

How “wokeism” and “Marxism” have become deflective tactics to keep us from facing the truth
Why the Evangelical Church needs more teaching on justice
How colonization and colonialism has shaped us to resist justice
Why it’s good for our formation to diversify our theological influences
Why Christians should be politically agnostic
Practical ways the church today can pursue justice

Resources Mentioned:

Show Sponsor: Planning Center
The Justice of Jesus: Reimagining Your Church’s Life Together To Pursue Liberation And Wholeness by Joash Thomas
Joash Thomas website
Joash Thomas instagram

Show Sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by Planning Center, an all-in-one church management software made to help churches help people. You can organize your ministries and keep everyone on your team communicating and aligned around what’s going on.

As a worship leader, good communication is key to building a strong worship team. You can cultivate relationships while ensuring everyone has what they need to successfully prep for your services.

But why not take it up a notch using the chat feature?

Built right into the Services mobile app—which, by the way, you should totally download if you haven’t already—chat helps you coordinate all the service details with your team. Plus, you can have fun while doing it!

No more juggling emails, group texts, and multiple apps to ensure your whole team is aligned. Chat will simplify your communication in one convenient place through the Services mobile app. And everyone can ask questions, request prayer, or join the banter in real-time with one another.

The really cool part about chatting with your teams? Team members are dynamically added or removed from conversations as availability changes!

So if your original bass player suddenly declines (why is it so hard to find a bass player, anyway?), your newly scheduled bass player is automatically added to the chat conversation.

All of your chat conversations stay in sync. No more outdated group threads or irrelevant messages! So what are you waiting for? Download the Services app and start chatting!

The post #377: How The Western Church Has Been Shaped To Resist Justice (And What We Can Do About It) with Joash P. Thomas appeared first on Beyond Sunday Worship.