Real Justice vs Charity

 

The Christian church doesn't have a social ethic as much as it is a social ethic, called to respond to biblical mandates like truth-telling, confronting injustice and pursuing peace. American churches need to understand that, while charity seeks to alleviate the ill effects of injustice, justice seeks to eliminate the causes. Charity preserves the status quo; justice demands “liberty and justice for all”—a more democratic egalitarian future for all citizens. And let's be clear: The goal of prophetic theology, like the goal of biblical prophets, is not to chastise but rather to heal; to enhance, not diminish, humanity, because, as the old church father said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”(Irenaeus)