When I was 12 I started a campaign to end modern-day slavery. I wasn't a theological prodigy. I was just an awkward, pre-adolescent kid trying to follow Jesus. I heard about people being bought and sold and abused day in and day out and I couldn't imagine Jesus being O.K. with it. So, I decided to do something about it. Now, seven years later, I'm still speaking around the world about the subject, and students have gotten on board helping raise money to set people free. My passion is to help my generation identify an area where they can end suffering.
Occasionally, I've received some criticism about encouraging this kind of passion in my generation. Mostly, it comes from people who share my faith -- I've even been told, "It's great what you and your friends are doing, but why aren't you just preaching the gospel when your whole generation is going to hell?" First of all, what a way to phrase your question -- have they really just predicted the eternal destiny of my generation? Second, I ask these people to place themselves in a specific scenario: What if you are volunteering in a soup kitchen and a homeless woman who hasn't eaten in days approaches you desperately needing something to eat and drink -- would you hand her a Bible and tell her, "Jesus loves you?" I doubt that she'd be feeling the love.
I was in the Kibera slum in Africa and met a mom who was looking for a way to feed her children. If I had talked to her about her need to change her ways, my words would seem cruel and not at all good news. And, surprise to many -- this woman already was a Christian -- she just needed her brothers and sisters to show up and meet her physical needs.
Over and over I find myself asking, "How are people who are hurting or who are in need supposed to believe that God is loving?" Especially if those of us who have the means ignore the needs of people and only provide a verbal presentation of the Gospel as the answer for their suffering? How does that make any sense at all? Shouldn't we give her soup, bread and water and by doing so, demonstrate love? I've read about a time when Jesus fed a hungry crowd sitting on a hill, meeting a very practical need. I've learned about him ending suffering by restoring someone's eyesight, stopping bleeding or healing a skin disease. I can't help but believe that these acts of compassion gave his words about repentance, grace and love more credibility. I have experienced people who are curious about my faith because of my passion for abolition. Maybe this is what James meant when he said "faith without works is dead."
Some critics believe speaking the Gospel should be the priority. Others believe living the Gospel is the priority. I don't understand why we've created this polarization. Loving God compels me to show love to others -- and especially to those who are suffering, even if they don't share my beliefs. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not shy about my faith, I am eager to share what I believe with others because I believe it's the best news I've ever heard. But, I am equally passionate about living it out in a way that proves what I believe. This is not unique to me -- I meet young followers of Jesus around the world who share this mindset.
My generation has a front seat to the suffering in the world -- media has bombarded us with images of famine, genocide, poverty and human trafficking. These realities have left us asking if the spoken Gospel has more power when a follower of Jesus is compelled to extend compassion and justice to humanity. We understand that it is not enough to talk, talk is cheap. We must "Be the change that [we] wish to see in the world." (Gandhi) Because of this knowledge, students are shaping solutions to many social ills . From ending slavery to caring for orphans, many of the most innovative solutions are coming from teens and twenty-something's.
I've recently met a 13 year-old girl who has just funded and built an orphanage in Haiti and established a fish pond in Africa. I know a group of college guys who have dug a dozen clean water wells in Africa. A group of university buddies launched a campaign several years ago that almost single-handedly propelled the plight of child soldiers to the front page of newspapers. A good friend began fighting malaria through her own campaign called "Bite Back" and she has literally saved the lives of millions of people. All of these young people share my faith and felt it required of them not turning the other way when they found suffering in the world, but to be an active part of the solution.
Now at 19, I'm still far from a theological prodigy - and have been called naïve and ignorant. I have learned the value of working with people who think differently from me because there is too much to do to be petty or territorial. I still think I'm awkward and misfit and I find it interesting that people are surprised to learn I'm a Christian - not because of the bad things I think and do (and there are plenty) but because of the passion I have to do good. I'm grateful this misconception about Christians is gradually changing - especially in a day when we're all ready for some really good news.
Follow Zach Hunter on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@zachjhunter
Christian views on slavery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce: Christian hero
Christian Ministries Aim Anti-Slavery Efforts at Super Bowl | IPHC
He is the Lamb of God , who takes away the sin of the world.
A lamb without blemish or defect.
Paul said, “But to the rest I, not the Lord, say:” (1 Corinthians 7:12)
Paul said, “Now concerning virgins I do not have a command of the Lord, but I give an opinion” (1 Corinthians 7:25)
We are Christians, not followers of Paul. “For when one person says, "I follow Paul," and another person says, "I follow to Apollos," you're following your own human nature, aren't you?” (1 Corinthians 3:4, International Standard Version, 2008).
The Apostles Paul and Peter weren’t buddies. Paul said, “But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face” (Galatians 2:11). And, the Apostle Peter said that some of Paul’s doctrines are “hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled TWIST” (2 Peter 3:16, World English Bible).
The Bible clearly indicates that Paul’s doctrines are not always the official position of the Church. Paul’s comments about homosexuality, women being submissive to men, virgins getting married, and slavery are not to be taken as divine law. Puritanical Protestant Fundamentalists love to quote Paul more than they like to quote Jesus. Jesus was all about freedom, helping people, forgiveness. Paulites are about condemnation and control.
Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.
Jesus shows that is completely comfortable with the concept of slavery. Jesus heals the slave without any thought of freeing the slave or admonishing the slave's owner.
http://old.usccb.org/jphd/cffel.pdf
James asks if the kind of faith that speaks salvation but does not practice salvation actually saves. "What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? Can that faith save him?" (2:14). Then follows a practical example about feeding and clothing the needy. Of those who don't give what is needed, James declares, "Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself."
John 3:17-18 declares that those who see a brother's need, but do not provide for it, do not love "in deed and in truth", but do not have the love of God dwelling in them.
I am pleased to see Zach Hunter's perspective. One cannot effectively preach the gospel without action that affects life here and now. The Gospel is not supposed to be "pie in the sky when you die by and by" but something that demonstrates God's power in the life.
Too much of the opposition to social justice is because of an inherent selfishness. Paul said of the covetous that they would not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:10). Will some "Christians" be surprised if Jesus says he doesn't know them?
Great job, Zach!
"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." Romans 10: 10-17
I get the feeling that when you say "social justice" what you mean is "my very specific and extensive political and social views." Must everyone who goes against your doctrine of "social justice" be treated as a heretic to be shunned?
Hundreds of Republican Politicians have signed the "Norquist Pledge to Protect the Rich". How about a Pledge to protect the Poor and Elderly?
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Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, is pressing for budget cuts to cover the cost of cleaning up after Hurricane Irene and other disasters.(Bloomberg News, 8/30/11)
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul raised a few eyebrows on Friday when he said he saw no need for FEMA to respond to any natural disaster, including Hurricane Irene. “We should be like 1900,” Paul said, adding that emergency response efforts should “coordinated voluntarily with the states.”(Washington Monthly, 8/28/11)
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Need more proof?