Racial Justice Requires Natural and Supernatural Change
/Both are necessary.
Should we pray or should we act? Should we seek political and social change or should we seek the face of God and wait on the Lord to move on our behalf? Should we protest with signs and activism or should we protest with silence and prayer meetings?
BY CHARLES HOLMES JR. - RELEVANT MAGAZINE
These are some of the questions and debates people are having in light of our political and social climate. These questions are very important and essential as the Church engages our culture with the Gospel. If these questions go unanswered the consequences will be damaging. A focus on prayer while neglecting biblical action can be socially harmful and a focus on biblical action while neglecting the vital importance of prayer can be spiritually blinding.
In Isaiah 58, the prophet Isaiah is commanded by God to confront the hypocrisy of His people and to make clear the pathway to God’s blessing. The people of Israel were divorcing the practical implications of their relationship with God from their spiritual worship toward God. Their delight in the commandments of God was false and manipulative because their actions were oppressive and harmful toward fellow image bearers of God.When our commitment and delight in God are not expressed in our relationships to people, our faith is dead. A pursuit of God in prayer without the pursuit of God in practice is false religion. Often the pursuit of justice and the talk of ethics are put up against the pure Gospel message or ministry of evangelism and making disciples.Ethics and justice aren’t secondary to who God is. Ethics and justice are a part of who God is.... READ FULL STORY AT RELEVANT MAGAZINECharles Holmes Jr. is a pastoral fellow at McLean Bible Church who is passionate about teaching the Word of God, writing about the Word of God, and learning how to enjoy God in everyday life. He has a beautiful wife whom he has been married to for almost two years. He has previously written for the Reformed African American Network (RAAN), the Jude 3 Project, and Southeastern Seminary Intersect, and more. (RELEVANT)