Social Justice

I would like to share this paper that I wrote about social justice. It is my personal thoughts about the role of Christians in social justice, or holistic ministry. The Haugen that I refer to is the founder/CEO of International Justice Mission. I have recently changed my viewpoint on this issue slightly, so I invite you to read this.


Holistic Ministry

There is a role for the Christian in social justice. This is an issue that I have been struggling with all semester long. Toward the beginning of the semester I began ready a book called Revolution in World Missions. Before reading this book, I was unaware of the dangers of holistic ministry. This danger, which Guthrie points out, is that of losing our focus of evangelism. Feeding the hungry, rescuing the slave from oppression, and caring for the sick are all very Biblical activities commanded of Christians. The danger comes when they become the end, the focus, the purpose of ministry.
We are to be a light to the nations. As Haugen pointed out, actively seeking social justice is part of the “good deeds” in Matt 5:16. However, the end goal in that verse is so that they may “glorify your Father in heaven.” Evangelism and conversion are the goal of missions above all other goals. Clearly, this does not mean that we put social justice on the back burner and give it less priority. The scriptures are very clear, as Haugen argued, that seeking social justice is very important to God. Not only so, but we are his primary means of doing this. Psalm 35:10 says, “My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, LORD? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.” Furthermore, Isaiah 1:17 commands our involvement in this process, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Missions should work toward the freeing of people from spiritual and physical bondage or oppression. It should work towards feeding people spiritually and physically. In doing this, the spiritual needs should always come first. As we see in Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5000, Jesus teaches the people before he feeds them. In fact, it was the disciples that seemed initially concerned about the people’s physical need to be fed. The disciples were not wrong in being concerned about this, and Jesus did not neglect to take care of this need. Nonetheless, we see that Jesus’ priority was on the spiritual nourishment rather than the physical. I know of many “ministries” that spend the overwhelming majority of their time, effort, and resources on caring for people’s physical needs, while hardly evangelizing. If this happens, we are wasting our time.
Often, the argument against such strong evangelizing action is concerned about resistance. People suggest that if we introduce a clinic or hospital into an area that is anti-Christian, we can slowly build their trust, and ever so slowly begin to evangelize. I see this as a lack of faith. Where in the Bible did Paul ever so slowly evangelize? His sense of urgency was strong and he outright preached to people who were stoning him. If our focus is evangelism and winning souls for the Lord, we are trusting that God will prepare the way, rather than a hospital preparing the way. Maybe God will use a Christian hospital to prepare the way, but our trust needs to be on God rather than on the hospital.
There are definitely circumstances that demand immediate action and an effort to improve the physical before the spiritual. We must rescue the girl from the brothel before making an effort to minister to her spiritually. We must free the captured slave before we can proclaim the good news of spiritual salvation to them. IJM’s ministry is fantastic; I am entirely behind all that they do. Nevertheless, is physical emancipation required for spiritual freedom? Most definitely not, as exemplified in Haugen’s story of the child prostitute who inscribed verses on the brothel wall. What a testament to faith during trials this is. It is important that Christians seek out social justice in the world with the end goal being “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

"Overflowing Joy"

“And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own” -2 Corinthians 8:1-3

Every time I read this it is a stark reminder of a reality. We are told of two environmental conditions of these churches, in severe trial and in extreme poverty, each followed by an attitude that seems to contradict their situation. I love the strong language used to describe them, “overflowing joy” and “rich generosity.” These two things combined to the point that they gave “beyond their ability.” Do we have a faith strong enough to give beyond our ability? Do we have an overflowing joy that would prompt this?
I’ll also point out that this attitude is part of the gift of God’s grace. Not a gift that we wait patiently for, but a gift that is given to all believers that have a saving faith. However, as with all gifts, it is something that must be accepted. What is a gift if we do not accept it? It sits in a box and is no use to anyone.

Ponderings

“The place of redemption is the place where God appears weakest. Where God appears weakest, He is doing the most: This point is the culmination of irony and the paradox. Jesus never looked more incompetent from a human perspective than when He was hanging on the cross, yet He was never doing more from a divine perspective than at that same moment.”

I read this in my text for my Church History class. This is not a direct quote from the protestant reformer, but it is the author’s paraphrase of one of Martin Luther’s thoughts.
I found it incredibly interesting.
It’s deep, but I understand it, and I agree.
It left me pondering other moments in history as well. Is it possible that in the moments that God seems incompetent from a human perspective, he is actually accomplishing the most? An intriguing thought that I will continue to ponder.

Psalms and Proverbs

This is my second post today, but I just wanted to share this. As I was reading through the Old Testament last spring, I wrote down my favorite Psalms and Proverbs.

Psalms:
37
51
96
100
103
121
138
139
145
146
148

Proverbs:
1:7 3:5-6 4:23-27 6:16-19 7:21-27 10:17
11:4 11:24-25 12:1 12:16 14:21 20:19 21:23
22:1 25:21-22 28:9 28:27 31:8-9

Lamentations 3:19-24

sick of sick

Happy Saturday
I never really get a weekend because most of my homework is due on Mondays.
Today is really hard for me. Being sick is really starting to wear on me mentally. I wish it would just go away. I've had this cough now for 2 months, and I thought I was over this latest cold, but I went to bed with a fever last night and woke up with a sore throat. I'm trying to accomplish so much this semester, and being constantly physically attacked is making it so much harder.
I had to miss my friends birthday party today.
I'm trying to get homework done, but I can't focus with a headache and stuffy nose.
It's frustrating when the doctor says "get some rest". Thanks doc, I've been sick for 2 months and that's all you got?


I went to the college kick-off at my new church last night and it was a lot of fun. I think I'm going to really like it there.
When I got out of my car in front of my house last night, these two black guys walked by and asked if I'd give them a ride to the 7/11. I said sure, why not. Turns out they are new to the area and don't have any friends. One of them is coming over sometime so I can help him with his math homework. This is why living in the city is cooler than living in the woods.

Making friends

I was really expecting my classmates at GRCC to be really lame. It's just the stereotype of community college students that I had. I mean, everyone at West Shore fit the description. As it turns out, I think my classmates are really cool. Maybe it won't be so hard to meet new friends outside of camp people (no offense camp people, but I need to get out more).
On the same note of meeting new friends, Kris and I went to Berkley Hills Wesleyan Church last Sunday and we both loved it. I'm pretty sure that I'm done searching for a church down here. Everyone says that "church shopping" is so hard. Every time I've done it, I've found where I want to go on the first or second try. I thought it was funny that we met a bunch of Kuyper students there. Kuyper is a reformed college (which is opposite of Wesleyan). Just a little humor for my day. The church is less than a mile from my house, so I'm really excited about living right in the neighborhood of my church. I think driving 30 minutes to church defeats part of the purpose of church.

I watched Invictus last night. I would just like to say that I think it is stupid that we do not learn about this kind of stuff in public school. All they care about in public school is American history (it builds patriotism after all). We never learned about foreign issues and world history. The story behind that movie is incredible. If I could choose to have witnessed one sporting event in history, it would have been that.
I'm guessing that we don't talk about Nelson Mandela in American schools because he is famous for criticizing the US saying "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care."
But I would have to agree with him.

9/11

Today is September 11th, if you didn't already know.
This day is a little weird.
All year we fight and bicker as a country
but then on this day people forget about it
as we come together and remember our common enemy
We set aside a couple minutes on this day to pray
for the families of those who've lost
It sounds all well and good, but it's so fake
Tomorrow we will forget again
Tomorrow we will begin fighting and bickering again
and what about the other tragedies?
did we stop to remember the 2000 people who died in Katrina?
did we pray for their families?
do we even remember the date that it happened? (Aug 29th)
How about the 200,000 people that died from the Tsunami?
or the 200,000 people that died in Haiti last January
are we going to stop and remember them?
Probably not
So why 9/11?
Because behind 9/11 is the enemy, an actual tangible foe
Someone we can retaliate against.
we can't take revenge on a hurricane or an earthquake.
If we can come together against a common enemy we build patriotism.
and every good tax paying, ball park loving, consumeristic American loves their patriotism.

But what if we're told to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt 5:43,44)?

Stormy Stormy night, and improvement on Van Gogh

Well, all of my classes are underway. It's going to be very difficult, but I think I'm going to make it. I just have to work on my priorities.
Roommate life is going well. The roomies are finally getting busy so they are less of a distraction. When none of them had classes, I was having a difficult time getting work done. My largest concern at the moment is that, with my insane amount of school work, keeping up with spiritual disciplines is increasingly difficult. So I would appreciate your prayers in this area. I can already begin to see my lack of getting into the Word and prayer affecting my thoughts and decisions.

I have to say that I am excited for autumn. Summer is my favorite season, and I hate winter with a burning passion. This has been a very long and hot summer (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and I am excited about the prospect of wearing my hoodie and drinking hot chocolate. In a perfect world the seasons would go from summer to fall to spring. Sometimes I become sad in the fall because it reminds me that winter is coming.

Also, I absolutely love storms and I wish that I was on the east coast right now.

GR life begins again

Howdy.

My online classes started on Tuesday. It looks like it's going to be a lot of work, but so far no sign of big papers. I'm taking research writing at the CC, so that is going to be a big enough source of large papers. If you could continue to pray for my time management, I would appreciate it. It's not something that I am naturally good at, so it will take some work.

Last week was my "fun week" before I headed off to GR for school. Unfortunately, I was really down about some stuff right when the week started, and it sort of made the week less exciting. Thursday was a real pick-me-up, though, because I got to catch up with some old friends who had great reports of their walk with the Lord.

Now, I begin the process of searching for a church to attend in GR. I found what seems to be a nice Wesleyan church right down the road that I am going to check out. One of the things that I am looking for is proximity. I really want to find a church that is really close to where I am living. Driving 30 minutes or more to church is lame. Obviously, the church must have sound doctrine. I am also looking for a church that is abnormal. Normality is overrated. There are lots of things that could qualify for this. Maybe it's multicultural, maybe it's a house church, maybe they are just willing to think way outside the box when it comes to ministry, or maybe their worship service isn't your standard 3 songs, meet and greet, offering, sermon, another song to close and then leave.
I'm not going to leave a church because I'm not being "fed" adequately by the pastor, if I felt that way I would just listen to sermons from John Piper online. I'm looking for a church where I can connect, love people, be loved by people, and serve along side loving people in ministry.

Putting my face in the dirt

I was driving home from a wedding rehearsal tonight and in the process I listened to two separate sermons on the radio. They were from two different pastors, one out of the book of Job and one out of Romans. They had a common theme, and one that I needed to be reminded of again.

What is our view of God? No, he is not here to help us live a better life in 10 easy steps. Life is not about us and what we can get out of it. Life is about God. God is immeasurably greater than us, almighty, most holy. Why do I not often find myself face down in the dirt, prostrate, bowing down to God's reverence. Not metaphorically, not just a state of mind, but physically in the dirt. How often do we realize our state of depravity and break down, tears running down our faces, unable to do anything but proclaim God's majesty? Too often I take God's grace for granted as I continue to cut corners and sin here and there (it seems ok, because they're not the "big" sins). I should fall flat on my face in tears of repentance every time I disobey the Lord in the small things. We serve a God far greater than any of us can imagine, yet we neglect to give him the praise he deserves.

This thought began earlier this summer when a friend, in tears, opened up to me that this is where he is. As we sat and talked in a mosquito infested swamp for two hours, He said that even the mosquitoes obeyed God's command, yet we cannot. We do not even deserve to kill the mosquitoes biting us right now, because they obey God and we don't. Thanks friend; I thought I was there to help you in that moment, but you don't realize how much you changed my life.

Life Transitions

So I haven't posted on here in a long time, but now that the camp season is coming to a close I'd like to get back into it.

It's an odd thing when something you've known for a long time comes to an end. It's just a strange feeling. Not necessarily sad, but strange. Leaving high school was strange, leaving Cornerstone was strange; and now, leaving camp is strange. Camp is a place that has been a massive part of my life for the past 5 years. It has definitely been the best experience of my life so far. It is where I have met and had fellowship with some of the strongest Christians I know. I've also had so many joyful opportunities to disciple younger people. Spending the extra time to get to know the high school volunteers this year was amazing. I could have coasted through my last summer and just got by with the minimum required of me, but I ended up having an amazing summer because I invested my time in people. I hope that I impacted their lives as much as they impacted mine.

So now I leave on Saturday, with no intent to work here again. The excitement of the unknown awaits me. I am pumped for whatever God has in store for me in the future. This fall I will be busy with 21 credit hours at school, plus a ministry, plus the friends that I have promised to invest time in. I would appreciate prayers for time management, it's going to be crazy. Lord willing I will be graduating with a BS in Biblical Studies next summer. I'm totally filled with joy knowing that I have no idea what I'm going to do after that. College and Camp is what I've known for 5 years. Being done with both of these, I could go anywhere, and that excites me. My plan is to continue serving God with all I have.

It's funny how God changes people. 10 years ago, if you told me that I should go serve God in a remote village in South America, I would have said you were crazy. Now, I'd be down with it.

Random thought of the day: Some of the most important things that I've learned in life have been taught to me by those that I was placed in authority over. Are you willing to learn from those under you? Because, maybe in reality, they are above you.

Life

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

I would like to say that I suck. God, thank you for your saving grace,... please help me to suck less and live more like Jesus.

Life is Unpredictable: an update on nate's life

In case you didn't read it on Facebook

Well, I figured it was time that I told everyone what was going on in my life recently.
I was on track (or so I thought) to get a bachelors in biology by the end of spring 2011. A couple Sunday's ago, as I was driving, my prayers got a little more heated than normal. I was quite frustrated, that after all this time floundering around in college, I still couldn't seem to get a glimpse of God's purpose for my life.
Monday came and it was the first day of class. I sat at the computer in the library and took a closer look at what classes I was going to need for my degree. I realized that the classes I thought were going to transfer, weren't going to work the way I needed them to. It would likely take one more year than I thought to graduate. I took this as a response to my prayer and I was deeply unsettled about the direction I was going. The following 2 days were very difficult as my mind was spinning with uncertainty.
I decided, with much prayer and counsel, to drop my classes and devote my time this semester to spiritual training. I am excited to spend time studying the word and getting to know my creator even more.
Next fall I would like to enroll in a missions training program. I have not decided which one, but Bethany college of missions in MN is at the top of the list at the moment (www.bcom.org). I have known for a while that I would like to be involved somehow in church planting. I have also known for a while that I love studying and experiencing cultures different from my own. It seems only logical that I should put these two passions together and go into missions. Maybe to others it seemed obvious for awhile that I should be a missionary. I don't know. Because they never told me. Or I wasn't listening. Either way, it wasn't obvious to me until a week ago.

I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to discern God's will for my life and follow it.