Efrem Smith is a church planter, pastor, and now a superintendent in our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church.  He’s also a far too infrequent blogger.  A couple of days ago he posted a few thoughts about why Glenn Beck’s ongoing disparagement of social justice is a poor representation of historic Christian theology.

One of the hallmarks of evangelical theology is the authority and centrality of Scripture. The Scripture is full of Kingdom mandates from God that calls for a justice that goes beyond individualism. For those that don’t believe this is the case, they have to wrestle with the Exodus story as well as the book of Esther and the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, beginning with verse 31. This mission of God in the world includes salvation, which is individualistic in nature, but also includes what the corporate church should do concerning the widow, the poor, the orphan, the stranger, and the sick in society. The society makes up the social structures. This isn’t a political ideology, nor Marxist philosophy, this is the Word of God.

Not long ago I wrote that opposing Glen Beck and his opinions about social justice should not be mistaken for the genuine work of mercy and justice.  Pastor Smith writes not as a opinionated bystander but as one who pastors a church with a proven track record of working for the empowerment and protection of their city’s poor.  His perspective is worth considering closely.  Take a minute to read the rest of his post.