Setting the Groundwork for Speaker Series Event on Social Justice

Setting the groundwork for the speaker series event on social justice. That is the topic we'll discuss today right here on the Christian Worldview radio program, where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus.

I'm David Wheaton, the host of the program and our website is thechristianworldview.org. Poses a more imminent and dangerous threat to the clarity and centrality of the gospel than any other recent controversy evangelicals have engaged in. That's quite a statement from Pastor John MacArthur about the hottest topic in the church and also in mainstream society, social justice. Tragically, a division in the evangelical church has formed over the issue of social justice. One side sees the pursuit of it, i.e. working to rectify perceived social inequalities related to ethnicity, gender, privilege, sexuality, economic status, immigration status, to name just a few, as inexorably leading to a neglect of the great commission that were called to make disciples of Christ first and foremost.

It's a distraction from that. The other side sees social justice as an implication of the gospel. They'll say social justice is a gospel issue. In other words, Christians are to preach the gospel while working for what they define as social inequities in society, trying to end those.

So which side is right? Well, I think the question we need to ask is what does the Bible say about social justice and what was the example of the ministry of Jesus and those in the early church? Did they pursue social justice? For if we can understand what God's word says and also look to the ministry of Christ as our example, then we can think biblically and live accordingly on this issue that has captivated the hearts and minds of this generation. Joining us today in the program is Daryl Harrison. He is a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary. He's a U.S. Army veteran and an expository Bible teacher with a passion for helping Christians understand what they believe and why. He's also the featured speaker at our next the Christian Royal View Speaker Series event on Sunday, September 15th and also our featured interview guest at the Christian Royal View Golf and Dinner event on Monday, September 16th and we'll tell you about those events throughout the program today. But let's get to the first segment of the interview with Daryl Harrison. Today as we set some groundwork for the upcoming the Christian Royal View Speakers Series event that you're going to be speaking at on Sunday, September 15th here in the Twin Cities on Social Justice, let's start out by reading a couple of tweets put out by two people that maybe some of our audience will know. One is by Tim Keller, the well-known pastor from New York. He said, Jesus didn't come primarily to solve the economic, political and social problems of the world.

He came to forgive our sins. Next tweet, folks, the key word here is primarily. Of course, Jesus addresses economic, political and social issues.

See my book Generous Justice. And then another tweet by a woman named Rachel Held Evans, who actually recently passed away in her late 30s. She was considered a quite liberal Christian. She said in response to Tim Keller's tweet, I think it's because primarily the word primarily suggests that redeeming society, culture, the world is secondary to Christ's call.

I would strongly disagree with that. And no first century Jew would even conceive of parsing the personal from the collective like this. The vision was always for kingdom come, for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven for the ultimate year of Jubilee.

So there, Daryl, you have two people, Tim Keller and Rachel Held Evans. Tim Keller's was one who didn't actually sign and even push back some against the statement on social justice and the gospel, that statement. So there's a whole realm of perspectives on this issue of social justice. It's been said that social justice is a gospel issue. That's sort of the mantra of this movement. So let's start out by having you explain what does this issue of social justice mean to the Christians who are advocating for it?

That is a very, very broad question. I think many evangelicals would like to see the church become more of an activist entity in terms of its mission and purpose in society, hence the term social justice, because the emphasis is on how the church can transform society. But what that means in terms of specifics, I don't know, because the movement doesn't really consist as a cohesive agenda. It's not led by one person in particular.

There is no one mission statement or vision statement or set of goals that they're trying to achieve. But what I do know is that those who would acknowledge that they identify with the social justice movement would like to see the church be more deliberate in engaging the world in what many of them would describe as the quote-unquote fight. You'll hear them often say that what they're doing around social justice is a fight for justice, which to them means creating a society that is more equitable, more just, primarily in terms of economic opportunities and outcomes for people that they would describe as being oppressed, marginalized.

You'll hear those terms tossed around a lot. Under those two categories of oppressed and marginalized, you'll hear groups such as Black Americans talked about quite often, other minorities such as those who identify as LGBTQ. So it's those two categories of people that they would say have little or no or no voice in society. And a primary means for implementing those objectives, those goals, and those solutions that they propose is through politics and legislation.

That is by electing people to office who are favorable to their social justice agenda and by having laws changed or new laws enacted that will help bring to fruition their visage of an egalitarian society. And that's well stated. And I can even add a few of the issues that I read about when Christians talk about social justice, working to rectify what they perceive as injustices in society due to ethnicity, of course, as well, race. Also, gender is a big one. You'll hear the word privilege a lot, those who have privilege versus those who are perceived not to have privilege. You mentioned the sexuality one, economics, you mentioned that. Another big one is immigration status. I read an article recently in Christianity Today with perspectives from three or four evangelicals on a, quote, lament over the immigration situation at the border and in terms of that pray for justice for these illegal immigrants trying to cross into America. So there's a lot of different issues, even environmental justice you'll hear from evangelicals as well.

So it spans a wide range of issues. And our guest today on the program is Darrell Harrison. He's a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary and also a U.S. Army veteran and an expository Bible teacher. He is our featured speaker at the Christian Real View Speaker Series event coming up on Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. So, Darrell, talk about how pervasive this social justice movement is in the evangelical church today.

Yeah, it's actually very pervasive, David, and it's becoming more pervasive by the day. Already numerous books have been published by Christian, quote unquote, leaders who advocate and promote social justice within the church. I won't name any of them here, but one need only do an internet search on social justice books, and you would have no shortage, no shortage whatsoever of selections from which to choose. A matter of fact, I think LifeWay now has an entire section of its website dedicated to resources that are tied to the topic of racial reconciliation. So you can go to the LifeWay website, search racial reconciliation, and you will find an entire section of materials there that are dedicated just to that one topic. But one of the most glaring examples of the pervasiveness of the social justice movement within evangelicalism today is that during the annual convention of the largest Protestant Christian denomination in America, which is the Southern Baptist Convention, where the messengers, as they're called there, voted on a resolution, it was resolution number nine, to adopt critical race theory, or CRT for short, as quote, an analytical tool, unquote, to assess the ongoing effects of racism and slavery in society today. Now when you get the largest Protestant Christian denomination in America embracing a worldly philosophy as leftist, as critical race theory, I don't know how much further left you can go. And there's also an aspect of the social justice movement within evangelicalism that is advocating for the ordination of women as pastors and elders.

That was a big issue, again, within the Southern Baptist Convention that was recently held. So social justice as an ideology, as a philosophy, as a worldview, has many, many layers to it. There are many tentacles to this issue. It is not just economic. It is not just cultural.

There are many, many layers to this. And it's not only about the pursuit, again, of economic reform within society. That may have been the primary objective in the initial throws of the social justice movement in the early 19th century, for example. But today, it is also ecclesiastical reform within the church. It's sociocultural reform within American society as a whole. As an example, recently, there are politicians right now who are trying to outlaw the use of certain words, such as illegal alien.

This is becoming more and more extreme by the day. Darrell Harrison, again, with us today on the Christian Royal View, the featured speaker at our Christian Royal View Speaker Series event on Sunday, September 15. You can find out more about that at our website, thechristianroyalview.org. The event is no cost and no registration.

It will also be streamed live on our Facebook page for out-of-town listeners to the program here. Let me add another one to the list that you just mentioned, Darrell, of the things that include social justice within the Southern Baptist Convention. There is a call for reparations for slavery. In other words, it's an injustice that the Southern Baptist Convention way back in the day was for slavery and so forth.

The line would be that that hurt the Black community, of course. Now, generations later, there's a call for reparations. What are your thoughts on that particular issue? Because you mentioned women in leadership of churches, homo-sociaries, homosexuals being affirmed in the evangelical church or welcomed into same-sex attracted. What are your thoughts on just specifically the reparations issue? Okay, our guest, Darrell Harrison, will answer that question after this first break of the day on the Christian Royal View. We're talking about social justice. This topic is the flashpoint of all the political and cultural change that's taking place.

It's being used for the political and cultural change that is desired in our society and also within our churches as well. So you're not going to want to miss any of the rest of the conversation with Darrell. Again, I mentioned that he's going to be the featured speaker at our Christian Royal View Speaker Series event. We actually have two events, back-to-back days. The Speaker Series event on social justice, September 15th, that's a Monday, 7 p.m., Grace Church, Eden Prairie, no cost, no registration. The next day is our golf and dinner event, our annual event, that's September 16th. That evening at the dinner event, we're going to do a personal interview with Darrell as well.

So two great events to look forward to in September. More on the Christian Royal View next. The prosperity gospel is a prominent false gospel that God offers health, wealth, and prosperity if you just have faith and give money. Kosti Hinn grew up on the inside of the prosperity gospel movement.

His uncle is world-renowned prosperity preacher Benny Hinn. Kosti saw it all, the manipulation, staged healings, luxuriant lifestyles, and perversion of scripture before God opened Kosti's eyes to understand sound doctrine and believe in the true gospel. Now a pastor, Kosti has written an important book entitled God, Greed, and the Prosperity Gospel, which chronicles his own experience and gracefully points the reader to the truth of scripture. For a limited time, you can order this 224-page softcover book for a donation of any amount to the Christian Royal View.

Normal retail is $17.99 without shipping. To order, call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. The next Christian Royal View speaker series event is on Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church Eden Prairie. It features Darrell Harrison presenting on how social justice impacts the gospel and the church. Darrell is a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary and an expository Bible teacher. He has a passion for helping Christians understand what they believe and why. He'll do just that with the issue of social justice, followed by a Q&A moderated by host David Wheaton.

No cost, no registration, just come. The event will also be live streamed on the Christian World View Facebook page. For more information, call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. The Christian World View speaker series with Darrell Harrison, Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church Eden Prairie. Call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian World View radio program. I'm David Wheaton, the host.

Our website is thechristianworldview.org. We are setting the stage today, setting the groundwork, I guess you could say, for the upcoming Christian World View speaker series event on Sunday, September 15th here in the Twin Cities with our guest speaker that evening, which is Darrell Harrison. He's the host of the Just Thinking podcast. His website is justthinking.me. He has quite a background and he writes and speaks extensively on this particular issue of social justice. He's going to be an excellent speaker.

Hope you can come to the event. We'll tell you more about more details about it today, but let's get back to the interview with Darrell Harrison. Let me add another one to the list that you just mentioned, Darrell, of the things that include social justice within the Southern Baptist Convention. There's a call for reparations for slavery. In other words, it's an injustice that the Southern Baptist Convention way back in the day was for slavery and so forth.

And the line would be that that hurt the Black community, of course. And so now, generations later, there's a call for reparations. What are your thoughts on that particular issue?

Yeah, David, that's a great question. As you know, I host a weekly podcast and we recently did an episode on that issue. We titled it Slavery Reparations.

And to date, that is the most listened to episode of the 80-something episodes that we've done so far. I'm going to respond to your question as someone who is a descendant, not of slaves, but of slave owners. I can trace my ancestral roots all the way back to Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, and the Belantra tribe, who actually participated willingly with Europeans and the Portuguese to sell members of their own families, their own tribes, and other tribes whom they conquered, other African tribes, to sell them as slaves in exchange for farming tools.

My people were rice harvesters back then, and they still are today. So I speak to you as someone who is a Black man, who is a descendant of slave owners, not of slaves. So for folks who would support slavery reparations, my question would be to them, well, how do you deal with someone like me?

Now, with that as background, probably we don't need to say this now, but I do not support slavery reparations. And I think the biblical apologetic that I would offer to support my position on that is that I think reparations and restitution is only applicable to sins that are actually committed by an individual that you can objectively identify as a sinner, as an offender. In the case of slavery reparations, we're talking about attributing the guilt of generations past to a present generation by proxy. It's what I call sin by proxy. You're trying to apply the sin that someone's past generations of ancestors may or may not have committed.

We don't know. But the brush is being painted so broadly against white people, any white person, to where even in the church you have people calling for reparations for sins that are committed for sins that were not committed against them personally, but may have been committed against their ancestors by ancestors of white people. And that is just a totally unbiblical frame of mind to have. But that is part of the dialogue within the church. Unbelievably so. It is part of the dialogue within the evangelical church.

And the voices in support of reparations are being louder and louder. Darryl Harrison is our guest today on The Christian Ruleview. He is the host of the podcast, Just Thinking. His website is justthinking.me. He's also our featured speaker at the Christian Ruleview Speaker Series event on Sunday, September 15th at Grace Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 7 p.m. No cost, no registration.

Just come. We'll, I think, gain from hearing Darryl speak on this topic. There will also be a Q&A following his message. We've talked about some of the issues that are part of the spectrum of social justice. But there's one issue, Darryl, that I think is probably truly the greatest injustice in our society, and that is the injustice of the killing of the unborn. 60 million around there, abortions, babies have been killed since Roe v. Wade was instituted in the 1970s. And yet that particular issue of innocent lives in the womb having no say, having done nothing wrong, being snuffed out before they had a chance at life, that seems to me to be the greatest injustice in our society. But that issue is rarely mentioned, even amongst Christians who are advocates for social justice.

Why is that? You know, David, that is an excellent question, and it's one that I wish I had an answer to, but I don't. You know, one would think that, given the impact of abortion on black families and communities, especially in recent decades, with upwards of 18 million, so you mentioned 60 million total since Roe v. Wade in 1973, of that 60 million, 18 million of those have been unborn black babies being murdered in the womb. You look at that, and combined with the reality that the majority of the voices advocating for social justice in the church today are black, you would think that abortion would be mentioned as a social justice issue, but that is not the case. It's just not the case. In fact, a recent New York Times article just this week featured two black male pastors and a black female Planned Parenthood employee.

All of these three folks are based in St. Louis, Missouri. The article featured these individuals, and they were actually arguing or making the case that the reason abortion rates among black women is so high is because of, quote-unquote, is because of, quote-unquote, social forces. They use the phrase social forces that give these women no choice but to abort their unborn children. So it is only within that context, okay, it's only within that context that abortion is ever mentioned alongside social justice. That is, in the context that social forces are currently working against black people economically, and until those social forces are removed, then abortions will decrease as a result. So outside of that context, you will never hear abortion mentioned strictly as a, quote-unquote, gospel issue. That is, you'll never hear it mentioned in the context of the unborn having a right to exist simply because he or she is created in the image of God, as we know from Genesis 1.27. The reason it's rarely, if ever, mentioned as a social justice issue is that many black Christians, and I have to be brutally honest here, many black Christians, including many black pastors, are married ideologically and politically to the Democrat party, which itself is married philosophically to Planned Parenthood. Now, I say that not with the intent of getting political, but in answering the question you pose, you cannot answer the question honestly without making that connection.

So to a great, great degree, black Christians are married to a worldview, a political ideology that is married to Planned Parenthood, and for that reason, they cannot mention abortion as simply a biblical issue without also attaching it to their social justice agenda. Dale Harrison with us today on the Christian Real View Radio Program. He's going to be our featured speaker at the upcoming The Christian Real View Speaker Series event on Sunday, September 15th, 7 p.m. Grace Church Eden Prairie.

No registration, no cost for that event. He'll also be live streamed on Facebook if you don't live in the Twin Cities area. He's also a host of the Just Thinking podcast.

He blogs at justthinking.me. There's some proof text for those who advocate for social justice, of course, from Scripture. Maybe the greatest one is Micah 6-8. He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Also, the second greatest commandment you'd love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

That's the first. The second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. The New Testament says to visit orphans and widows. Another proof text is Matthew 25, where Christ says if you've done it to the least of these, you know, the poor, the hurting, those in jail and prison and so forth, you've done it to me, helping those. So what does it mean from Scripture, as it says in Micah 6-8 there, to do justice? You know, David, Micah 6-8 is the go-to text for many evangelical social justice advocates. That is the go-to text for the vast majority of them, and they latch on to the words in that verse, the two words that read, do justice. Okay, they latch on to those two words that are in the second half of that verse, and they use those words alone, just that phrase, do justice, as a rationale for saying that justice is a quote-unquote, God's full issue. But before we ask the question, how should Christians practice justice, there are some antecedent questions that must be asked, not the least of which is this. What does the word justice mean in that text in Micah 6-8?

Exactly. In Micah 6-8, the word justice is the Hebrew word mishpat, is a judicial term that has to do with rendering a legal verdict as if in court. Okay, so that's what the word justice means in Micah 6-8. So in other words, the justice that God is speaking of here in Micah 6-8 has to do with rendering just verdicts, just decisions, just judgments. It has nothing to do with the church working in the world to bring about some egalitarian society in which everyone is equal. Okay, Daryl's going to give the rest of that answer on the difference between biblical justice and social justice right after this second break of the day here on the Christian Rule of View radio program. Again, if you just joined us, we're talking about social justice today, the hottest topic really.

It's the force that's at work in our general society and within churches today. And Daryl's going to be our featured speaker, as we've been mentioning at our upcoming speaker series event on September 15th here in the Twin Cities. Also, the Higher Call Quartet will be providing music that night.

We'll tell you more about that coming up after this break. You're invited to the Christian World View Golf and Dinner event on Monday, September 16th at Woodhill Country Club in Wiesetta, Minnesota. Golf registration includes 18 holes with cart on one of the best courses in the state, along with lunch and dinner.

Bring your own foursome or we can fit you into a group. Hole sponsorships are also available. Dinner event only registration includes a meet and greet on the lawn, a wonderful meal, a message by host David Wheaton, and a live interview with special guest Daryl Harrison. The fellowship content and setting combine to make this a memorable event in support of the Christian World View radio program. We hope you can come. Again, the Christian World View Golf and Dinner event is on Monday, September 16th at Woodhill in Wiesetta.

Registration deadline is Tuesday, September 3rd. For details and registration, call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. 1-888-646-2233 or thechristianworldview.org. The mission of the Christian World View is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

For when Christians have a stronger faith and when unbelievers come to saving faith, lives and families and churches, even communities, are changed for the glory of God. The Christian World View is a listener-supported ministry. You can help us in our mission to impact hearts and minds by making a donation of any amount or becoming a monthly partner.

All donations are tax-deductible. You can give online at thechristianworldview.org or by calling us toll-free 1-888-646-2233. When you give, we'd like to thank you by sending you a current resource.

Monthly partners can choose to receive resources throughout the year. Call 1-888-646-2233 or go to thechristianworldview.org. Thank you for your support. Our topic today is setting the stage or setting the groundwork for our upcoming The Christian World View Speaker Series event on social justice and our guest today in the program is our speaker at the event, Darrell Harrison. He's a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary that does a lot of other things. We won't have time to get it all in today, but we're going to be interviewing him on a personal note at our golf and dinner event, which is the day after the speaker series event. The golf and dinner event is September 16th.

We'll have time to maybe at the end of the program to tell you more about that as well, but I want to get back to the interview with Darrell Harrison. There's some proof text for those who advocate for social justice, of course, from scripture. Maybe the greatest one is Micah 6-8. He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? What does it mean from scripture, as it says in Micah 6-8 there, to do justice? In Micah 6-8, the word justice is the Hebrew word mishpat.

It's a judicial term that has to do with rendering a legal verdict as if in court. The justice that God is speaking of here has to do with rendering just verdicts, just decisions, just judgments. It has nothing to do with the church working in the world to bring about some egalitarian society in which everyone is equal, okay? And keep in mind that this text in Micah 6-8 is addressed to believers, not unbelievers, okay? The last sentence in Micah 6-8 reads this, and to walk humbly with your God, okay?

Which is to say that that is a command to those who belong to God. It is not a general command to the broader society, nor is it a command for the is it a command for the church to transform the world in terms of a social justice mandate. That one verse, that one verse, David, has been so manipulated, so misapplied, so misunderstood by evangelical social justice advocates as to cause very, very much division in the church today. That one verse, if there's one verse of scripture for which the church needs to have and apply a proper biblical hermeneutic, especially to the issue of social justice, that one verse has to be Micah 6-8. It has been absolutely abused. What about then the example of Jesus and his ministry and the apostles or the early church regarding social justice? Was that a priority or even a secondary thing that they pursued?

What's their example? An excellent example is something we find in Matthew 11 verses 2-4, and this is Jesus' response to John the Baptist while John the Baptist was in prison. As we know from this text, John the Baptist has been unjustly imprisoned. Verse 2 of Matthew 11 reads, Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples. That is, John the Baptist sent word to Jesus by a couple of John the Baptist's disciples. Jesus, of course, is well aware. Not only that John is in prison, but why he is in prison.

In verse 3 of Matthew 11, John's disciples ask of Jesus this question, Are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else? From the standpoint of social justice, Jesus, knowing that John was in prison unjustly, should have freed John from prison. That would have been the just thing for Jesus to do according to the social justice argument. John the Baptist has been unjustly imprisoned. Jesus is therefore obligated to write that injustice, and the only way to do that is to free John from prison, right? But see, Jesus doesn't do that. As I said, Jesus knows that John is in prison unjustly.

But instead of freeing John, Jesus leaves John there, knowing that John will soon be executed. Now, unjustly, by the way, unjustly. The emphasis throughout this dialogue here must be that John is in prison unjustly.

He's going to be executed unjustly. And what is the narrative of the entire social justice argument? It's injustice. Unjust.

This is either unjust, or that's injustice. But Jesus's response to John's disciples is a lesson to us all in what is of most importance to God, and what should be of most importance to the church. Verse 4 in Matthew 11 reads, Go and report. This is Jesus's response to John.

Go and report to John what you hear and see. Verse 5, The blind receive sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. The poor have the gospel preached to them. Now, this is significant, David, because the Jesus of the social justice movement would have said this. The poor have jobs, or the poor have homes in which to live, or that the poor have food on the table. But notice that in all that Jesus said in response to John the Baptist, in his message to be taken back to John the Baptist, the poor were mentioned last.

And Jesus singled them out, not for having met all their felt needs, but for what was the most important thing in this world, even to the poor, which is having the gospel preached to them, so that their souls might be saved for all eternity. Thank you for that, Darrell. Darrell Harrison, our guest today here on the Christian Real View, he is going to be the featured speaker at the Christian Real View Speaker Series event on Sunday, September 15th.

I really hope you can come to this, and if you're not living in the area of the Twin Cities, I hope you can watch live on Facebook, the event at 7 p.m., Grace Church, Eden Prairie. More information on our website, thechristianrealview.org. You can find out more about Darrell at his website, justthinking.me.

Lots of excellent podcasts and articles on his website. I want to read a quote, Darrell, by Pastor John MacArthur. He said, with regards to this social justice movement, he said, it's my conviction that much of the rhetoric about this latest issue, social justice, poses a more imminent and dangerous threat to the clarity and centrality of the gospel than any other recent controversy evangelicals have engaged in. That is quite a statement about this issue, and I think there might be some people listening who might think, well, wouldn't it be nice to have better equality with the way people treat each other in our society, and racial relations and treatment of women in certain cases, and economics? Don't we want to see poor people not be mired in poverty, and don't we want immigrants treated well, and so forth? They might read that quote and say, what's the danger here? I mean, social justice, isn't this kind of at its core a good thing?

Aren't we kind of splitting hairs here? So what is the danger, Darrell, of having of this social justice movement within the church? Yeah, Dave, let me answer that question this way. Christians must understand first and foremost that God's people are commanded to do justice, not social justice. I want to repeat that. The people of God professing Christians, those who profess to have been regenerated and come to faith in Jesus Christ, we must understand that we are commanded in scripture to do justice, not social justice. In many ways, social justice, and I use that phrase in air quotes, social justice, in many ways, as a worldview, as a philosophy, social justice is a violation of God's command in Leviticus 1915.

That text reads this way. Leviticus 1915, you shall do no injustice in judgment. You should not be partial to the poor, nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. Now, some of your listeners may be surprised at that text, especially those who are unfamiliar with it, but in God's economy, it is also wrong to show partiality to the poor. Social justice largely gives deference to the poor, which, as I just read, is a sin in the eyes of God. God's people are to show partiality neither to the poor nor to the wealthy. So again, justice, as we discussed earlier, is a judicial concept. It is the same thing here in Leviticus 1915. You shall do no injustice in judgment, in your decisioning, in the verdict that you render, in the conclusions that you draw.

There should be no injustice in that, okay? So it's not a matter of meeting people's felt needs. That is how social justice is largely defined within the world as well as within the church, that it's a matter of meeting people's felt needs in terms of equality and making sure everything levels out. But as we just saw in the Matthew 11 passage, Jesus did both. But in doing both, Jesus prioritized meeting the spiritual needs of the poor over and above meeting their material and felt needs. Remember, Jesus sent back to John the Baptist's word that he seemed the dead, raised, lepers cleansed, the deaf hear, the blind see. So yes, Jesus did meet felt needs, but as we talked about, most importantly, Jesus met the spiritual needs of the poor. This is why Jesus emphasized in Matthew 11, he literally said this and spelled this out, the poor hath the gospel preached to them. So those who would say that neglecting social justice is neglecting the gospel, I would say they don't really understand the gospel. I hope this is giving you a good flavor, a good taste of what's to come at our upcoming speaker series event on September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, with Daryl Harrison on social justice.

This is important to have a sharp biblical worldview on this issue. That is why we're doing this event. Important. It's a free event.

There's no cost, there's no registration. Just come. More coming up with Daryl Harrison after this final break of the day on the Christian worldview. I'm David Wheaton. The next Christian worldview speaker series event is on Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church, Eden Prairie. It features Daryl Harrison presenting on how social justice impacts the gospel and the church. Daryl is a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary and an expository Bible teacher. He has a passion for helping Christians understand what they believe and why. He'll do just that with the issue of social justice, followed by a Q&A moderated by host David Wheaton.

No cost, no registration. Just come. The event will also be live streamed on the Christian worldview Facebook page. For more information, call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. The Christian worldview speaker series with Daryl Harrison, Sunday, September 15th at 7 p.m. at Grace Church, Eden Prairie.

Call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. The prosperity gospel is a prominent false gospel that God offers health, wealth, and prosperity if you just have faith and give money. Costi Hinn grew up on the inside of the prosperity gospel movement.

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Normal retail is $17.99 without shipping. To order, call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. We are setting the groundwork today for the Christian worldview speaker series event on social justice on Monday, September 15th here in the Twin Cities. Our guest for the event, our presenting speaker is Darrell Harrison.

He is a former fellow of the Black Theology and Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary and excellent on this issue, giving us a biblical perspective on it. And we're just laying some groundwork today on the issue so that when he speaks on September 15th, we'll have a kind of a working understanding of what social justice is, what's at stake, what's going on. He's going to dive right into it, followed by a Q&A that evening as well. As I mentioned earlier, Higher Call Quartet is going to be providing music that night. So that's going to be a great addition to that evening's event. And we'll tell you that he's also going to be, Darrell's going to be at the next day. We're having two events back to back on September 16th. It's a Monday.

We're having our annual golf and dinner event. And I'll tell you more about that after we get to the remaining moments here with Darrell Harrison on social justice. The danger then of prioritizing social justice for Christians is that it's not that they shouldn't advocate for justice, rights versus wrongs, but the danger of prioritizing this version of social justice that's concocted by society now within the church is that it leads to neglect of the proclamation of the true gospel then?

Right, exactly right. Because again, we as Christians, we must have to ask ourselves in sort of discussing this whole issue of social justice, what is the gospel? That's a fundamental question to this whole discussion. What is the gospel? Do we as Christians who are engaging on this subject of social justice, do we even understand what the gospel is? What is the gospel up against all these other religious worldviews?

You have to be able to articulate what the gospel is first. And the gospel declares objectively what is right, what is wrong, what is just, what is unjust, what is a sin, what is not a sin. When we buy into the world's view of what justice is, let alone social justice, those lines become blurred. And as we can see every day in society, David, what the world deems to be right and wrong changes.

Not just every day, but every minute, it changes. So we as Christians, we cannot be so caught up in this social justice conversation that we are entrapped by how the world defines what is right and wrong, what is just and unjust. Christians must be dogmatic in sticking to a biblical context of what is right and what is right and what is wrong, what is just, what is unjust, which is why I'm so dogmatic about making the distinction between what the Bible talks about with respect to godly justice and not social justice. When we obey God, there's justice.

When we don't obey God, there's injustice. Well, I'm looking forward to you digging much more into this. As you said earlier, there's so issues. There's so much to this particular topic. This is the hottest topic, not only within the church, but also in broader society.

I think it really defines so much of the political battles going on today, the worldview that's vying for the heart and soul of America. And I'm looking forward to hearing you talk about that also. Where does this social justice movement come from?

What's the inspiration for it? We won't get into that today, but I'm looking forward to you giving a little bit of history where it comes from and lots of other things. So I guess my final question is for you. I don't think you've ever been to Minnesota, Darrell. What are you looking forward to about coming to the great north state of Minnesota and coming for the Christian review speaker series event? Well, I'll tell you, David, apart from participating in the event for the very first time and just having the opportunity to fellowship with other believers, I'm looking forward to just seeing some of the beauty of Minnesota. I was just recently, just earlier this week, I was doing a little bit of due diligence on Minnesota and was searching the internet for some things about Minnesota. And I know that the state slogan there, the state motto is land of 10,000 lakes. But from what my research found, there are over 11,200 lakes in Minnesota.

So I hope to see a couple of those, at least a couple of those. I know I won't be there long enough to take in all 11,000 of them, but I know that Minnesota is a beautiful, beautiful state. And I'm looking forward to just taking in some of the beauty of God's creative genius there in Minnesota. Again, just fellowshiping with other believers there.

I can't wait to get there. Yeah, we can't wait to have you come as well. We're thankful you're making time for us for this event, the Christian real view speaker series event on Sunday, September 15th. Again, 7 p.m. Grace Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

That's a southwest suburb of the Twin Cities. That event and also going to be coming for the next day. We're having another event the next day, which is our annual golf and dinner event.

And that's open to listeners as well. You don't even need to be a golfer to come. If you're a golfer, you're going to love playing at Woodhill.

It's one of the best courses in the States. But if you're not a golfer, lots of folks come just for the dinner event. And Darrell is going to be our featured interview guest at the dinner portion that evening. We're going to get more of a personal look at Darrell's life, his background, and so forth.

Maybe talk a little bit about social justice there as well. But we want to get to know you a little better at that event. So we're thankful you're coming up for both of these events, Darrell. Thanks for coming on the program today. We just wish all of God's best and grace to you between now and the time we see you. And thanks for coming on the program. Thanks for having me, David.

I'll see you in a few weeks, brother. Okay, we're looking forward to having Darrell Harrison come up to Minnesota for both the Christian real view speaker series and also the annual golf and dinner event. You can find out more about those events at our website, thechristianworldview.org, or you can call us in our office at 1-888-646-2233. Just to remind you, the golf and dinner event is a registration event. You have to register by September 3rd for that particular event.

I think it's the day after Labor Day, September 3rd. We need a little advance notice for meals and that kind of thing for the event venue. Again, these are two separate events, but on back-to-back days. The speaker series event is a speaking event with Darrell, speaking on social justice. That's a no registration, no cost event. The Higher Call Quartet will be providing music for that. We're also going to stream that live on Facebook. And then the next day, Monday, September 16th, is a separate event.

But of course, we're taking advantage of Darrell being in town. We're going to have him at that event as well, too. But that's not so much going to be on social justice. That's going to be during the special live radio interview at the dinner event. We're going to focus on his background, what made him the person he is, just a personal story. He has a very interesting personal story as well.

So hope you can come to both or maybe one or the other. And again, find out more at thechristianworldview.org. I learned a lot even from the interview today, just setting the groundwork for these upcoming events with Darrell about the need really for us as Christians to be discerning about whether what is being called, quote, injustice is actually an injustice. And that word do justice in Micah 6-8 has to do with a legal declarations, what is right and what is wrong biblically, not necessarily just perceived things that we deem inequitable in society today. Those aren't necessarily injustices as the Bible defines justice must be discerning. Think biblically and live accordingly on this very, very important and prominent issue that's affecting our society and the church. Come to our events, you'll find out more and be sharpened in doing so.

You know, we do live in a changing and challenging America where different definitions of justice are constantly being thrust at us. But there is one place we can go. There is one person we can trust and to be the example for us. The Bible says that Jesus Christ and His word are the same yesterday, today and forever. Until next weekend, everyone think biblically and live accordingly. Christian worldview is a weekly one hour radio program that is furnished by the Overcomer Foundation and is supported by listeners and sponsors. Request one of our current resources with your donation of any amount. Go to the Christian worldview.org or call us toll free at 1-888-646-2233 or write to us at Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Thanks for listening to the Christian worldview. Until next time, think biblically and live accordingly.