Social Injustice

We are not called to live our faith lives in a bubble, but to look outside ourselves and see the injustice in the world the way God does. Adam Barnett continues our SHIFT series with a look at social injustice and how we are commanded to respond. Social Injustice Shift | Week 2 November 5, 2017 | Adam Barnett Social Injustice: Unfair practices (seen and unseen) within a society that promote inequality and hinder social advancement. Luke 4:18-19 (NIV) “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. To act justly... And to love mercy... And to walk humbly with your God. Isaiah 58:6-7; 9-10 (NIV) “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice & untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free & break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Devotion that does not produce a passion for social justice and practical mercy is useless. The authenticity of our worship on Sunday is evident in our compassion, mercy & justice on Monday. Isaiah 53:4-6 (NIV) Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.