Saturday, August 22, 2009

10 Theses on the Kingdom of God and Social Action

Matt Harmon offers ten theses (part 1, part 2) on the kingdom of God and social justice, and explains what he means by each. Go to the posts to see each thesis briefly unpacked. Here are the theses:
  1. We must learn from church history.
  2. We must allow biblical and theological convictions to shape our engagement in social action.
  3. We must not collapse the already/not-yet tension.
  4. We must recognize that evangelical engagement with these issues will take different forms within different political, cultural and social contexts.
  5. We must prioritize proclamation of the gospel without neglecting social action
  6. We must realize that our actions are not self-interpreting.
  7. We must recognize the trend towards increasing social action and decreasing evangelism within the church.
  8. We must think through and articulate the connection between specific social action and the gospel.
  9. We must not allow people's physical needs to blind us or them to their even greater spiritual needs.
  10. We must recognize the challenges that come with working with others of different beliefs.
HT: Dan Phillips