I've been making my way through Bruce Birch's Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and Christian Life (WJK, 1991). On pp. 127-28, Birch writes: "God does not liberate without also calling us to the vocation of liberation."
WOW! Well said, Bruce!
It seems that in Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity (the communities of faith I call home) we spend so much time talking about people's souls, that we spend too little time talking about their lives--real, lived life. It is true that many, and perhaps most, of the problems people have in the physical world are related to spiritual issues (unforgiveness, anger, compulsiveness, etc.). And, thus, there is a distinct need to address the interior issues that cause us to behave badly. However, that does not obviate the need to work toward the relief of the oppressed. Truly, biblical salvation endeavors to alleviate the pain of both kinds of suffering.
The constant challenge, it seems to me, is to find the means to do both with the limited time we have. I wonder if doing both is simply a matter of getting out our calendars and scheduling time for "the vocation of liberation."
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This is a report from an acquaintance from the emergent conference on the east coast. He addresses their attempt at beginning of a retort to this issue.
http://epiphaticexhaustion.com/andrewsimone/?p=75
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