I have often stated that the so-called religious left seems to owe far more to leftist political ideology than to biblical Christianity. While I know many who are of the religious left, and many do have strong convictions and ongoing passion, their biblical basis can often be a bit less so.
Sure, they will use appealing phrases like “social justice” and the like, but as I have sought to demonstrate elsewhere, these are often rather vacuous clichés which mean little. The truth is, all believers are concerned about justice, but the real question is, which political and economic systems actually achieve real justice, and really help the poor?
We all need to have concerns about the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised. But the real issue has to do with more than rhetoric or clichés, but what has in fact actually helped the needy over the centuries. The fact is, the nostrums of the left may sound good, but they have generally kept the masses impoverished and dependent. See here for more on that topic:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/01/06/on-social-justice/
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/09/01/%E2%80%98social-justice%E2%80%99-versus-biblical-justice/
But the religious left is happy to keep attaching itself to such leftist ideology, perhaps more for the good feelings it may produce. Talking about the poor gives one the sense of being on the high moral ground, even though it is usually the opposite of leftism which in fact helps liberate the poor.
Ideology and rhetoric in other words usually trumps realism and biblical truth. And the religious left generally ends up buying the whole leftist package, no matter how at odds it is with the biblical worldview. They prefer the slogans and nostrums of leftism over the revealed Word of God.
Plenty of examples of this can be produced here, but the most recent one is well worth focusing on. I have often in the past shared my disagreement with American religious lefty, Jim Wallis. Over the years he has done and said some pretty bizarre things for someone claiming to represent Jesus Christ.
For example, the Sojourners head has readily accepted funding from uber-socialist and America-hater George Soros, although at first he strongly denied it. When he was caught out, he finally had to confess that he was indeed getting funding from Soros:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/22/more-mischief-from-the-religious-left/
For years he and his crew have been very vocal supporters of ugly leftist dictatorships, such as communist Cuba. While people there have been tortured, killed and persecuted for their Christian faith, guys like Wallis look to thugs like Castro as Christian heroes:
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2008/02/20/the-misery-that-is-cuba-is-not-over-yet/
Indeed, he has long promoted a radical anti-American agenda, even siding with her enemies. For example, when the Vietcong overran South Vietnam, Wallis cheerily effused, “I don’t know how else to express the quiet emotion that rushed through me when the news reports showed that the United States had finally been defeated in Vietnam.”
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/24/a-review-of-you-can-still-trust-the-communists-to-be-communists-by-fred-schwarz-and-david-nobel/
Or consider what Wallis said about the death of Soviet dictator Leonid Brezhnev back in 1982: “If we could not call Brezhnev a peacemaker, we could at least recognize him as a moderate man, a man open to reason.”
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/10/03/capturing-the-churches/
Thus it should come as absolutely no surprise to learn that Wallis is now quite happy to ditch a major biblical truth, that marriage is between a man and a woman only. Ever happy to be trendy and with it, the American leader and “spiritual advisor” to Barack Hussein Obama is now just peachy keen with the homosexual agenda. (BTW, with that sort of spiritual advice, no wonder Obama is such an overwhelmingly destructive disaster.)
Here is how one news item covers this: “Long-time evangelical Left leader Jim Wallis, founder and CEO of Sojourners, has changed his position on government recognition of same-sex marriage. He announced his support in a Friday interview with The Huffington Post.
“Wallis said he is worried about the decline of marriage and wants to strengthen it, but believes that same-sex couples should be included in that endeavor. ‘I think we should include same-sex couples in that renewal of marriage, [but] I want to talk marriage first,’ Wallis said. ‘Marriage needs some strengthening. Let’s start with marriage, and then I think we have to talk about, now, how to include same-sex couples in that deeper understanding of marriage. I want a deeper commitment to marriage that is more and more inclusive, and that’s where I think the country is going’.”
It continues, “When The Huffington Post asked Wallis to clarify if that meant he specifically supports same-sex marriage, Wallis answered, ‘yes.’ A spokesperson for Sojourners confirmed with The Christian Post on Monday that this was the first time that Wallis has publicly stated that position.
“Wallis was stating what he believed from a ‘civil legal perspective’ what the law should be, but was not stating a theological position about whether churches should endorse same-sex marriage, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson could not say whether or not Wallis believes homosexuality is a sin.”
Hmm, why are we not surprised that he refuses to deal with the biblical and theological truths about this issue, and instead cloaks it all in vague and meaningless clichés about ‘civil rights’ and the like, which is so very typical about how the left operates.
So he simply joins the growing ranks of apostate “evangelicals” who have trashed the Word of God in order to please men and be relevant. Like Rob “No Hell” Bell and other trendy leaders, this is just another example of how the religious left will take radical ideology and social engineering agendas ahead of Scripture any day of the week.
And we wonder why the evangelical church is losing ground by the day. With friends like these, who needs enemies?
http://www.christianpost.com/news/jim-wallis-now-supports-same-sex-marriage-93468/cpf
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