The
following is the foundational statement of what became the Sojourners community
and magazine. It was written by Jim Wallis in the fall of 1970. The sentiment
of this statement as it was expressed in the early issues of Post-American,
which Jim and his colleagues began publishing in 1971—and which became Sojourners
in 1975—was what spurred my own sojourn from being primarily concerned with
Christian philosophy/apologetics to greater concern for Christian social ethics
(as mentioned in this
blog post of April 5, 2021).
The church has failed to
adequately communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to our culture. . . . Because
Christians are not living the gospel they are proclaiming, the church has
become tragically irrelevant to our times and problems, and is losing touch
with the world we live in. . . .
The
church lacks a dynamic, biblical social ethic in this time of great national
and world crisis. Never has our world so needed the prophetic voice of the
church. The scriptures are clear in condemning social and economic injustice,
oppression, racism, hypocrisy, environmental destruction, and the kind of
chauvinistic nationalism that gives rise to aggression, imperialism, and
endless war. To these crucial issues and other forms of human suffering, the
church today has been silent, indifferent, or even stubbornly reactionary—fighting
against necessary change, supporting and sanctifying the status quo. . . .
Biblical instruction is clear in teaching that faith divorced from social
justice is a mockery. True spirituality manifests itself in a concern for the
needs and rights of people.
(Jim
Wallis, Revive Us Again: A Sojourner’s Story [1983], p. 79)
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