A Series on the Future of Social Witness
Opening Editorial by Chris IossoIs justice an essential “mark of the church?” Is it a basic aspect of God’s reign, reflecting God’s nature? Is it a basic part of the Gospel, even if the church can never fully live up to it? How does a witness for justice in society—social witness— get embodied in the Christian community? Is there a particular Christian version of justice that social witness explains? We use the image of the plumbline to claim a portion of the prophetic heritage, but for what kind of church do we claim this heritage? Who will understand the Biblical image— and whose church will try to keep faith with the God who is both judge and redeemer, over and within all the earth? Who actually reads Amos anyway?
In this series, Unbound listens to emerging leaders in the church who are thinking about what new forms the church’s social witness may take. At a time when church-wide vehicles for justice ministries and advocacy are under great financial pressure, both in denominations and in ecumenical bodies, this is important imaginative work. While congregations hunker down, independent consultants and entrepreneurs celebrate the weakening of institutions. Within those institutions, the temptation to streamline ministry offices and call it vision grows stronger. “We are in a competitive environment”… “people are trying to survive”… “we have to reach the young people”… But what does the church have to say to this new generation? And are “we” listening to them?
One way Unbound is trying to listen here is by asking 11 younger adults concerned with social justice to contact several of their own contacts or colleagues to discuss key topics that they have chosen. In the style of Ecclesio and other online publications that post smaller numbers of articles more frequently, we will post a lead article on each of the next 10 Mondays, along with one response. Then we will post two or more responses on Thursday. We editors will provide summary reflections on the whole series. In keeping the collaborative and dialogical spirit of this new generation of social witness, we welcome the comments and contributions of our readers.
Amos does not describe the One who is holding the plumbline in his vision; his focus is on the plumbline itself – a measure that will judge Israel and, unfortunately, find it wanting.[i] In Amos 7:7-9, the prophet is told that God will put this measure “in the midst” of Israel. Amos does not spend much more time with the vivid plumbline image. He announces grimly that God will no longer “pass over” Israel’s sins; but will go “through Israel,” as commentator James Luther Mays puts it. Claiming status as God’s covenant people is not enough; Israel’s leaders in particular need to deliver justice or else pay the price for the suffering that is brought upon the people.
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It is common to associate the church’s social witness with the role of the prophet, a person called to speak God’s word to the challenging situations of public life. But can the church itself be a plumbline, set in the midst of society?
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It is common to associate the church’s social witness with the role of the prophet, a person called to speak God’s word to the challenging situations of public life.[ii] But can the church itself be a plumbline, set in the midst of society? Or is social witness a specialized function that must reflect the complexity of the realities it faces? If ideas die when they are not organized or institutionalized, how is the Christian critique of idols carried, especially when the big communications and entertainment conglomerates program so much of society’s mental bandwith? (Americans watch approximately 2.8 hours of TV per day, for example, plus spending increasing hours on digital devices—sometimes at the same time.) Modern-day prophets must address not only moral vision and the communities that live that vision, but also the communications vehicles that will carry that vision.
The variety of perspectives that will be presented over the next several weeks are united perhaps only in their conviction that this “social witness” dimension can never be optional for Christians or for our churches. If we are told to preach “in season and out of season,” (2 Timothy 4:2) the church’s social witness is only more vital when the seasons run together, changing the climate faster and faster. May these new voices help us not be Cassandras, condemned to see future tragedy but be unable to avert it. As our world continues to be knit together haphazardly by great concentrations of power, may these prophetic voices from the fringe help us “re-globalize” in a more just way.
It is also part of the church’s integrity to practice what we preach, which means having prophets in our own midst as well as in the midst of society. Even the most ingrown, refuge-from-the-world congregation is usually involved with at least one charitable cause that has a moral dimension. People know there is a transcendent judgment standing outside their communities, a plumbline, and sometimes an “online plumbline” at that. May these new voices help our congregations not be “canaries in the coal mine,” first to die in a cultural and economic climate of devastating inequality and increasing surveillance. May the church itself embody a freedom to debate and disagree—in love—so that it may live in honesty and health.
The challenge of good social witness – and good prophecy – is that it does not become too sentimental and nostalgic. “Judgment begins in the house of the Lord”—but it does not stop there. The pieces we will be sharing understand the need for embodiment and integrity. May we also seek, as we read them, vivid images like the plumbline that will help future prophets—whistleblowers—creative minorities—find the conviction and courage to stand.
[i] At that time, “Israel” designated the 10 Northern tribes which became “lost” to captivity and inter-marriage—Samaritans and now Palestinians may count those tribes among their ancestors. Judah, the Southern part of the Davidic Kingdom, would also suffer but survive its exiles.
[ii] A four part definition of social or public witness is provided in Christian Iosso, “Changes in Ecumenical Public Witness, 1967-1990,” in Dieter T. Hessel, Ed. The Church’s Public Role (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), p. 152. This includes:
- “Influencing public opinion, by presenting persuasive ethical apologetics.
- Appeals to the faith and values of individuals, particularly in their church life.
- Efforts to achieve specific policies, involving informed constituencies.
- Exemplifying viable alternatives through church-based social relations and organizations which show that some courageous experiments work.”
The Rev. Dr. Christian Iosso is the Coordinator of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the General Editor of Unbound. His Master of Divinity comes from Princeton Theological Seminary and his Ph.D., from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He served as pastor of the Scarborough Presbyterian Church in Briarcliff, NY, from 1992–2005.Read more articles in this series.
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