Quick Take on Voddie Baucham's message "Defining Social Justice"
I just listened to Voddie Baucham's message on "Defining Social Justice" at the 2019 G3 Pre-Conference. The video's description reads:
Dr. Voddie Baucham brings our first detailed message by defining what “social justice” is by the definitions provided by the adherents of the movement. Dr. Baucham then provides a polemic from an orthodox Christian understanding of justice. This presentation was given on January 16, 2019 at the Sovereign Nations 'Social Justice & The Gospel' Conference in Atlanta, Georgia preceding the G3 Conference.
https://youtu.be/YFNOP2IqwoY
Quick take: I am for societal righteousness and don't care for the term "social justice" and the sinful and Satanic lies that feed the movement that Voddie described. I am happy to use or not use the term depending on my interlocutors. The term has been used differently and may not be as clearly and universally recognized as Voddie says.
I believe Christians should be against ethnocentric oppression and realize that there is still a general unjust pressure on African Americans (generally speaking). This comes from the cumulative effect of past injustices that inform and affect our historical and cultural moment in America (see John Piper's article "Structural Racism"). It is sad that some Christians not only do not see it but then fail to love with discernment (Philippians 1.9) because they do not see it.
I think Voddie's last statement (at 36:40) that seems to suggest that Christians use the term "social justice" to satisfy the world is a mistaken assumption about their motives. The Christians using the term "social justice" and confronting ethnocentric oppression are against abortion, LGBTQA+ initiatives, and the social "gospel."
Still, Christians should not fight for the term but should press to love all of their neighbors in their societal situation as they love themselves, and that requires discernment of the situation that some Christians seem to lack. I agree with most of what Voddie is against and am happy to drop the use of the term altogether.