Do you go to a “communist” church?

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy 
and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist." - Helder Camara

***

Glenn Beck: "I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words [for communism]. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

Jesus:  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18; see also Leviticus 25, Isaiah 58, Matthew 25:31-46, 2 Corinthians 8:13-15…and, quite frankly, the entire Bible.)

Often when I’m speaking with conservative friends about politics and I ask how a certain policy might affect the poor, they say that caring for the poor is not the government’s job; it’s the church’s job. I don’t necessarily agree, but I think it’s a fair point and I can respect that position. And yet Beck seems to be suggesting that even churches that seek to bring relief to the poor should be abandoned!

Now, I don’t want to spend much time picking on Glenn Beck. He’s a bit too extreme to take seriously, and I suspect most of my readers don’t think of him as an authoritative figure. In fact, I’ll give Beck the benefit of the doubt and assume he has no idea what “social justice” means and is simply ignorant of the fact that it’s been a part of the Church’s identity for over 2,000 years.

What I’d like to ask is this: Does YOUR church Web site say anything about justice? Does it say anything about caring for the poor, helping the sick, or standing against oppression?

Feel free to copy and paste or include a link!

Maybe Glen Beck has done us a favor, providing churches around the country with a little gut-check moment! :-)