Social activism

Review: Imitating Christ

/ rtrube54 / 4 Comments
Cover image of "Imitating Christ" by Luke Timothy Johnson

Imitating Christ: The Disputed Character of Christian Discipleship, Luke Timothy Johnson. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802883100) 2024.

Summary: Contends our understanding of Christian discipleship has shifted in recent centuries from personal sanctification to social justice.

C.S. Lewis made the case for reading old books as offering us a different (not better or worse) perspective on our world by which we may better evaluate our own. New Testament and Christian origins scholar Luke Timothy Johnson offers something of that kind of perspective taking on the matter of Christian discipleship. He argues that the prevailing understanding of the church for the first eighteen centuries was that discipleship was imitating Christ, growing in holiness through walking in the way of the crucified one, which included suffering and martyrdom as well as spiritual practices. Such discipleship resulted both in devotion to God and loving service of others. Johnson traces this shared understanding from earliest Christianity up to and through the reformation.

But everything changed with the advent of modernity. The church was weakened and changed by four factors in his reckoning:

  1. The ideology of enlightenment wedded to technology.
  2. The weak and fragmented state of Christianity.
  3. Dramatic social change in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  4. The ideological attack on Christianity from science and philosophy in the nineteenth century.

The dramatic social change combined with the intellectual attack led to a shift from inner to activist expressions of Christianity and the rise of the Social Gospel and concerns for abolition, women’s suffrage, and other social needs in an industrializing society. The combination of scientific attacks and biblical criticism led to an increasingly ethical rather than theological focus. Instead of imitating Christ as growth in holiness, discipleship was framed by imitating the deeds of Jesus.

The heart of this book, for me, was chapter 6, “A Critical Analysis of the Two Visions.” Johnson contrasts the use of scripture and the theology of the two visions. For example, he contrasts the two visions understanding of the world, God, Christ, Salvation, Anthropology, and Eschatology. Johnson recognizes that the shift in focus reflects an attempt to engage with modernity. However, he holds that apart from the classical understanding of discipleship, a focus on social activism is rootless, as valid as the concerns to which it responds are. Thus in the latter two chapters he explores resources that integrate the two approaches ranging from Mother Theresa in Calcutta to Tim Keller in New York City.

He concludes with considering Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Thomas Merton as models. He offers three reasons for this. First, they are radicals rather than progressives, going to the roots rather than aligning with a party. Second, while intellectually engaged with culture, they did not submit to modernist epistemology but to scripture. Finally, they read all of scripture as both for them and the world.

The choice of these two as models, as fascinating as their lives and works were, was questionable to me. Both were arguably moving away from orthodox belief later in life. Stronger examples for me might be Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker Movement, and John Perkins, at Voice of Calvary Ministries, a pioneering movement in Christian Community Development.

However, this should not distract from the clarion call to re-examine our lives and thinking around Christian discipleship. I think Johnson spots the danger in our social activism that it can lose its rootedness in Christ, ceasing to be Christian in any recognizable sense. Meanwhile, he affirms the need in the context of modernity for discipleship that imitates Christ in the world. A thought-provoking book to be sure!

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul

/ rtrube54 / 1 Comment

Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, Dorcas Cheng-Tozun. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023.

Summary: How highly sensitive persons can also contribute to social justice efforts in ways consonant with their personalities.

Susan Cain began an important conversation with her book Quiet (review) about the distinctive contributions to the world that introverts can make. This book goes further, considering a related personality, the highly sensitive person (HSP) characterized by their depth of processing, by being more quickly overstimulated, by their emotional sensitivity, and their ability to sense the subtle. The world of social justice activism often seems like the last place for such persons because of its confrontative nature and the wrenching realities of injustice. Burnout can occur with the most resilient and especially among HSPs like the author, as she discovered in her own social justice efforts.

This led to a journey of discovering the unique ways highly sensitive people can contribute to social justice efforts, not as warrior kings but as priestly advisers. She contends that Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are examples of people with this personality who made a difference. The key, she believes, is self-understanding combined with an expanded awareness of the ways people may contribute to social justice efforts beyond standing at the barricades with a megaphone.

The first part of her book explores more of what it is like to be a sensitive person and the unique gifts of conscientiousness and care for others coupled with deep empathy. Priestly advisers “observe, listen, consider, gather, plan, and generate.” Their thoughtfulness often leads to the recognition of the pathways to achieve social justice aims and not simply protest injustices. This requires shedding the “activist ideal” to practice the self-care that enables the sensitive person to keep showing up. They develop a resilience rooted not in bouncing back quickly but in holding onto one’s identity and purpose. As they understand their own value, they also learn to value the complementary strengths of less-sensitive collaborators.

The second part of the work focuses on considerations and questions, the most important of which is to listen to our lives, what we are learning from our experiences about what we do well, what we care deeply about, and how we can live and work sustainably. Cheng-Tozun then explores several kinds of questions we might consider: the what questions, the who questions, the when (in terms of life situation) questions, and the where questions. In each, she offers a number of very specific questions for consideration.

Finally, in part three, she describes some of the vital roles in social justice movements in which sensitive persons can make singular contributions. She discusses:

  • Connectors: those able to forge vibrant relationships and alliances based on deep empathy and trust.
  • Creatives: the use of various artistic abilities to capture the imagination of people for social change.
  • Record Keepers: the archivists and those who document injustices, making the pleas for justice harder to ignore in the face of evidence.
  • Builders: these include the designers, inventors, and engineers and others who can leverage technology in ways that serve the most needy.
  • Equippers; the trainers, mentors, coaches, and teachers who prepare skilled advocates, as was the case with the Highlander School which equipped Rosa Parks and many others for social justice work.
  • Researchers: the academic researchers who pursue socially relevant research on everything from gun violence to environmental justice.

In her conclusion, Cheng-Tozun speaks of the power of hopeful sensitives, those who understand where their gifts and the world’s needs meet. She writes:

“This hope is not abstract and aimless; rather, it is measured and thoughtful, compassionate and directed. Hopeful sensitives have the tools and the energy to create specific, implementable plans and visions for themselves and for the greater good of their communities. They will always keep human beings at the core of their actions and choices” (p. 190).

What is powerful about this book is Cheng-Tozun’s quiet yet clear voice offering the vision that social justice work requires all kinds of people and sensitive persons need not be marginalized or marginalize themselves. She gives permission for sensitive persons to be who they are, to care not only about injustices but for themselves, recognizing that such a gift results in the release of compassion, creativity, insight, and innovation. The questions she asks to help with self-understanding and the examples of the ways sensitive people contribute argues for getting this book and putting it alongside your copy of Quiet, as its constructive sequel.

________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program.

Review: Doing Good Without Giving Up: Sustaining Social Action in a World That’s Hard to Change

/ rtrube54 / 2 Comments

Doing Good Without Giving Up: Sustaining Social Action in a World That's Hard to Change
Doing Good Without Giving Up: Sustaining Social Action in a World That’s Hard to Change by Ben Lowe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a witness to the social activism of the sixties and the seventies. A war was ended, civil rights for Blacks where attained to a degree, a war was declared on poverty, and we began efforts to clean up our air and water. Yet many of the activists burned out and sold out. Change is hard and comes slowly. All the problems named above are still with us.

A new generation is addressing itself to these challenges. What concerns Ben Lowe is that burning out, giving up, and selling out are just as real for today’s social activists. He knows. He has been on the front lines of Christian environmental activism for ten years and has faced these issues personally and writes this book to articulate both why social activist movements are important and how they may be sustained when change comes hard and slowly.

He begins the book by acknowledging this challenge and the ways he has faced this. He contends that it isn’t enough to retreat to a life of personal simplicity and justice. This cannot change structures of inequity and injustice. Only social action movements have the potential to address change at these levels. He talks about the obstacles of scale, controversy, and complexity and the necessity of long and faithful engagement to overcome these, citing as one example the Evangelical Immigration Table that is helping lead a national conversation on immigration.

He takes on the false dichotomy of evangelism and social concern and highlights efforts (including that of InterVarsity at Ohio State!) that integrate gospel proclamation and concerns for justice issues like human trafficking. He also maps out ways we might transcend the culture wars through articulating a “third way” that is more holistic than the political visions of left or right. He articulates the necessity of an activism of courage in a political landscape of fear-mongering. This last seems especially important to me as I look back at how the politics of fear undercut many social efforts where there was substantial consensus and polarized our country around extreme political agendas of left or right.

The second part of his book explores the personal side of sustained social action. Love is foundational, particularly of enemies and opponents, and not often talked about. Maintaining a prophetic stance when opposition arises and we want to be liked (or even elected) is crucial. Learning to deal with inevitable opposition with grace and perseverance is vital. Equally, practices of repentance, sabbath, contemplation, and community allow for recalibration, refreshment and reinforcement.

What impressed me throughout this book was its honesty and practicality. Lowe talks about his struggles to deal with betrayals and with enemies, and his internal struggles with burnout and discouragement. He also tells stories of hope including the engagement of the community where he lives, Parkside, with city officials proposing taxation strategies that would have destroyed that community. Throughout, he provides very practical suggestions that come out of his own experience and practice, along with helpful questions for personal reflection and group discussion.

I would propose that this is a vital manual for Christians who are working together for social change. Lowe pierces through starry-eyed optimism to the tough realities and offers crucial guidance that I hope will result in sustained efforts in social action efforts that move the ball much further down the field than my generation has done.

View all my reviews

An interview with Ben Lowe appears here.