Over-Compensation

Many mainstream churches have had the reputation of being oppressive to the unsaved, minorities, and underprivileged by means of holding such a high standard of morality and prejudice within that seekers and sinners alike met condemnation rather than grace and love through the gospel...and its established faithful congregation ignorantly followed their domineering leaders without even considering how the Bible spoke otherwise.

We are certainly reaping what has been sown during those years of religious churches. I suppose every generation of saints lives within the consequences of its previous generation's errors. In sympathy for that time, we find a new brand of church leaders today that try to over-compensate for these errors of the past by means of compromising the harsher Biblical truths for sake of acceptance, thus having felt they have rendered some form of compensatory justice for the church. The sad reality is that they still remain a form of man's religion.

There is a rise in the number of new 'comfortable churches' whose leaders have caved into the guilt of having been a participant, victim, or at least a witness, of past oppression within the body of Christ. It is in their heart to right the wrong, but they are led by their hearts first, rather than God's Word. Oh yes, the Word is preached, but like the long history of the church, it seldom practices what it preaches.

There has been a recent pursuit against oppression within societies called "Social Justice". It is certainly an appealing temptation to the sentiments of these churches. The natural inclination of sympathetic people toward oppressed victims of society is over-compensation. That is, reward them not only protection, but grant them immunity from any future oppression by creating laws that ironically give them the freedom to behave just like their oppressors did. Without regard to accountability within society, this creates powerful and protected special interest groups with a 'carte blanche' to shape and mold society to conform to their ideals and desires.

Compensation, yes. However, as true justice seeks to compensate for the injustice, it should continue to hold the victims accountable to the mutual respect that everyone else is governed by. It should not separate them from society, nor elevate them above it.

The same holds true for the church.

PJR

"They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
(Jeremiah 12:13)