Week 9: Chapter 9 — Social Justice: What's the Gospel Got to Do with It?

1.Childers makes a point of affirming that caring for the poor, fighting injustice, and loving the marginalized are genuinely biblical mandates — not progressive inventions. How does she distinguish between biblical justice (which she affirms) and the ideological framework she is more cautious about? Is her distinction clear to you?

2.She raises the concern that in some progressive Christian circles, social justice has effectively become the gospel — the thing the church exists to do — rather than a fruit of the gospel. What is the difference between seeing justice as the gospel and seeing justice as a fruit or expression of the gospel? Why does that distinction matter practically?

3.Childers draws on the history of her own family — parents who fed the hungry and clothed the homeless — as evidence that caring for the poor is not a progressive invention but has always been a hallmark of orthodox Christian practice. Do you have examples in your own life or community of social concern flowing from orthodox faith? What does that look like?