Rogers challenges churches to engage in justice issues

ATLANTA — Participants at a session held in conjunction with the New Baptist Covenant celebration in Atlanta received a lesson in “going upstream” to address the root causes of injustice.

Melissa Rogers, a visiting professor of religion and public policy at the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., led a special interest session that focused on matters at the intersection of faith and public policy.

To illustrate the distinction between one-on-one church ministries, in which many churches engage, and seeking justice, Rogers told a story about a man standing on the side of a river and saving people one-by-one until finally deciding to go upriver to figure out who was throwing the people in the river.

“The discussion today is about going upstream,” Rogers said.

Just like food pantry, soup kitchen and other ministries that churches undertake, Rogers said it was important to be heard on issues such as advocating just economic policy, reforming the criminal justice system and pushing for sound environmental polices.

The Old Testament prophets Micah and Amos — as well as Jesus Christ’s example in the Gospels — demonstrate the biblical justification for personal involvement in justice issues, she said. Prophets confront unjust social structures, she noted.

On the decision to enter the public policy arena, Rogers quoted religion scholar Martin Marty: “In the political world, not to be political is political.”

Rogers then offered principles to help participants navigate the sometimes perilous faith and politics intersection.

In quoting former Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas, Rogers warned that “we are God’s servants, not his spokespeople.” Secondly, she said religious groups should practice prophetic, not partisan, politics. Additionally, “we must not let our faith be used,” Rogers said, drawing on a sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr., when he said that the church must be the conscience of the state, not its tool.

She also suggested that the separation of church and state and religious liberty should be at the forefront. “When we work on public policy issues, we should work for the common good and not for the establishment of Christendom,” she said.

After all, “the only faith that can call government to account ... is the one that is seriously independent from government,” she said.

— Jeff Huett