Christian Compassion without Culture Wars, episode 4 transcript
Do You Need Justice or Love? Helpful Insights for Responding Graciously to Political Activists
www.CrossCulturalVoices.orgg
John Yoder: Do you know someone emotionally exhausted because of their social justice activism? Has that activism cut them off from family and friends? They may have unconsciously embraced two beliefs guaranteed to foster anger and anxiety:
⢠First, define people as either oppressor or oppressed based on their skin color, gender, or income.
⢠Second, believe that societyâs deepest wounds can only be healed through political activism.
If you love someone who studied the humanities at most universities, these concepts were presented as unquestionable truth. Their professors insisted that justice comes only through legislation to dismantle systems and structures.
As I listen to the voices of justice-centered organizations, Iâm amazed by the flood of vocabulary Iâm expected to learn. Microaggressions. Intersectionality. Heteronormativity. Gaslighting. Cultural appropriation. Columbusing. Misgendering. Yellow privilege. White adjacency. Brown complicity. Ethnomathematics. Humanormativity. And a whole lot more. The more I read, the more I think to myself, âEveryday people donât talk like thatâ.
With a Masterâs degree in theology, I can easily hijack conversations with insider jargon like transubstantiation, incompatibilistic determinism, and dispensational premillennialism. That might establish me as an expert. But it might make you feel stupid. It might make you fear you donât know your Bible well enough. You probably wonât like me, even if you think I know more about the Bible than you do. If you see me at another event, you might not want to have a conversation with me.
When theologians (or other professionals) meet, they can quickly build camaraderie using insider vocabulary. It feels good to be part of a special in-group. It even feels better if we believe we are morally superior to outsiders.
Most professional jargon is emotionally neutral. But terms like oppressor, microaggressions, and gaslighting are emotionally charged. They trigger defensiveness rather than dialogue. They spike blood pressure and put us in fight-or-flight mode. The price tag of that sense of belonging is the alienation of those who donât share all the insider-speak.
Justice activists, Christian ones included, believe that the greatest need of society is legislation to dismantle unjust structures. But this minimizes the universal human longing to be loved and accepted. To be seen as normal.
In her book "A Longing to Belong", Korean American Dr. Michelle Lee-Barnewall writes this:
Michelle Lee-Barnewall: Calls for justice dominate the social, religious, and political landscape today, but on a mundane day-to-day basis, I suspect a lot of people also just want to feel ânormalâ (page 38).
John Yoder: When the church of Jesus Christ is functioning in an emotionally healthy manner, it can meet that need for affirmation and acceptance.
Sam Chacko is Pastor of Loft City Church in Richardson, Texas, and a frequent presenter for Cross-Cultural Voices. Loft Cityâs members come from over 30 ethnic groups, and has seen substantial healing among those who have experienced deep wounds from the church. Hereâs what Sam says about building deep relationships across cultural and political boundaries:
Sam Chacko: We began to form Connect Groups, ensuring the members of each group were ethnically and economically diverse. These groups would share meals together twice each month. As hard as the 2024 political climate was, it was significantly easier for Loft City than both 2016 and 2020 because we were sitting around the table with each other. People didnât view each other based on their political viewpoints. They viewed each other as friends who had disagreements.
We told everyone up front that at the end of the day, weâre all going to disagree. We have some people who are grieving because of the last election, and others who are rejoicing. We aim to love and support each other despite those differences.
John Yoder: I wish other churches and Christian ministries would follow Samâs model. Many do not.
I follow Christian ministries with different approaches to cross-cultural relationshipsâsome are gospel-centered, others justice-centered. Gospel-centered ministries believe everyone's greatest need is forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ. Many bring together believers across the political spectrum to worship, start churches, and serve their communities.
Whether or not they endorse that termâs president, Congress, or governor, they rejoice that Jesus Christ is seated on the throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Justice-centered ministries focus on dismantling systems through legislation. When I attend their meetings and read their blogs and emails, the emotional vibe is completely different. When their party isnât in office, they are distraught. Joy in the sovereignty of God is absent. When they do speak of hope, itâs only focused on lobbying, protesting, and fundraising to ensure their preferred candidate wins next time.
Justice-centered ministries readily collaborate with those holding different spiritual views to advance a political agenda. But they are far less likely to work with those of different political views to advance a spiritual agenda. As I follow these ministries, I do not see readiness to collaborate for evangelism, starting new churches, and grounding believers in Godâs Word. My perception is that Jesus has been asked to step down from his throne so a political agenda can take his place.
The harsh reality is that political power is fleeting. Holding power this term is no guarantee youâll hold it next term. Focusing oneâs energies on political outcomes is a recipe for anger, anxiety, and depression.
Here are some good questions to ask your loved ones whose narratives have alienated them from others. Ask them to think about their humanities professors who advocate dismantling systems and structures. Are they happy? Have they discovered inner peace? Are they examples of the emotionally healthy people they claim their ideology will create?
Which environment seems more conducive to emotional health: a university narrative dividing people into oppressed and oppressors, or one of Sam's Connect Groups where politically diverse people share meals and stories?
There is scientific evidence that those whose primary focus is justice advocacy predispose themselves to anxiety and depression.
In a blog for The Radicalist dated April 19, 2025, David Josef Volodsko writes:
Josef Volodsko: Ah Finland, the land of saunas, silence, and now, surprisingly based psychometrics. In a pair of studies totaling nearly 6,000 respondents â with the results published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology in March 2024 under the title âConstruction and validation of a scale for assessing critical social justice attitudesâ â researchers built and tested a scale to measure what they call Critical Social Justice AttitudesâŚ
The results? CSJ attitudes were more common among women, social science students, and left-wing votersâŚWithin-study meta-analysis of all the results found that extreme liberals had a 150% increased rate of mental illness compared to moderatesâŚ
The extreme woke type â the kind who signs open letters, organizes callouts, and sees every micro-gesture as a macroaggression â is not a mystery. She is usually female and always neurotic, depressed, and anxious...She is hurting.
John Yoder: This only makes sense. If a woman of color is a justice activist, she must define as her oppressors all men, white women, and other classes such as the wealthy. That means the majority of people she sees on the street everyday are her adversaries. No wonder this belief system leads to despair.
If you love someone like this, what can you do? It depends on where they are in their current relationship to activism.
If they are hard-core activists, there isnât much you can do. You are perceived as an outsider and oppressor. Like the Jehovahâs Witness knocking on your door, the odds arenât high that you will make a convert. Itâs hard to know how much of the JWâs presentationâor hersâitâs helpful to listen to.
But there are many more who buy into activism because itâs the only option theyâve heard. It is taught as the one and only path in liberal arts curricula. Most churches donât address such divisive issues. If you know someone who has never questioned her belief system, itâs helpful to point her to the resources of our friends Monique and Krista at the Center for Biblical Unity.
Then there are those who are emotionally exhausted. Itâs not just that they arenât accomplishing their sociopolitical agenda. Theyâve also seen firsthand the emotional bankruptcy of the activist community. All they are offered is belonging to an insider group based on perceived superiority to others. At some point, they realize they have misperceived genuinely caring people as oppressors. You can tell this group, because they are ready to receive love and acceptance without insisting you lament or dismantle anything.
When someone steeped in progressive ideology begins to consider the Lordship of Christ, they are more likely to be attracted to churches that are authentic, interactive and multiethnic. Our resources at www.CrossCulturalVoices.org share the voices of emotionally healthy multicultural Christians and churches, designed to resonate with them.
You can create a brighter future for the American church. You can be part of raising up a new generation of emotionally healthy multicultural churches. Subscribe to our podcast or blog. Share them with others. Make a donation to keep these resources free for those at the beginning stages of their earnings potential.
Brothers and sisters, the humanities divisions of our universities are casting a compelling vision that divides humanity into oppressed and oppressors. This perpetuates animosity and isolation.
Jesus Christ casts a different and even more compelling vision. The culture of his kingdom is based on acceptance, listening, and forgiveness. But we are not good at casting that vision as it compares with the prevailing narrative at our universities. Will you join us in sharing good news with the next generation?
