A Matthew 25 Initiative White Paper

ANGLICAN THEOLOGY OF THE STREETS: JUSTICE AND MERCY CONTENDING FOR SHALOM

A Biblical and Theological Reflection

IN ONE OF HIS MORE brilliant illustrations, C. S. Lewis likens theology to a map. With the aid of prior explorers, a map keeps you on course or opens up new vistas. Yet on its own, a map is dull. It must be used. Setting sail across the Atlantic is dangerous without a good map but, map in hand, we can push off from shore with confidence. A map and an expedition need each other, or both are ineffective.

Lewis’s analogy can be extended to the relationship between theology and the mission of God. Like knowing and experiencing God, all Christians are invited to participate in the mission of God. We are all called to “do justice and love mercy,” (Micah 6:8) especially among the vulnerable and marginalized. Too often, we neglect this mission in favor of inward piety or Church growth strategies. But this mission was critical to Jesus’s ministry. He announces, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Luke 4:18). We are invited to this mission—Jesus’s mission. 

The goal of my article is to continue this theologically rich conversation but in a more accessible way. By accessible, I mean inviting and, more importantly, making it attainable for the clergy or the stay-at-home parent corralling kids or those feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, or visiting the imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-36). My goal, in other words, is to give Anglicans an easily readable map.