Love Is a Verb: Rethinking Social Justice Through a Biblical Lens
I've been the pastor at Lantana Community Church for several years now. In that time, we've talked about love...ALOT. But love for us isn't the kind of love that we bottle up and keep to ourselves, its a love that flows through us and to others. It's the kind of love Jesus meant when He said, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34). We're talking about the kind of love that gives of self, sacrificially. The kind of love that serves others and considers others better than ourselves.
With this blog post, I want to talk about that type of love. The next several posts will be part of a series I'm calling Love is a Verb. (That sounded way better in my head, haha. Typing it out just now it seems like an overused phrase.) This series is built around a five sermon series I preached on biblical justice. This isn't political commentary, and it's not sociology or economics, it's pastoral. It's theological. It's biblical. And I'm offering it because I believe the Church—especially the small-church pastor—needs fresh language, rooted in Scripture, for how to love well in a culture of confusion.
Let's begin with a term that gets thrown around a lot: social justice.
To some, it's a loaded phrase. But at its core, justice is about making wrong things right—and our God is a God of justice. He defends the vulnerable. He lifts up the lowly. And He expects His people to reflect that heart. “He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
We must acknowledge the cultural tension that exists around the phrase, social justice. "Social justice" carries cultural baggage, and as pastors or church leaders, we're often hesitant to use that term. But if we let fear silence us, we risk surrendering a conversation the Church should lead.
Jesus' message wasn't political—it was incarnational. Jesus didn't launch a political campaign. He moved toward pain, restored dignity, healed brokenness, and called people to repentance. That's justice. And that's love in action.
At Lantana, we've seen this through some of our ministry connections like Rescue Hill, Cactus Nazarene Ministries Center, and the BridgePointe church. But it's not just organizations doing justice, it's the ordinary people in our congregation showing up, listening well, giving sacrificially, and advocating with grace.
Justice, biblically speaking, is never divorced from love or truth. It's not about winning a debate or posting the right opinion on social media. It's about becoming a conduit of God's love—receiving His grace deeply and letting that grace flow outward, especially to those the world has forgotten.
This series, Love is a Verb, is meant to help pastors and leaders speak into that space —not with fear, but with faithful clarity. As part of this series, and as an ongoing effort to help resource pastors and leaders, I want to make these sermons/teachings available. Not as simply a transcript, but as encouragement and tools for your own teaching and reflection.
If you're a pastor or church leader, or just someone who's interested, you can download the full manuscript for this sermon here. 馃憠 Download Sermon 1: “Social Justice?”
My hope with The Witness Project is to be a quiet companion for those who lead—offering theological depth, pastoral encouragement, and resources to help you speak truth with grace in a complex world.
In my next post I will explore what it means to follow Jesus authentically...not as fans, but as followers.
Until then, keep loving. Keep walking. Keep leading from the margins.
Believing,
Pastor Cal
El Amor es un Verbo: Repensando la Justicia Social desde una Perspectiva B铆blica
En Lantana Community Church hemos estado hablando sobre el amor —no solo como un sentimiento, sino como una acci贸n. El tipo de amor que Jes煤s describe cuando dice: “As铆 como yo los he amado, tambi茅n ustedes deben amarse los unos a los otros” (Juan 13:34).
Este es el enfoque de esta nueva serie de blogs llamada El Amor es un Verbo. Est谩 basada en cinco sermones que prediqu茅 sobre la justicia b铆blica. No se trata de pol铆tica, sociolog铆a ni econom铆a. Es pastoral. Es teol贸gica. Es b铆blica. Y quiero ofrecerla porque creo que la Iglesia —especialmente los pastores de iglesias peque帽as— necesita un lenguaje renovado, enraizado en las Escrituras, para amar bien en medio de la confusi贸n cultural.
Comencemos con un t茅rmino que genera bastante tensi贸n: justicia social.
Para algunos, es una frase cargada. Pero en esencia, la justicia trata de corregir lo que est谩 mal —y nuestro Dios es un Dios de justicia. 脡l defiende a los vulnerables. Levanta a los humildes. Y espera que su pueblo refleje ese mismo coraz贸n. “脡l te ha declarado, oh hombre, lo que es bueno. ¿Y qu茅 pide Jehov谩 de ti? Solamente hacer justicia, amar misericordia, y humillarte ante tu Dios” (Miqueas 6:8).
En este primer serm贸n, comenzamos reconociendo la tensi贸n. “Justicia social” trae consigo un peso cultural, y como pastores, a veces dudamos en usar ese lenguaje. Pero si permitimos que el miedo o la controversia nos silencien, corremos el riesgo de ceder una conversaci贸n que la Iglesia deber铆a liderar.
Nuestro mensaje no fue pol铆tico —fue encarnacional. Jes煤s no inici贸 una campa帽a pol铆tica. 脡l se acerc贸 al dolor, restaur贸 la dignidad, san贸 lo roto y llam贸 al arrepentimiento. Eso es justicia. Y eso es amor en acci贸n.
En Lantana, hemos visto esto reflejado en ministerios como Rescue Hill, que rescata a v铆ctimas de la trata de personas. Pero no se trata solo de organizaciones grandes —es la gente com煤n en nuestras iglesias que aparece, escucha, da con generosidad y aboga con gracia.
La justicia, b铆blicamente hablando, nunca est谩 separada del amor ni de la verdad. No se trata de ganar debates ni de publicar la opini贸n correcta. Se trata de ser un canal del amor de Dios —de recibir Su gracia profundamente y dejar que fluya hacia otros, especialmente hacia aquellos que el mundo ha olvidado.
Esta serie, El Amor es un Verbo, tiene como objetivo ayudar a pastores y l铆deres a hablar con claridad fiel —no con temor, sino con confianza en la verdad de Dios. Y quiero poner a tu disposici贸n cada uno de estos sermones, no solo como texto, sino como herramientas de ense帽anza y reflexi贸n.
Si eres pastor o l铆der de iglesia, puedes descargar el manuscrito completo de este serm贸n aqu铆:
馃憠 Descargar Serm贸n 1: “¿Justicia Social?”
Mi esperanza con The Witness Project es ser un acompa帽ante silencioso para quienes lideran desde espacios dif铆ciles —ofreciendo profundidad teol贸gica, 谩nimo pastoral y recursos para hablar la verdad con gracia en un mundo complejo.
La pr贸xima vez, exploraremos lo que significa seguir verdaderamente a Jes煤s —no como admiradores, sino como disc铆pulos.
Hasta entonces — sigue amando. Sigue caminando. Sigue liderando desde los m谩rgenes.
Con fe,
Pastor Cal
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