Seek Social Justice: Lesson 3 – The Loving Justice of First Baptist Church Leesburg

As part of our ongoing introduction to Seek Social Justice (the free small group study that will be released later this month), I’m pleased to show you the full documentary lesson on the role of the church in pursuing social justice. The Heritage Foundation (our partner in producing SSJ) recommended First Baptist Church Leesburg as a model of how one congregation can transform its local community by consistently meeting the needs of those around them.

Personally, it was very moving to listen to the leaders of the different ministries talk about what they were doing. Throughout the years I have heard many people talk about what to do for the poor, but in producing this study, I quickly realized it is the men and women who work closest with those in need who are also the most thoughtful and articulate about what to do to help them out of poverty.

Over four days we interviewed no less than 10 people involved in the church’s Christian Care Center. Each of them provided exceptional insight not only into what they were doing, but also into the challenges the contemporary Christian church faces when trying to meet the needs of the poor. The Center’s list of impressive ministries include Men’s and Women’s Residences for drug and alcohol recovery; a Benevolence Center providing food, financial, and spiritual assistance; an Emergency Children’s Shelter; a Pregnancy Care Center; a Thrift Store; and a Community Medical Care Center for indigent and non-insured medical care.

What struck me most when spending time on the FBC campus was the thought that ‘this is what the Church looks like when it loves the poor.’  Over the next week, we will be posting outtakes from our interviews with church and ministry leaders.  Furthermore, we were privileged to interview Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on the theology of Biblical justice toward the poor. Dr. Mohler provides the expert commentary that follows up this lesson, offering important insight into the varied roles churches can take to meet the needs of those around them.