Moving From Purity Culture To Real Justice
Justice In The Lectionary: Third Sunday After Pentecost
Jesus, Justice & Joash is based on the work of Rev. Joash P. Thomas, global human rights advocate and theologian. Joash’s first book, The Justice of Jesus is available for pre-order here. Every pre-order qualifies for an opportunity to receive a free special gift (to be announced soon). If you pre-order more than 20 copies, Joash will show up for an hour virtually to discuss his book with your small group / church. You can also pre-order more than 5 copies to enter into a draw for this opportunity. Stay tuned for more news on pre-order bonuses!
Greetings from Scotland! I’ve been in the UK on sabbatical for a week now and have a few more days in Scotland and London before I fly back home for the remainder of my month-long sabbatical where I’ll be spending my time cooking, reading, writing, discerning, and recording the audiobook for my book, The Justice of Jesus!
Sabbatical so far has been a blessing - it’s allowed me the space to think through some big picture things such as PhD plans and book concepts for my next book project. I think I know what I want my next book to focus on but I know I’ll need to do a *good bit* of research before I feel confident about writing it - hence the pull towards PhD research. That’s all I’ll say on this for now but keep watching this space for more!
Instead of connecting the dots between each of the Scripture readings this week (like I’ve done so far), I’m going to hone in on reflections from just one or two of our lectionary readings for this Sunday - particularly the New Testament reading from Galatians 5.
“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
I don’t know about you but I grew up in an evangelical tradition that emphasized the works of the flesh more than the fruit of the Spirit (more specifically, sexual immorality and impurity) - even though this text closes with, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.”
As Richard Rohr says in his book, The Naked Now: Learning To See As The Mystics See, the way we interpret Scripture says more about us than it does about Scripture (my paraphrased version).
One of my greatest laments about purity culture is the way in which it got evangelical Christians globally to focus more on a narrow, hyper-sexualized definition of purity than a broader, more biblically accurate definition of purity. Or, as my friend, Pastor Zach Lambert once tweeted:
“Modesty is an important virtue discussed throughout Scripture, but it has nothing to do with sexuality. Every time modesty is mentioned in the Bible it refers wealth and materialism. In order to make biblical modesty about sex, preachers often manipulate passages.”
Zach goes onto show receipts by citing passages such as 1 Timothy 2:9-10, Matthew 5:28, Proverbs 6:23-25, James 1:14-15, etc. Each of these Scriptures refer to modesty / purity in the context of stewarding wealth & power without bringing harm to our marginalized neighbours.
But when we make modesty and purity all about yoga pants and LGBTQ+ people instead of greed, economic exploitation, and unjust power structures that oppress our marginalized neighbours, we miss out on the original meaning and context of Scripture. And we miss out on the heart of God.
What if we understood “sexual immorality” in Galatians 5 with this broader context of morality throughout Scripture in mind: not necessarily, “who is sleeping with whom before marriage”, but absolutely “the 21 year old youth pastor who marries his high school student congregant after she turns 18, after years of grooming behavior”. Not necessarily, “Don’t meet one-on-one professionally with a woman you’re not married to”, but absolutely “The Christian worship artist / comedian / celebrity pastor who sexually abused multiple men / women / children and covered it up.”
At my recent seminary graduation, the President of a leading US evangelical Bible College gave a rather disappointing talk to the newest minted group of evangelical church leaders. Using one of the Pauline texts on purity, this evangelical leader basically gave the same old “keep it in your pants and don’t watch pornography” talk these men (because he was really just speaking to the men despite 40% of the student body being female) have gotten their entire evangelical lives in church and seminary. I couldn’t help but wonder:
Repeatedly teaching this tried, tested, and failed narrow version of purity has done historically nothing for evangelical church leaders. Case in point: all the Dallas-area megachurch celebrity pastors who have been dropping like flies over clergy sexual abuse scandals.
What if we actually taught a more biblically accurate version of purity - keeping ourselves pure from the exploitative systems that oppress our marginalized neighbours? What if we actually taught these soon-to-be-appointed and current evangelical church leaders about not setting up exploitative working conditions for their staff and volunteers instead of just, “Don’t do bad stuff”?
And what if we leaned away from the other “works of the flesh” that we often skip over immediately after being triggered by the first two (sexual immorality and impurity):
Debauchery (a lack of self control), idolatry (including political idolatry), sorcery (or better translated, intoxications / addictions), enmities (like supporting mass deportations of your immigrant neighbours), strife (like looking down upon Catholics), jealousy (which often fuels capitalistic consumerism), anger (at the stupidest things), quarrels (like kicking out churches from denominations just because they include queer folks in the life and sacraments of the church - a trend across evangelical denominations right now), dissensions (including political dissensions), factions (over all sorts of issues ranging from LGBTQ+ inclusion to mask mandates), envy (including envy of corporate structures, salaries, and organizational principles), drunkenness (including being drunk on political power), carousing (lack of impulse control on living in unity with Christians who think differently on secondary / tertiary doctrines), etc.
And what if we leaned towards the fruit of the Spirit?:
“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Maybe, just maybe our churches and communities would look different if we focused on embodying the fruit of the liberating Spirit of God (the same Spirit that empowers Jesus to proclaim good news to the poor, liberation to the oppressed and to liberate the captive in Luke 4:18) rather than just merely opposing a narrow interpretation of one or two works of the flesh.
One can only imagine.
Drawing from his ancient, St. Thomas Indian Christian roots and a decolonized, justice-centered understanding of Scripture, Joash helps audiences reimagine a faith that unites rather than divides—and that stands firmly with neighbors on the margins. Through speaking engagements, teaching, and advocacy, he calls Christians to a more contemplative yet courageous activism, motivated by the grace-filled, non-violent way of Jesus. To support Joash’s priestly ordination and future education costs, you can upgrade to be a paid Substack subscriber today. I’ll also finally be launching virtual zoom hangouts for paid subscribers very soon. I’d be so grateful for your continued partnership in this way!