Part 263. To love is to act. Mental assent alone is not enough.

Love is displayed by what we do, not by what we think. Jesus tells us to love our neighbours, not by intellectual assent alone but through action.  In other words it is not a question of paying lip service to the concept of love: it is a matter of showing love for others by doing, by action.

The 'doing' takes many forms. One is by providing face-to-face support to individuals in need. There are many acts of kindness including:  listening, empathising, advocacy, a friendly word. Or it may be meeting material needs: food, shelter clothing. Practical action at point of need.  

Many denominations engage in what has been described as 'ambulance work', patching up the wounded and sending them on their way. Alleviating symptoms but not tackling underlying causes. Let's be clear, this ambulance work is of vital importance providing essential support to people living in poverty or destitution,  people living in areas of multiple deprivation, individuals who are disadvantaged, marginalised or discriminated against. 

Followers of Jesus are called to do much  more. Not only to treat the symptoms but to demand changes to eradicate the causes. In other words systemic change. The reason Jesus was executed by the Roman authorities  was to take out a person they perceived as an agitator threatening to destabilise the country with his radical message of love and care for the poor, the marginalised and the disadvantaged. The Roman authorities wished to stamp out any serious threat to its rule and were aided and abetted by religious, business and religious leaders who saw Jesus as a major threat to political, economic and religious stability. And so the strand of theology developed laying claim to Jesus advocating systemic change in society through his command to love your neighbour.  Social justice is a key element of loving your neighbour. 

Many have followed the call of Jesus. Some have died for their opposition to the  the perpetrators of modern day examples of repression.. Think of  Oscar Romero, Martin Luther King Jnr  and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. We have seen the development of Liberation Theology and the work of Gustavo Gutierrez and Leonardo Boff. 

You may read much more on my Facebook pages: John Hopkinson Theology  and Theology of Social Justice.