Saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Ronald J. Sider, on July 27, 2022, Dr. Sider was 82 years old.
“God’s Word teaches a very hard, disturbing truth. Those who neglect the poor and the oppressed are really not God’s people at all—no matter how frequently they practice their religious rituals nor how orthodox are their creeds and confessions.”
Ronald J. Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity
As a Mennonite raise within conservative evangelicalism, Ron Sider was a breath of fresh air. Here was follower of Jesus actively engaged in social action. His book, Rich Christians in a Age of Hunger was a game changer for me, and for years I was a subscriber to Prism Magazine, which was the publication of the his organization, Evangelicals for Social Action, (now known as “Christians for Social Action”). This organization emerged out of the Ron’s leadership, convening, and co-articulation of “Chicago Declaration” in 1973, signed by 53 prominent Evangelicals like Carl F. H. Henry, John Perkins, Sharon Gallagher, Richard Mouw, Samuel Escobar, Bernard Ramm, Lewis Smedes, Robert E. Webber, John Howard Yoder, Jim Wallis, Merold Westphal, and others.
“The widespread (heretical) idea in many evangelical circles that the only important reason Jesus came was to die for our sins is one of the most glaring examples of failure to embrace the full biblical Christ. Tragically, other Christians seem to affirm the (equally heretical) idea that it is only Jesus’s teaching (especially his call to love enemies) that is finally important. If we believe with the church through two millennia that the teacher from Nazareth is God incarnate, then we must embrace the full biblical Christ.”
Ronald J. Sider, If Jesus Is Lord: Loving Our Enemies in an Age of Violence
While I didn’t know Dr. Sider personally, one of my mentors, Tom Sine, did and often spoke of their work together.
Rest in peace Ron, dwight
