i wrote this bit for the justice team for campus ministries at Central. i wrote it up real quick so it's not scrupulously edited or a masterpiece by any means. i also hope i'm not considered an expert on justice, but i've been learning about it a lot and feel very strongly about it!
If you have more than enough food to eat, don’t you dare pray for the hungry when there is something you can do about it. If you are a Christian then caring for the poor, oppressed, or slaves to injustice is not an option and the Bible is clear of often overlooked imperative. When the Bible has over 2000 passages in it referring to the poor and downtrodden, we must pay attention. 1 John: 3:17 says: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” James 2: 15-17 says: “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
What is justice anyway? It’s a word thrown around so much, but once I started to think about it I hardly knew how to explain it myself. After learning about it more, I think it is truly the ultimate act of being human. Allow me to explain a bit. I think that every human being under ideal circumstances know what is right and wrong. I think we know that, because deep inside us we as humans have an inkling of knowing what the Kingdom of God is and should look like. This is not exclusive to just Christians, and does not leave out Muslims, Jews, Atheists, or anybody. Right away you may think, hm, people like Adolph Hitler or Charles Manson had no notion whatsoever this right and wrong. However, I think that they give more evidence of a sense of right and wrong than anything because their perversion and megalomania is so blatantly displayed that they are so far outside the wide range of “normality” that humans display that they could not possibly grasp right and wrong. Jesus’ life and teachings and the character of God that is revealed through such, I believe, is the pinnacle of justice. The closer we can come in relationship and knowledge of our Savior, I believe are acute understanding of justice will only grow. From this relationship and study of the Word, if we invite Christ into our hearts we will not be able to help, have compassion and try to right the wrongs of injustice through love as Christ was crucified for. The spirit of God will overflow from within us, to all people.
Injustice is everywhere. The famous 20th Century theologian, Karl Barth famously said “We must read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other”. The two aforementioned passages bear even more weight for us today. Never in the history of humanity has the world been smaller: communications technology is growing exponentially, transportation is becoming more and more sophisticated and efficient, and even us—wherever you are in the American middle class—are richer than the average human being in history. We literally can “be the change we wish to see in the world” now unlike ever before. We cannot hide behind the guise of ignorance any longer when millions suffer die by PREVENTABLE causes.
So many people ask God why He could let so much hurt and evil run rampant in the world, but upon reflection I think God wants to ask us with tear-filled eyes why WE would allow so much suffering to take place. What if Jesus was really serious about telling the Rich Young Ruler to give away all he has, what if Zaccheus really gained salvation for repenting of his exploitative ways toward the poor, what if how we treat “the least of these” was really how we treated Jesus our piously exalted LORD AND SAVIOR?
I don’t want to say we have it all wrong; we do nice activities that help out people in need, but are activities enough? When Jesus was spreading the Good News throughout Judea he rarely visited a town with the intention of healing the sick, def, blind, and lame. When he was spreading the Word, he saw these people (who are EVERYWHERE) and had compassion for them. We believe, or should believe, that because Jesus is God-incarnate, His words and actions are the clearest path to knowing the Heart and Character of God our Father. Perhaps we should read the Gospels again and see what serving God really means. It must be said again, people are SUFFERING and DYING of causes that are preventable and are often indirectly caused by our actions. With this knowledge and with an interconnected and interdependently globalized world, we as Christians need to wake up because our neighbors are closer and in more need than ever before.
What is justice anyway? It’s a word thrown around so much, but once I started to think about it I hardly knew how to explain it myself. After learning about it more, I think it is truly the ultimate act of being human. Allow me to explain a bit. I think that every human being under ideal circumstances know what is right and wrong. I think we know that, because deep inside us we as humans have an inkling of knowing what the Kingdom of God is and should look like. This is not exclusive to just Christians, and does not leave out Muslims, Jews, Atheists, or anybody. Right away you may think, hm, people like Adolph Hitler or Charles Manson had no notion whatsoever this right and wrong. However, I think that they give more evidence of a sense of right and wrong than anything because their perversion and megalomania is so blatantly displayed that they are so far outside the wide range of “normality” that humans display that they could not possibly grasp right and wrong. Jesus’ life and teachings and the character of God that is revealed through such, I believe, is the pinnacle of justice. The closer we can come in relationship and knowledge of our Savior, I believe are acute understanding of justice will only grow. From this relationship and study of the Word, if we invite Christ into our hearts we will not be able to help, have compassion and try to right the wrongs of injustice through love as Christ was crucified for. The spirit of God will overflow from within us, to all people.
Injustice is everywhere. The famous 20th Century theologian, Karl Barth famously said “We must read the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other”. The two aforementioned passages bear even more weight for us today. Never in the history of humanity has the world been smaller: communications technology is growing exponentially, transportation is becoming more and more sophisticated and efficient, and even us—wherever you are in the American middle class—are richer than the average human being in history. We literally can “be the change we wish to see in the world” now unlike ever before. We cannot hide behind the guise of ignorance any longer when millions suffer die by PREVENTABLE causes.
So many people ask God why He could let so much hurt and evil run rampant in the world, but upon reflection I think God wants to ask us with tear-filled eyes why WE would allow so much suffering to take place. What if Jesus was really serious about telling the Rich Young Ruler to give away all he has, what if Zaccheus really gained salvation for repenting of his exploitative ways toward the poor, what if how we treat “the least of these” was really how we treated Jesus our piously exalted LORD AND SAVIOR?
I don’t want to say we have it all wrong; we do nice activities that help out people in need, but are activities enough? When Jesus was spreading the Good News throughout Judea he rarely visited a town with the intention of healing the sick, def, blind, and lame. When he was spreading the Word, he saw these people (who are EVERYWHERE) and had compassion for them. We believe, or should believe, that because Jesus is God-incarnate, His words and actions are the clearest path to knowing the Heart and Character of God our Father. Perhaps we should read the Gospels again and see what serving God really means. It must be said again, people are SUFFERING and DYING of causes that are preventable and are often indirectly caused by our actions. With this knowledge and with an interconnected and interdependently globalized world, we as Christians need to wake up because our neighbors are closer and in more need than ever before.
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