Justice

This past Sunday at house church we started a conversation series over "justice." Now this is one of my favorite topics to discuss with other Christians because in my experience it has been one of the more neglected, yet most foundational, principles of the Bible. We've discussed this idea of justice in the past and I'm glad that we are visiting it again because although it's exciting that it is being discussed, it always seems we just scratch the surface. Each time I am involved in a discussion of this topic or the verses commonly associated with it, I end up wishing we had gone a little deeper. It seems we skirt around the issues, reluctant to really give nitty-gritty examples of the the injustices in our world today, perhaps because it would be just a little too uncomfortable...it might require us to find out some things about ourselves that we're just not quite ready to face. So we stick to things like feeding the homeless or mentoring a kid...things that are all good things of course...but that somehow seem to leave a slight impression of equating justice with charity.

Sometimes the word "justice" is hard to define, especially from a Biblical perspective. It goes beyond what is "fair." Justice addresses the sanctity of all human life and the inherent dignity of every human person. Justice demands that human life be valued above all material possessions. Biblical justice even seems to show a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable and seems to demand that through words, prayers, and deeds one must show not only compassion but solidarity with them. There is a quote that says the moral test of any society is how it treats its most vulnerable members...which implies that they should have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of a nation. Justice demands that no one be treated as "less than" in our world. Justice demands that we tear down the zillions of walls that we've created based on appearances and possessions and belief systems and that we recognize everyone's inherent worth and value equally, despite choices they may have made.

Something I notice is that a lot of times these conversations turn to "what can we do" or "how can we help"....which is of course not a bad thing...I know the intentions and motives are oftentimes pure as can be. But something I have learned through some very important mentors and people in my life during my time in Dallas is that sometimes before you can act, you have to listen. You have to observe. You have to learn. You have to understand. You have to empathize. You have to step outside your world for more than a few minutes at a time and build authentic relationships and friendships and realize that the inequities and injustices you now see through this new lens profoundly impact not only the people you are trying to "help" but impact your own quality of life as well. There is a quote I love that says, "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time; but if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

Don't get me wrong...I do believe compassion is intricately connected to this idea of justice. But also I believe it goes beyond that. I've heard an analogy before that compassion and charity is like pulling drowing people out of a raging river, while justice is looking upstream to see why they are in the river in the first place. As Christians, we can handle the compassion part. The charitable deeds part. But the looking upstream part....the part that makes us look at our society, our history, our systems and ask how these things may have played a part in the injustices we see and how we can be a part of changing those things....that's a whole lot harder. It requires a level of introspection and honesty that many are not quite ready for...or at least not ready to talk about openly.

(Incidentally, it's interesting that God mentions "justice" and the "poor" far more in the Bible than he does many of the other issues that we as Christians have chosen to focus on within our churches....why can I not remember a single sermon or Bible study on this topic until I got to Dallas and got involved with CDM?? Just a thought!!)

Anyways, all of that to say....I'm glad its up for discussion...but can we go deeper? Can we get a little more real...a little more honest...can we challenge ourselves just a little more? And then hopefully we can move from discussion to the kind of meaningful and impactful action we are truly called to.

Thoughts, anyone??