Justice & The Church’s Role
We are five months into 2021 with a new president and political party shifts, yet tensions in our country over things like race, gender, abortion, and economics still exist! Most people I talk to aren’t hopeful these tensions will cool down in the near future. So how should we respond as Christians? What is the church’s role when it comes to justice issues?
The term “justice” is a problem!
There is a significant problem with the term “justice,” because we’ve turned it into a convoluted term that’s defined by our own competing visions for justice. We’ve created a limited singular view of justice that advocates for our own singular areas of interest, while ignoring numerous other areas of injustice. We’re advocates against racism, but not abortion...We’re advocates against abortion, but not racism...We’re advocates for singular areas of interest.
But a biblical view of justice is so much greater than that, because it addresses ALL areas of injustice instead of only singular areas of interest. Tony Evans states, “There is no clear and right definition of justice that excludes God…So at the heart of Biblical justice is the impartial application of God’s moral law within all realms of society including economic, political, social or criminal justice.” Simply put, God is interested in EVERY area of injustice in the world!
What is the Church’s Role?
Some Christians believe the church should only focus on sharing the gospel for salvation. They think issues like racism or poverty aren’t essential. But this neglects the command Jesus gives in Matthew 5 to be “salt” and “light” to the world! It also misses the point of Luke 10 where Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that parable Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves. “Who’s my neighbor?” Jesus basically says it’s anyone in need.
So sharing the gospel is certainly our greatest priority, but it isn’t our only priority. We’re to care for the hurting like the Samaritan did, including those who are hurting from racial, gender, economic, and a hundred other injustices! Proverbs 31:8–9, “Speak up for those who have no voice,, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. 9 Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.” The church’s role is to “speak up” against injustice issues, while making sure it’s the bible driving our speaking up not our politics. Political conversations are important, but they are divisive if they aren’t gospel centered and biblically based. Our unity and loyalty to Jesus is always greater than our unity and loyalty to a political party.
We are not activists, we are disciples!
Christians should speak up and strive to bring the salt and light of God's shalom (peace) into every crevice of society. But let’s remember we are not political or social activists, we are disciples! We are ambassadors for Christ! So let’s speak against ALL injustices, with the same confidence Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had in the gospel’s power to overcome even racial injustices.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “We will not abandon our righteous efforts. With every ounce of our strength, we will continue to rid the nation of the incubus of segregation. But we will not in the process relinquish our privilege and our obligation to love...We cannot obey your unjust laws because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as it is to cooperate with good. But throw us in jail; we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community and beat us, and we will still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down!...The great military leaders of the past have gone, and their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes, but the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing!”
May the loving empire of Jesus continue to grow and push back the darkness of injustice, through you!