Everyone wants justice. The LGBTQ community wants justice for their members. Pro-life advocates want justice for the unborn. Churches seek justice for the poor and marginalized. Children clamor for justice for the wrongs committed against them by their siblings. But what is justice? And who gets to decide what is just?
Author Austin O’Malley quipped, “Justice and the facade of a temple are seen best from the outside.” But in our era, where the proclamation of absolute truth is seen as oppressive, how can humans ever conclusively decide what is just? There are so many differing worldviews that it is impossible to stand outside of anything. Culture is jostled and buffeted by segmented factions of conflicting opinions that are not grounded in any standards or overarching guiding principles.
Jonathan Leeman, in his talk at this year’s virtual Together for the Gospel conference said, in reference to identity politics, ”Remove God, remove God’s image in us, and what’s left to sustain (our) identity? Well, not much, really. Except for desire. What happens when my desire goes to battle with your desire?” This reasoning could apply to justice, as well.
C.S. Lewis wrote,
My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?
What is that straight line?
Reflect
1. Read the following Scriptures:
How does God feel about injustice?
What does he say about justice?
2. If ever a man in the history of humans had a reason to argue against God, it was Job.
Read Job 21:4-16 and 38-41.
What do these scriptures say about God and what do they say about humans?
3. Like Job, Joseph had more than the average person’s share of injustice thrown at him, and every reason, humanly speaking, to question God’s sense of justice. Genesis 37:1-50:26 tells Joseph’s story, which begins with gross injustice and ends with forgiveness and the revelation of God’s sovereignty.
Read Genesis 50:19-21.
What did Joseph believe about God?
4. Christ followers have dual citizenship. Bodily, we inhabit this earth, immersed in the vast spectrum of the sensual and temporal. But earth is not our true home. “But our citizenship is (also) in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Richard Chin, in his book Captivated by Christ, describes our true, native citizenship this way: “Spiritually, you are seated with Christ in heaven.” He then cites Colossians 3:1-4:
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Knowledge of our true citizenship gives us hope while we wait, and while we grieve over the injustices of this world.
Read the following Scriptures:
What is God’s final word on injustice?
6. Elsewhere in his book Captivating Christ, Richard Chin reminds us of who we are in Jesus. He writes,
Has it occurred to you that, if you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, then you are among the most privileged people on the face of the whole earth? You know God as your Father, Jesus as your Savior and friend, every Christian as your brother or sister, and heaven as your home.
Read Colossians 3:12-13.
How, then, should we live while we wait for God’s justice to appear?
Pray
Father, thank you so much for the privilege of being your chosen, adopted child. Help me to see justice through the straight line of your Word, and to always seek the things above. Help me to live in humility and peace as a true citizen of heaven, even as I grieve over the injustices of this world. You are sovereign, you are good, and you alone deserve my trust.
Amen