Blessed are Those Who Cry out for Justice 3/3

We concluded last time with a recognition that a theology of justice and righteousness raises up many questions. They are questions that challenge us with our traditions and cultures.

4. FOUR CHALLENGES MUST BE FACED IF WE ARE TO ENGAGE WITH A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON JUSTICE:

1. There is the need to expand our ideas about what is “S/spiritual” so that we stop prioritizing what we narrowly label as spiritual and thereby neglect the whole of God’s agenda for us and for the nations. Everything about God is S/spiritual. Every detail of His work is S/spiritual. There is a Spiritual dimension to all of creation. All God’s work in the world is a work of His Spirit, from Creation to Kingdom completed. Christ, the Word of God, is filled with the Spirit and so all His work is Spiritual. God sustains the whole creation with His Word (Psalm 33:4-11, 148:5, Hebrews 1:3) and Spirit (Psalm 104:27-30); God works in all human history with His Word and Spirit. It is a false dichotomy to claim some things are spiritual and some are not. Justice is as much a S/spiritual reality and issue as anything else. To focus on some S/spiritual needs to the neglect of others misrepresents Christ. The S/spiritual needs of individual persons are very real but so are the S/spiritual needs of societies, nations, and the whole earth. Individual spirituality does not exist in a vacuum.
2. It takes real determination and a well-developed theology to hold together the full range of our missional calling as Christ’s disciples. Those who focus on making the Gospel known, calling people to faith in Christ, too readily become neglectful of standing up for the full range of human need. Working towards justice is not an optional extra as is clear from the foundational truths listed in Parts Two and Three. Those who focus on caring for the needy and working towards justice can just as readily become neglectful of the need for the Gospel to be made known. Mission effectiveness is enhanced when word and deed, action and Gospel, are integrated together (as consistently demonstrated by Jesus). Reductionism is a real temptation of the human heart: we like to make things easier for ourselves thereby domesticating, disempowering, and controlling the faith.
3. There is a need to break out of the preoccupation with individualist spirituality. We know that so much culture is highly individualistic, as is common across ICs and the Western church. Yet, discipleship is about being “individuals-in-community”. For example, Paul’s letters are to churches and address how churches are to function as communities of faith in Christ. Of course, individuals matter here but so does the body of Christ which is more than just a collection of individuals. We need preaching that gives equal time to being the body of Christ, being a church, as we do to individual spirituality and discipleship. Faithfully being a church driven by the NT values for church life together inevitably draws in perspectives of justice, or at least it should. Our priority is not an individual’s relationship with God but the glory of God in the reign of Christ over all the earth which is expressed in all things being fully characterized by the character of God. If our passion is the glory of God as revealed in Scripture, as expressed in the promises of the Kingdom, a love of social justice inevitably follows.
4. International churches exist in a great diversity of contexts. The post-Christendom world of most of the West in many ways takes us back to the world of the early church. Some ICs function in very closed and restrictive countries in which it is easy to offend politically and legally: some in countries with high levels of religious sensitivities. There is an art and wisdom in effective advocacy for justice, and this takes time to develop. Even in quite open countries with high levels of freedom of speech, this wisdom is essential. ICs need conversations to consider how they can witness to Christ and His justice in their own context. No two contexts, no two ICs are the same, and no church can do everything. There is no one-size-fits-all. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 applies here.
5. There is a need to break out of the preoccupation with sexual identity, sexual orientation, and sexual morality. Clearly, these are real concerns but so are a wide range of other issues. Too many of us become so focussed on issues of sexuality that we become blind to the range of justice and morality issues across society. Furthermore, we need to back off from making public statements (which mostly just come across as unjust and uncaring judgementalism) and realize that we are far from agreement across the Christian community. A commitment to the Bible as the final authority in all matters of faith and conduct has not produced agreement. I recommend that we work together on developing a far better understanding of all aspects of human sexuality, as well as a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of all that the Bible has to say on these matters. We have much work to do here. This is essential if we are to engage with the issues of justice in ways that help people see and appreciate how much justice is integral to our God. The credibility of the Gospel is at stake here.

6. IGNORANCE IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM.

Too many are nowhere near as informed as they think they are on the injustices in their own nation let alone other nations. Too readily judgements are made that tend to blame the victims for the issues they face, or simply explain away the problems. Note the passion of God for the weak, the needy, the oppressed, the afflicted, those who cry out (Psalm 72), the fatherless, the poor, the oppressed (Psalm 82), the widows and the foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:18). Note Isaiah 1:17 and Malachi 3:5. God understands, but do we? It takes time to understand just how trapped people can be in such circumstances, just how much they are powerless, just how much people can be disadvantaged, and how societies unjustly contribute to their sufferings. If we do not take to time to understand, to listen to the stories of injustice, then we will inevitably simply take up the rationalizations of our political and cultural background.

Ignorance of the realities of injustice as it is actually experienced by people is one of the reasons for vast differences of opinion on many social justice issues.

Too easily we can be like the lawyer who asked, “Who is my neighbour?” This is a question searching for a rationalization to be selective in whom one loves, and how and when and for whom we are to work for justice. Ignorance feeds the attempt to minimize the realities of injustice. Such rationalizations, reductionisms, live in the hearts of all of us sinners. We want to pick and choose when justice matters, and for whom. Political loyalties readily overrule the evidences of injustice.

Those with wealth and power, those with vested interests who want to hold on to the status quo, often are the loudest voices in the media. They confidently promote their rationalizations and play on our fears. Their horror stories of what we happen if do not comply with their agendas are mostly invalid. Often, the loudest voices are from those with other agendas.

This statement was on social media recently, “Being taught to avoid talking about politics and religion has led to a lack of understanding of politics and religion.” The same could be said of social justice as many Christian leaders urged us to focus on spiritual matters not realizing that justice is a profoundly spiritual matter. Justice is woven into the Gospel because any Christ-centred proclamation cannot be true to Christ if such an important feature of His rule is ignored. Now the lack of engagement by the church in matters of social justice is one of the contributing factors in the decline in credibility for the Christian faith in many parts of the world. Justice is a moral issue, always was, and always will be. The church claims to stand up for morality but undermines its message as we pick and choose what matters to us, what fits with our political presumptions.

7. IN CONCLUSION.

Many have tried, some repeatedly, yet without exception not one has succeeded. Claiming to be preaching the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible, preachers have proclaimed the Word year by year without giving due attention to the recurring and strong concern in Scripture for justice, God’s justice, God’s love of Justice, God’s passion for justice to prevail in all the earth and its nations, and God’s promise to bring justice into all nations through the rule of His Messiah.

We have laid out the OT foundations for understanding God’s commitment to justice across all of life. We have summarized the coming of Messiah, the Son of God, who now rules the nations with an agenda for transformation that includes justice and all that goes with being a just people. We have briefly noted some of the more fundamental shifts needed in our perspectives and practices if we are to truly live as disciples of the Messiah.

To be a missional church that expresses the fullness of God in our engagement with the world we must be disciples with a passion for justice. There is no other way for the glory of God to be seen in us. We must never be selective about which of God’s passions to practice and which to ignore. We must never narrow down the Gospel to little more than personal spiritual benefit. If we are passionate about His love, mercy, forgiveness, holiness, salvation, gift of new life, and His vision for hope, then we must appreciate well just how indispensable justice is to each of these, and blends into the essence of each one. May the Word and Spirit of God in Christ increasingly enlighten us.

There is a wealth of good material from Evangelicals published on social justice. I encourage you to read as much of this as you can.

Below is a hymn, a prayer, calling out for God’s justice. The tune, Thaxted, is from Gustaf Holtz, The Planets, from the middle section of the Jupiter movement. Thaxted can be found in most hymnals.

Graham Chipps