Advocating True Social Justice: Whose Idea Was It, Anyway?
Part 1 in a 2-Part Series
Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh, hold them back.
If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?
-Proverbs 24:11-12
Social Justice – A buzzword phrase of the 21st century that somehow makes people swell with pride for giving to the poor, fighting for the rights of the marginalized (or not so marginalized), and defending the weak. But in reality social justice is not a new phenomenon and might better be understood as God’s idea, carrying with it the truth that man was created in the image of God. God is the Originator of social justice for all, as was clearly stated in the United States Declaration of Independence, unanimously declared by the founders of this great land on July 4, 1776.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Why do our hearts cry out for justice? Because God is a just God, and He desires justice – and mercy! In Psalm 89:14, the psalmist writes, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.”
Why do our hearts break and tears flow when we hear of abused children or see commercials on television of starved or mistreated animals? Why are we outraged when school girls are kidnapped and forced into slavery and the sex trade? Why does it matter that terrorists burn churches and slaughter innocent people? Is it because we are so good and noble in or of ourselves? Or is it because God placed within us the concept of what is good and what is evil? How do we intuitively know what is right and what is wrong? What is just and what is unjust?
Unlike animals, man has the ability to know, and not only to know, but to know what is good and what is evil. It is because God created man with a conscience. The apostle Paul explains in Romans 2:12-15,
12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;
13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…
From the beginning, God called for justice. From Eve’s first bite of the forbidden fruit, to Abel’s blood crying out from the ground, when he was murdered by his brother, the first people were keenly aware that they had sinned. They made excuses for their choices. They hid. They feared the consequences. Then came the time of the flood. We read in Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” resulting in the worldwide flood described in Genesis 6. Yet in God’s great mercy, He spared Noah and his family. Why? Because Noah “found favor in the eyes of the Lord… Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.”(Genesis 6:8-9). God “preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness” (II Peter 2:5) Noah promoted what was good and right. He was a advocate of social justice in his day. He longed for a world that functioned the way God intended it.
By faith Noah…in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
God calls for social justice, and yet He is patient and kind and good, “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” All of the time that Noah was building the ark, he begged people to live justly before God, giving them the opportunity for deliverance from the judgment to come. Unfortunately, no one listened.
Today God lovingly and patiently waits for those who are willing, to turn away from evil (repent), to come to Him, to trust Him, to follow Him, to believe His Gospel. “For God so loved the world, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) But because God is not only merciful, but completely fair and just, one day the opportunity to repent and trust in Him will end, just as in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39) and judgment will become reality. Finally, what we desire through social justice will come true. Finally true and complete Justice will rule and reign. Oh, how we all long for justice and peace in this world! Intuitively we know that the world is not functioning as it ought, and we struggle with the reality of the brokenness and how to fix it. But one day, God will fix it all. It is His promise and He is completely True and Faithful.
I love the description in Isaiah 11:1-10 of the time when God’s promise is fulfilled, when Messiah returns and rules the earth with Ultimate social justice.
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Oh, how I look forward to this day! But in the meantime, God has called us to live righteously and do good, defending those who are helpless, promoting social justice in our society.
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless,
Defend the orphan,
Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)
Won’t you join me tomorrow when we consider courageous women of the Bible and others throughout history who risked their lives to promote social justice. And we will honor some women today who are following these examples, promoting social justice and the care of God’s creation – Women of Wisdom, Faith, and Courage.