“Justice, not security, creates peace” (Jurgen Moltmann – Ethics of Hope).
Malachi 3:4-5, “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years. And I will come near you for judgement; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien—Because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.”
Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and plead the widow’s cause.”
Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
The first and most important principle of God is that He is Love, as clearly stated in 1 John 4:8 and verse 16, wanting only the best for all, and therefore Justice is one of His characteristics. The concept of social justice comes from the biblical perspective of true and divine justice, and is governed by the main principle of God’s Love (Psalm 82:3-4, Psalm 89:14). It is this justice that should be expressed by all of God’s people towards the whole of an unjust and broken society: always upholding good and denouncing evil, lending a hand, and supporting those who are in need. This justice is to include people like widows, orphans, the exploited and all the other groups of people or individuals as mentioned in Malachi 3:4-5.
A definition of Social Justice, based on the Oxford dictionary, would be ‘to bring into balance what is just or right, in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society’. In Isaiah 61:1 and repeated in Luke 4:18-19, we have the best example of Christ’s understanding and interpretation of social justice. This is also the challenge for all humanity today, namely: “…. to bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives, and freedom to prisoners”. In other words, ‘to bring equality to those in need’. When speaking of justice we often have a picture of ‘Lady Justice’ with her scales to judge between right and wrong, but Social Justice calls for the scales to be equalised – to seek a balanced scale that shows neither favour or disfavour to anyone.
In the parable cited in Luke 14, Jesus mentions the weighing of the cost for a king going to war, if we being kings and priests are to wage war against injustice, first weigh the cost. What will it cost you to help provide social justice: your time; your effort; your possessions; your money, your family and friends; your reputation; your job; your life? Then let the cost of injustice not out-weigh the chance to provide justice. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil; God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, Not to act is to act”.
Another quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children”. Let us then strive to at least achieve this: to leave a world with children, able to grow to be healthy adults, in a world which is sustainably healthy for habitation.
Perhaps the greatest injustice is when injustices are used, or created, in order to oppress, manipulate, control or destroy others. As Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy”, and this is what injustice does to both sides of the balance beam. (Read: The Spirit Level by Wilkinson & Pickett)
