One of the challenges we face is that we’ve lost sight of what “justice” is, both in its general use, and also how it is used in the Bible.

This is why talk of “seeking justice” sounds a bit foreign to many Christians in the western world. I mean, what’s the first thing you think about when you hear the word “justice”?

Commonly, it’s a protest on a city street, with people chanting What do we want? JUSTICE!!

Or it may be something from the court reporter. The criminal is sentenced. The wayward corporate will pay the price. The abuser gets his due.

Christians may think of how the Day will come when all wrongs will be made right and justice will finally be done through Jesus Christ.

No wonder we’re confused! Is this about punishment and retribution? Are we supposed to take God’s work of justice into our own hands? None of these sound like particularly Christian things to do!

So, why should Christians be seeking justice today? Why don’t we hear much about that in typical evangelical/protestant churches?

Before we go on, I should say that some churches are pretty switched on about biblical justice, and what it means for Christians today. After working in a justice focused NGO for the last five years, however, I have to say there are so many churches that really have zero focus on seeking justice. Why is that?

Part of the answer is we’ve lost sight of how the Bible speaks about justice. The Bible’s use of the word “justice” is more nuanced than how we use it today. And obviously, if we’re thinking about seeking justice, we really need to be guided by Scripture rather than limit Scripture’s meaning with our own assumptions.

To get our heads around this, have a look at Psalm 72. Notice, first, that “justice” and “righteousness” are often used together here. This is a really common thing in the Old Testament: 79 times, with 10 of these in the Psalms and 15 in Isaiah).

Second, look at how “justice” in Psalm 72 can lead to really positive outcomes:

• “May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.” (Psalm 72:4, NIV)
• “For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” (Psalm 72:12–14, NIV)

It’s too much to go into right now, but one thing is crystal clear in the Old Testament: God really cares when those who are poor and vulnerable are subjected to violence and oppression. Some writers have noted how close to the heart of God are “the quartet of the vulnerable” – the poor, the fatherless, the widow and the foreigner¹. I’ll outline the justice narrative of Scripture in a few posts down the track – but let’s just note how God called his people to ensure vulnerable people were protected. There are oodles of examples of this call in Scripture. For starters though, check out Ex 22:21-22; Deut 5:15-16). You were oppressed in Egypt … so honour me be ensuring you never oppress others!

So “seeking justice” for God’s people in the Old Testament was not just something they thought about when injustice required it – it was a way of life for God’s people. It was so central to what it meant to be the People of God that when they lived unjustly, or neglected the vulnerable, or when they allowed injustice to exist in their communities, it rendered all their worship as offensive to God (see Isaiah 1:1-15; 58:1-7; Amos 5:1-15).

When we see the broad sweep of justice teaching in Scripture, it’s clear that not only are wrongdoers to be restrained and held to account, their victims are to be rescued from their oppressive predicament, placed in situations where they will thrive, and protected from ever being oppressed again.

See, the Bible’s teaching shows us that justice is more than punitive: it is gloriously restorative. Justice involves repair and restitution. When God’s people seek justice, want the oppressor held to account, but they also want to see the most vulnerable protected and thriving in new freedom. This full orbed understanding of justice is not well understood by Christians today.

So, why don’t we hear a lot about “seeking justice”? Many Christian teachers and pastors have lost sight of the Bible’s teaching. We don’t understand how “seeking justice” connects with the New Testament or Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection. I don’t think any of this is intentional – it’s just how things have developed.

What we really need to do is gain a clear understanding of what Scripture really says about justice, and how that clearly connects with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Once we do that, we’ll be in a position to see how God calls Christians and churches today to embed the pursuit of justice as a core component of ministry, mission, and Christian life itself.

Notes

1. see Tim Keller, Generous Justice, Chapter One “What is Doing Justice?”, London:2010, and Nicholas Wolterstorff, Justice: Rights and Wrongs, Princeton:2008

The last four months have been a time of reflection, rest, and refocusing. I’ve had to consider whether my pursuit of justice was something specific to my work with IJM, or something deeper and more foundational to my Christian faith.

I don’t know that the conclusion was ever in doubt, but my desire has grown even stronger to see the church take the lead in helping Australia become a more just society. My work with IJM really gave me an opportunity to hone and sharpen my understanding of biblical justice, and the great blessing churches can discover when they embody biblical justice in their ministry and mission.

Seeking justice can take many forms: acts of compassion and equity in the local community, partnering with organisations like International Justice Mission in their vision to protect millions from everyday violence, helping victims of domestic violence, providing shelter for the homeless, advocating for more just laws, assisting organisations like Tearfund and their amazing development projects, sponsoring a child through Compassion Australia – the list is endless.

One of the most basic questions many Christians ask is whether seeking justice really deserves the same attention as other ‘more spiritual things’. The assumption here, is that there’s an order or importance: spiritual things (like worship, bible reading, prayer, sharing the Gospel) are seen as more important than advocating to end everyday violence against the most vulnerable, or rescuing slaves in a South Asian rice mill, or worrying about worker’s conditions in the factory that produced your clothing. I mean, are those things really ‘spiritual’ things? And if not, should we really be putting so much effort into them?

Here’s the thing: the whole division between ‘natural’ and ‘spiritual’ is not grounded in the Bible – it really comes from ancient Greek philosophy. Of course, that hasn’t stopped western cultures like ours from being heavily influenced by that view which was so prominent in ancient Greek thought. The belief that ‘spiritual things’ are more important than ‘physical things’ comes to expression every time someone asserts that prayer is more important than mowing the lawn, or the soul is more important than the body, or the sacred is more important than the secular.

In the Bible, the tension is always between the ‘things of God’ and that which is opposed to him. It’s a contrast between that which acknowledges and reflects God’s rule and Kingdom, and that which does not.

True: prayer is important, as is the soul, and sacred things can provide incredible blessing. But this is not because ‘spiritual’ things are better than ‘natural’ things. That’s not the Bible’s contrast. In the Bible, the tension is always between the ‘things of God’ and that which is opposed to him (see Eph 6:12). It’s a contrast between that which acknowledges and reflects God’s rule and Kingdom, and that which does not. When we get this right, it’s a lot easier to understand why we should ‘set our mind on things above’ rather than ‘earthly things’ (see Col 3:1-2). The things above are the values and character of the Kingdom of God. The earthly things are everything that does not acknowledge Christ’s Lordship and rule … it’s a huge topic, and one we’ll keep coming back to. But just to bring this home: our struggle is not against physical/natural things, but against all things opposed to God’s Kingdom and rule. That’s why

• when Jesus opened his ministry, he asserted his anointing to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Luke 4:18-19). It’s no surprise to see his ministry embodying the Kingdom of God as he preaches the Good News and enacts the New Good of his Father’s rule.
• when Jesus teaches about prayer, he tells us to pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. As we breathe that prayer we’re asking, amongst other things, for the Kingdom of God to be reflected fully in our thoughts, attitudes and behaviour. This Lord’s Prayer petition is really a prayer that we should all seek and embody the kind of justice that reflects the Kingdom of God
• when Jesus was raised from the dead, he didn’t appear in mere spirit form. Jesus’ resurrection was a bodily resurrection. In doing so he demonstrates that physical things and creation itself are as important as anything else. So, the teaching of the ‘the resurrection the body’ is a cardinal article of Christian faith

All this is important, because as we ‘seek justice’ we will often be addressing the life circumstances, suffering, and inequities which impact people in the here and now. Jesus’ teaching and his actions throughout his earthly ministry are compelling evidence that Christians today must also ‘seek justice’. As they work to ‘set things right’ for those who are oppressed and vulnerable, they become a powerful demonstration of God’s Kingdom through Jesus.