Seeking Justice

"For our sakes he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21
    
                In the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the behalf of mankind, God the Father looked upon His son as if he had committed the sins of believers and perceives believers as if they had only fulfilled the righteous deeds of his sinless Son. Since believers now embrace His imputed righteousness, how then do we go about “living righteously?”

               I want to go out on a limb and say that righteous living involves justice. In fact, righteousness and justice go hand-in-hand-you can’t have one and not the other. When Jesus commanded us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33), the word righteous is the Greek word, “Dikaisoune” meaning, “to be right with God and others, to be just.” So, in effect, God’s explicit command is to be in a right relationship with Him which includes salvation and subsequent sanctification as well as a calling to judge righteously and defend the rights of the poor and needy.

             I believe, too often Christian’s lives are characterized with mentally checking the boxes of religious duties and morality, but fail to consider that righteous living entails being in the forefront of justice issues. Why? Because our actions as Christians on social issues demonstrates authentic worship before God. Worship isn’t simply the prelude to the Sunday sermon! Worship is a lifestyle and justice is a relational necessity with God. Do you think I’m too far out on a limb? Let’s take a look at Isaiah 58 where God was sickened by the mock repentance and outward rituals of His people. He clearly focused on the disconnection of sin and the oppression of others and regarded feeding the hungry and acting humanely towards those in need (v 6-7). Authentic worship in the sight of our heavenly Father is feeding the underprivileged, clothing the naked, and bringing justice to the poor. It is when we empty ourselves in selfless service to satisfy the needs of the afflicted (v 10) that we overcome injustice and the insurmountable barrier to a healthy, thriving relationship with God.

              A recent study on adoption was conducted by the Barna Group in which their findings were a stark contrast to the worshipful existence we are to embody as Christians. Their results highlighted the fact that only 5% of practicing Christians have adopted (read entire article here: https://www.barna.org/barna-update/family-kids/643-5-things-you-need-to-know-about-adoption#.UuT3uennYie). So, where is the Body of Christ in this matter? How have we turned a blind eye to the helpless millions (yes, millions) of orphans globally as if this isn’t our problem? I would like to suggest two reasons. First, the children are not our kids. In his book, The Hole in our Gospel, Richard Stern explains, “If you had heard on the radio thousands of children die each year in car accidents, it would likely strike you as sad, but I doubt you would become very emotional. If instead you learned that your neighbor’s child just died in a car crash, it would hit much closer to home, and your emotional response would be much deeper. You would immediately want to respond-to comfort your neighbor and to come alongside them in their grief, helping in any way you could. But what if you learned that your own child had been killed? You would be devastated at the deepest possible level. It would be life-shattering and profoundly personal tragedy for you, one that would forever after redefine you. For some reason we are wired in such a way that we can become almost indifferent to tragedies that are far away from us emotionally, socially, or geographically, but when the same tragedy happens to us or to someone close to us, everything changes.”
 
        The second reason I believe the church isn’t responding to the cries of orphan is that we have become like the people of Sodom who are entrenched in wealth-induced arrogance and unconcern for the poor. “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezek. 16:49). It is quite evident in Scripture that God cares greatly for the poor while abhorring the man-made actions that contribute to it and the indifference of the well-off.  We cannot simply continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of children suffering in this world without a home, loving family, and basic necessities when we have the ability to change their lives! My heart cries out confronting our apathetic lives with the Apostle John, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be that person?” (1 John 3:17) How can we claim to live righteously and justly when God looks down from His throne and sees millions of children, made in His image, digging through trash cans to survive? God’s heart is assuredly severely grieved over the millions of his children dying from hunger and not experiencing the love of the family which he created. On the other hand, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish He must feel over the millions of believers his Son died to save who are living lives of comfort and ease too rooted in the American dream to live sacrificially as He did for the life of another.

         So I ask, will Christ find evidence of genuine concern for the poor when he looks at the fruit of our lives? What new steps of faith do we need to take to love the least of these and live sacrificially as Christ? An authentic relationship with Christ demands demonstrable evidence of a transformed life. In the words of Pastor John MacArthur, “Hell will be full of people who thought highly of the Sermon on the Mount. You must do more than that. You must obey it.” To live righteously and justly, we must choose to see the image of God in others and carry restoration and healing to the lost and hurting world. I will end with a final thought, shared by Richard Stearns that should shout to the depths of our souls, “What if there are children in this world who will suffer somehow because I failed to obey God?”
“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?” (Micah 6:8)