In the Newbery award-winning book, The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, multiple characters are offered the prospect to pursue justice in their very own way. One of those characters is the dragon, Fyrian, whose mother’s death was brought on by the Sorrow Eater – a witch who’s answerable for the suffering of many. In his anger and sorrow, the dragon seeks vengeance. He grabs the witch, able to destroy the one who hurt him and lots of others.
Yet, he’s reminded by his friends that destroying her won’t bring in regards to the justice he desires. While he remains to be clutching the witch, able to mete out punishment, his friend, Glerk, looks at him lovingly and says, “No, Fyrian. That answer is just too easy, my friend. Look deeper” (Barnhill, Algonquin Young Readers, 2016, p. 365).
In our desire for rights to be wronged and the guilty dropped at justice, it could be easy for us to hunt the straightforward answers. To deal out punishment swiftly without considering of our actions, to pay back evil with evil. But as Glerk reminded Fyrian, there may be a greater answer if we’re willing to search for it. Destroying the witch wouldn’t bring back the dragon’s mother or undo all of the suffering the Sorrow Eater had caused. Likewise, returning evil to those that have hurt us won’t bring about true, God-honoring justice. We would just add to the cycle of sin, darkness, and suffering.
There is a right way and fallacious technique to seek justice. As we pursue right treatment for many who are oppressed and speak up for the voiceless, we’d like to recollect this truth. The Lord calls us to do justice, but we’re to do it in His way and with an ever-present give attention to the cross – the place of ultimate justice where Jesus bore the punishment for the sins of the world.
The World’s Way of Seeking Justice
Behind the protests, demonstrations, and even riots is an innate, human desire for justice. Indignation arises after we see wrongs being done or principles violated. So, even inside the work of justice on this planet, we discover features that we are able to agree with as believers. There ought to be calls for the tip of oppression, discrimination, misuse of creation, and unjust laws, and we do have to speak up after we see wrongs being carried out in private and public.
However, where the world often goes fallacious is in the assumption that the tip justifies the means, and that violence is an acceptable means to bring about peace. Or whoever screams the loudest is the one who might be heard.
We see this exemplified through different events in history. Although people like Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated for the use of peaceful protests to rise up against the injustice of racial discrimination and segregation, there have been other activists who argued for violent approaches. Likewise, in the realm of pro-abortion movements, there have been individuals who’ve taken the stance of violence to intimidate those they disagree with, even in some cases, attacking centers and destroying property. Some pro-life advocates have also pursued their cause with violence and intimidation.
Even if persons are rightfully raising awareness about a difficulty, they will still be fallacious in the best way they do it.
God’s Call to Pursue Justice
The innate desire for justice demonstrates a God-given judgment of right and wrong, which is what we’d expect since we’re all made within the image of God (Genesis 1:27). He wants us to pursue justice because He is a just and righteous Lord – it’s innate to His character. Those who follow Him and need to mimic Him will likewise seek to rise up for what is true and advocate for many who are weak and helpless.
When the nation of Israel thought they may please the Lord with their sacrifices, He reminded them of what was truly necessary. As the prophet Micah wrote, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is sweet. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to like mercy and to walk humbly together with your God” (Micah 6:8, NIV). And during a distinct occasion, when the Israelites sought the Lord through empty, ritualistic fasting, He reminded them that true fasting is “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free” (Isaiah 58:6, NIV). Acting justly involves helping the poor, feeding the hungry, providing shelter for the homeless, and clothing the naked (Isaiah 58:7-10).
Jesus also reiterated this in His parable of the sheep and goats. Genuine faith cares for the needs of others and acts in justice. Notice that He emphasizes acting on behalf of those that are probably the most vulnerable, those that are most vulnerable to be oppressed and brought advantage of: the hungry, sick, homeless, foreigner, and prisoner (Matthew 25:34-40). Many inside the church today separate justice from the work of believers and even of the gospel message itself, claiming that an emphasis on justice is a political stance. Scripturally, nonetheless, justice is intertwined with our faith as our Lord shows through this parable.
Is He not the God who set the Israelites free from slavery through the Exodus? Did He not save us from sin? He did. In fact, it’s the cross that helps us higher understand not only that the Lord is a just God, but in addition pursue justice ourselves.
A Need for Prayerful, Christ-Centered Action
Some may assume that a non-violent approach to justice involves condoning the fallacious and removing any consequences from the offending party, as if nothing had ever happened. Such a stance can seem weak to many individuals. But that isn’t biblical justice. If we wish to grasp the suitable technique to seek justice, we’d like to have a look at the cross.
Christ was nailed to the cross to die for our sins, although He was innocent and undeserving of death. He endured the cross to bear our punishment and fulfill the justice of God. The Father couldn’t merely overlook the evil present in human hearts, condoning it as a tragic reality that would not be modified. No, there needed to be judgment, or else He wouldn’t be a just God.
This is why Jesus was nailed to the cross – the innocent One made to suffer for the sinfulness of humankind. Our Lord was harassed and berated as He hung there. Yet, He didn’t angrily strike down those that were mistreating them. Nor did He call down curses on them. Instead, He prayed, asking the Father to forgive them, entrusting the wrongs to Him (Luke 23:34; 1 Peter 2:23). He bore the injustice of mistreatment and death because of affection, demonstrating His great mercy (Romans 5:8). For all of us deserve everlasting death because the rightful punishment for turning away from God, like those that harassed our Lord on the cross. Only due to Jesus and the justice He fulfilled on the cross will we inherit life and recent identities as beloved little kids.
A Christ-centered approach to justice, then, does rise up for what is true. We speak out against evil while also recognizing that we’re all people in need of grace. Evil can’t be used to fight evil (see Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:17-21; 1 Peter 3:9). Rather, we follow Jesus’ example and entrust the matter into the Father’s hands, since vengeance belongs to Him, not us (Romans 12:17-19). All the while, we pray that the oppressors, too, will recognize their need for grace. Biblical justice involves prayerful motion seeped in grace.
A believer’s approach to justice can be deeply personal. We usually are not marching or protesting for the sake of an abstract cause or ideal. Injustice touches the lives of people who’re made within the image of God. They usually are not mere “causes” but unique and necessary people, and we should always not treat them in an impersonal, abstract manner. As Chris Webb stated in “Becoming Like Jesus: Compassionate Life” on Renovaré, “We cannot love causes. We can only love people — and this love is the basis of all real, enduring justice and peace.”
Our Lord entering our world and adding humanity to His divinity should change how we view justice work (Philippians 2:6-8). We don’t merely advocate for a cause; we enter the world of those that are hurting and care about them as unique individuals, just as our Savior did for us.
The Right Way to Seek Justice
The right technique to seek justice is to follow Christ’s example and entrust righteous judgment to the One who judges fairly – the Lord. We know that no matter whether people receive punishment on this life for his or her actions, God holds all people accountable for what they’ve done (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Someone might think she or he has escaped government and law, but that person cannot escape the true Judge. In the longer term, He will make all the pieces right, and the feet of the oppressed and poor will trample the rubble of the once lofty but now fallen cities of the proud (Isaiah 26:6; compare to Matthew 5:1-12). Injustice won’t prevail.
As we await that day of judgment, we stand armed with peace, not violence, able to speak up for the voiceless. And we provide love as a substitute of hate, forgiveness as a substitute of bitterness. Pursuing justice God’s way involves a continuing turning to the cross – the place where justice and mercy perfectly met.
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