Justice, Pt 7: Justice & Social Issues
About the Series
Justice is one of the most important themes in the Bible. What is Biblical Justice? Does our view of justice line up with our actual practice? In this series we are doing a deep dive into scripture, then (hopefully) coming back up with a new imagination for biblical justice and how it might shape our lives and speak into the social issues of our day.
Read the Teaching Recap (5 min)
The doing of justice is related to power and privilege. For God’s people throughout history, their power and privilege has waxed and waned, and so has God’s expectations for justice. What might be God’s expectations for justice today? We have power in ways the New Testament church didn’t—we have free speech and the ability to vote. If we are to do justice in every sphere, we must do justice in the public sphere too.
Problems that keep us from justice in the public sphere
1) Limited knowledge. We can’t possibly know every bit of information about every position. And in the digital age we have access to so much information, figuring out what is true is increasingly difficult.
2) We’ve already been shaped. We all have a desire to win, and so we often end up cheering for one of the two “teams.” But in doing that, and in wrapping our emotion up in it, we don’t realize how we may be shaped by them, even when it doesn’t make sense. It takes a strong biblically-formed imagination to free us from these shaping voices—to stop our identity from being wrapped up in “liberal or conservative,” and to embrace a truly Christian identity.
3) Self-serving, self-justifying tendencies. In Philippians 2, Paul encourages Christians to “watch out for what is better for others.” Do we ever vote against our own self-interest in order to prefer what is better for someone else? Psalm 139 says, “Search me, O God.” This posture should open us up to the ideas and stories of people on the “other side.” They might be a gift from God in my own sanctification. Unfortunately, we often believe we have to construct a life for ourselves; that we need to self-justify. But remember, Jesus dismantles meritocracy (having to earn our place)!
Resources for Justice in the public sphere
1) Humans Bear God’s Image. This is a profound theological resource for love and justice. We love our neighbors because we love God and God has made others in his image. Is this how we see people when we are dealing with “issues” in the public sphere? Do we see the immigrant, the unborn, the teen mom first and foremost as image bearers?
2) The Pervasiveness of Sin. The doctrine of depravity is not about sin’s depth, but its breadth. There is no facet of existence that has not been scarred by sin—the human propensity to screw things up. What does this mean? It means systemic sin is real. It means personal responsibility is real. (There are few instances where someone can claim sheer victimhood.) It means that with issues of injustice… it’s everyone’s fault. To refuse that is to reject depravity and human agency.
3) The Patience and Faithfulness of God. There is a very active and real, patient, and long-suffering God among us. God is in control. God is more committed to justice than we are. We long for justice to be done through us. But if justice doesn’t happen through us, God will ensure that it is still done. We can be patient in love, not hurried in fear.
Final reminder: In this teaching, you probably didn’t like something Ryan said. That’s okay. We can be patient in love, not hurried in fear. We have more in common than we have differences. Remember who we are. We are Christians. Our truest identity is in Christ.
Prayer & Discussion (40 min)
Prayer. Before you begin the discussion tonight, start with a meditation on Proverbs 21:3. Read the verse aloud slowly 2 or 3 times, leaving space for silent prayer in between each reading:
“To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.”
After the reading and silence, if you wish, allow one another to share a word or phrase that stood out. What might God be stirring in you? Is there a tension or something more to chew on or wrestle with?
Discussion. Take some time to share around the following questions:
1) As we are being encouraged and challenged to re-imagine biblical justice throughout this series, we can trust that the Holy Spirit is present in the tension and wrestling, and that the Spirit will bring forth beauty and light. How are you finding your imagination of Biblical Justice being reshaped?
2) During the point about humans bearing God’s image, you were asked “What’s your first thought?” to hearing the words immigrant and abortion. Be honest and share with one another your “first thought,” along with wrestlings, struggles, and tensions. Confess your tendency to treat humans as mere “issues to be discussed.” In this time, we invite you to listen to one another without giving comment or correction.
3) Because of God’s patience and faithfulness we can “be patient in love, not hurried in fear, with ourselves and with others.” What might this mean or look like for you? How might God be calling you to respond?
Before you close, share prayer requests around what came to the surface this evening. Take time to pray for one another or close by praying the Lord’s Prayer.
Practice for the Week (10 min)
Choose one of the passages below to meditate on this week. If time allows, take a walk with the Lord and/or a companion doing this reading and meditation together.
Then, spend time in prayer offering the question to the Lord “How might I live out as an image bearer of Christ—your patience and faithfulness—in the spheres of my life?”
Psalm 139:23-24
Philippians 2:3-8
