So, let’s get straight to it – what actually is justice according to God? How does He define it? What does it do? Who is it for?
This little piece is for anyone who has these kinds of questions swirling around their heads right now, or for anyone who has never really given it a second thought, I’m here for you too.
If you didn’t already know, we are currently living in the biggest civil rights movement in history. On May 25th 2020 George Floyd, a black American man, was killed by a white police officer, which led to a fresh call to end racism globally, and a new wave of the Black Lives Matter movement which has seen millions of people take to the streets in protest across the world, asking for justice and equality.
We at Girl Got Faith wholeheartedly believe in the importance of justice, equality, and a world without racism, so we are going to have a go at explaining a bit more about what justice is from a biblical perspective as this is always a great place to start.
I know that God loves that you’re here right now, reading this. He loves that your heart is for this.
First thing to know; according to the Bible, justice is active. It is on the move.
There’s a verse in the Old Testament that tells us that justice should ‘roll like a river…’ (wanna check it out yourself? Head on over to Amos 5:24). Just take a second to think about that, picture the power and the weight of that water, notice how it never stops flowing, notice how it washes away anything in its way, notice how deep it is, notice how it sweeps you off your feet.
That’s how justice should be.
It’s not an idea, its not a ‘too-good-to-be-true’ theory. Justice is a living force to be reckoned with. Justice moves, justice travels, justice floods.
When justice flows, it washes away inequality, discrimination, and prejudice. When justice flows, hate doesn’t stand a chance.
Justice doesn’t stay still.
Justice is love in action. The real kind, the gritty kind, the brave kind. The kind that is more than words.
Justice is a move.
There was one guy in all of human history who modelled this kind of justice perfectly. You probably guessed who I’m talking about, it can only be our Jesus.
We can sometimes kid ourselves into picturing Jesus as a quiet and gentle teacher, as a man who wanted nothing more than to please everyone and keep the peace. Well, I have great news for you. When we think of Jesus like that, we’re wrong. Jesus knew something that we can often forget, there is no peace without justice.
Jesus simply would not stand for people being treated as anything less than the loved, adored, priceless children of God that they are. He was never silent. He was never indifferent. He was never too busy to care.
Jesus was justice.
And He still is.
He is always on the side of the oppressed, He is endlessly fighting for the people who cannot fight for themselves, He’s always right there in the middle of it all. Just like nothing can get in the way of a flowing river, nothing can get in the way of Jesus fighting for the ones He loves.
So, what does this have to do with us I hear you wonder? Well, everything.
This is not just God’s mission, this is not only Jesus’ job, it’s ours.
We are Jesus’ representatives here on the earth, it’s made clear from page one of the Bible, it’s literally what we’re made for.
We are supposed to shout on behalf of the ones who aren’t being heard. We’re called to point people in the direction of the ones who aren’t being seen. We’re supposed to fight for people in a way that makes people think ‘if this is a glimpse of how Jesus fights for me, I’M IN.’
That flowing river we spoke about? That’s us. That’s Jesus’ fierce and relentless love demonstrated through us. That’s us searching out the people who need to be fought for. That’s us taking on other people’s problems as our own. That’s us ‘loving our neighbours’ the way we were always supposed to.
We may not always get it right.
We may not always have the answers or the solutions.
We may feel out of our depth.
But that’s ok for two reasons: Firstly, we don’t do any of this alone. We do it with the God who invented justice, who IS justice. Secondly, you’re so much braver and wiser than you think you are.
So we show up, we shout, we listen, we learn, we love, we pray, we serve. We do it together and we do it on our own. We do it in the big things and we do it in the little things. We do it publicly and we do it quietly.
We ‘roll like a river’
because if justice was Jesus’ purpose, it is our purpose too.
