Justice

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice…?” – Micah 6:8

“But let justice roll down like waters.” – Amos 5:24

About two months ago, I was asked to join a social justice and health equity committee at Stanford. This committee was formed as the result of medical students pushing for concepts of anti-racism and social justice to be integrated into the medical school curriculum. At one of the first meetings, students directly confronted professors about racist and stereotyping content contained in lectures and tests. It was shocking to me to see students being so vulnerable, bold, and feeling empowered enough to engage Deans in the medical school that were 30-40 years older, and had the power potentially to impact their career trajectories.

I reflected on this afterwards and remarked to Esther that we would have never even imagined 15-20 years ago during our training calling out professors for their actions and demanding curriculum reform. But somehow, we are in a moment of history, when calls for social justice are louder than ever. It has been inspiring to hear student members of our committee—those with disabilities, who identify as queer, and those from cultures that been discriminated against—call out those with power and privilege from a place of complacency and comfortability to confront these problems within the curriculum that are traumatizing our students. 

But, I also find myself somewhat uncomfortable with the current predominant justice narrative that all power structures should be overturned so that society subverts the power of dominant groups in favor of those that are oppressed. In this postmodern framework, justice is primarily about those who have been historically without power seeking the authority and allyship to overturn inequitable institutions and assuming power.

As Tim Keller puts it “...power must be mapped through the means of ‘intersectionality.’ The categories are race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity (and sometimes others). If you are white, male, straight, cisgender then you have the highest amount of power. If you are none of these at all, you are the most marginalized and oppressed–and there are numerous categories in the middle. Most importantly, each category toward the powerless end of the spectrum has a greater moral authority and a greater ability to see the way truly things are. Only powerlessness and oppression brings moral high ground and true knowledge. Therefore those with more privilege must not enter into any debate—they have no right or ability to advise the oppressed, blinded as they are by their social location. They simply must give up their power.”

Tim Keller points out that there are several issues with this postmodern framework of social justice, including its logical incoherence, the undermining of our common humanity, and its denial of our common sinfulness. But the two ways I feel that the postmodern framework misses the mark in offering a pathway to biblical justice is 1) it offers a highly self-righteous performative identity and 2) it makes true forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation between groups impossible. 

Keller then goes on to speak about biblical justice and other types of social justice frameworks which you can read about here. But I would like to highlight a quote from Keller that discusses what true justice looks like. It is found in the life and character of Jesus. “When God came to earth in Jesus Christ he came as a poor man, to a family at the bottom of the social order. He experienced torture and death at the hands of religious and government elites using their power unjustly to oppress. So in Jesus we see God laying aside his privilege and power—his ‘glory’—in order to identify with the weak and helpless (Philippians 2:5-8). And yet, through the endurance of violence and human injustice he paid the rightful penalty of humanity’s sin to divine justice (Isaiah 53:5). Then he was raised to even greater honor and also authority to rule (Philippians 2:5:9-11). Jesus takes authority, but only after losing it in service to the weak and helpless.”

The means for achieving justice from a postmodern framework has primarily been through asserting force, protesting for political change, and guilt assignment. All of these have their places for achieving our goal of having an equitable society. But these methods do not ultimately create heart change and inner transformation. Jesus models the way for biblical justice: a humble man who has all power and authority coming to dwell among the poor and uneducated - transforming lives, governments, and culture by modeling humility, compassion, and healing the sick. This is compelling biblical justice that changes not only our behaviors, but our hearts, and makes true forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation between groups possible.

Prosperity

“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself… and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” – Revelation 3:17-18

“Woe to those who lie at ease in Zion.” – Amos 6:1

We are now blowing through the major and minor prophets, books for which pausing to grasp historical context can be helpful. Amos lived during the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam, a period during which Israel experienced unparalleled wealth and prosperity. Assyria appeared to be no threat. The Israelites took these to be signs that they were safe from the judgment of God, despite their breaking of God’s covenant. Their wealth had been accrued at the expense of the poor, and their worship of God amounted to no more than pagan-like manipulations for their own ends. It was Amos’s rather unpleasant task to inform them that their prosperity was a mirage: God’s judgment was still coming. Indeed, less than a century later, Assyria exploded into an unexpected final century of greatness during which they vanquished the entire kingdom of Israel. 

Jesus has eerily similar words for the church in Laodicea. Laodicea was a wealthy city, known for its luxurious black wool, and held a leading medical center that specialized in eye treatments. Yet these very areas of perceived self-sufficiency were where they were most lacking. You need gold, clothing, and eye salve from me, Jesus says, to be truly rich and free of shame, to truly see. Here I am, knocking: repent.

We all see our need for God in areas of struggle, but how aware are you of your need for repentance in areas of prosperity? Prosperity has a dangerous tendency to make us lukewarm towards God, because it obscures our need for him, it feeds our pride. We don’t deny him, but neither do we whole-heartedly follow him. But God sees through even the most pleasant circumstances and shiniest accolades, to the true condition of our hearts. He sees whether we love his law or lie to ourselves (Amos 2:4), whether we love good, hate evil, and establish justice (Amos 5:15). “He declares to man what is his thought” (Amos 4:13)—and it is this God that says, I will spit what is lukewarm out of my mouth. I would rather you be cold or hot. “Return to me… return to me… return to me… return to me” (Amos 4:8-11). May we see our hearts as God does, especially during times of outward wealth and success, and hear his call to repentance. 

Commit Your Way

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” – Psalm 37:5

Last weekend, I was standing on the pool deck at a swim meet, waiting for Ellie to swim her 50 free, when I realized she was gone. I had seen her waiting by her lane earlier, but now she was nowhere to be found. I double-checked the heat and lane assignment. I scanned the crowded area near the starting blocks and coach’s tent, areas parents weren’t allowed to go. Was that her? No, it was another girl from her team; they all looked so darned alike in their team suits and caps. Should I run outside to look for her? Probably not enough time. I could feel my heartrate accelerate as the heats inched closer and closer to hers. 

As the long whistle sounded for the heat just before hers, Ellie finally appeared in her lane area, adjusting her goggles as if nothing had happened. Whew. Another gray hair, I thought. Turns out she had been chatting with a group of friends in some hidden corner on the other side of the pool the entire time.

Dave recently shared with me the idea of “cognitive load,” or the mental energy involved in any given task, which is as much a part of the load we bear as more quantifiable or visible things. As our kids get older, the physical labor in parenting decreases in some ways, but the cognitive load increases. Each of the logistics in our lives involve a greater amount of thought, preparation, and emotional input. It’s not that hard to stand on a pool deck, but it takes some inner energy to watch Ellie nearly miss a heat, to let her go knowing she might fail. I don’t have to dress her for meets, but I do have to repeatedly absorb and respond to the anxiety that occurs before them. The decisions feel more complex, and it’s easier to question them, to wonder how they will impact our kids one, five years from now, and be rankled by the not-knowing. 

Psalm 37 seems not to address behavior as much as the fretfulness that happens when we don’t see results; not so much outward actions as the inward load we can bear. And this is what David has to say to us: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” This word “commit” is Hebrew galal and means “to roll,” “to transfer what is rolled away from one to another.” It is used beautifully in Amos 5:24, “let justice roll down like waters.” One lexicon writes, “The genuine power of this root is expressed by the German rollen, which, like this, is also onomatopoetic… imitating the noise of a globe or other round body rolled forward quickly.”

This doesn’t mean we sit around in cognitive torpor. But we ultimately commit our way—our journeys, the direction of our paths, future outcomes—to God. We take the weight of all of our fears, expectations, hopes for the future, and roll it audibly on to him. We are not meant to bear them. It is not all up to us. We are not in ultimate control. God acts, and this word literally means “labor, manufacture”; it is not an idle word. His acting is conditional upon our committing and trusting. What load are you bearing that you need to release to God? Oh God, help us to live out our trust in who You are by living in faithfulness and releasing the outcomes to you.