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Towards a Biblical Priority of Justice

Published
by
enoch
on June 12, 2008
in Social Responsibility, Theology and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

The commandment states that we should have no other gods before the one true God. Anything that has greater value than God is an idol. What of the idolatry of justice?

This may seem odd, as much of the OT idolatry led to a lack of justice and oppression of the poor. But since anything that is takes higher value in one’s life can be an idol, then it follows that even a passion for justice can be idolatry. (Indeed all these also become idols when valued more than God: ministry, evangelism, worship of God, etc.)

So, perhaps it would be wise to learn to evaluate oneself before the Lord. Do I pursue justice more or less passionately than I pursue God? Do I pursue God because the Christian view of God firstly fits my passion for justice? Or, does my passion for justice flow from and inform my view of God– the God of justice?

Again, the same goes for other enterprises. One could ask a worship leader, “What do you love more: Worshiping God or God Himself?”

I do not want to split hairs. I agree that it’s not so simple as saying “I love God therefore I cultivate His love for justice.” As N.T. Wright argues in his book Simply Christian, the hunger for justice in the world is an echo that we were meant for a different world, one under the loving rule of a just God. But at the same time, Christians must be clear about the priority of justice.

Justice implies the proper administration of the law, rewards, and punishments. Justice means all sinners should be punished, including this writer. Let us be humble as we cry out for justice and denounce the injustice we see around us. Let us first humbly absorb the notion that we justly deserve punishment.

But beyond that, God is a god of justice and mercy. Those two ideals are not at odds or in competition in the mind of God. God is not agonizing over which of those two are more important. In God justice and mercy are in perfect harmony. No tension. I readily admit I cannot understand that. But God has given finite minds an embodiment of justice and mercy in Jesus and the cross…..

Practically, I would ask this of myself: do I love doing justice more than I love God? If so, then let me not diminish my passion for justice. Rather, let my pursuit of justice be ever more tempered, informed, and humbled by my pursuit of God.

Why is Jim Wallis a professed evangelical Christian?

Published
by
enoch
on April 3, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

It’s statements like this that make me wonder how Jim Wallis understands the grace and power of God: “Even in the loving arms of a God who also grieves such terrible human losses [such as the Oklahoma City bombing], the pain never really does go away.” (God’s Politics, p.302) Is this deep sympathy that the pain is tremendous, perhaps that that God even in his goodness allows someone to keep their pain? Or is it a legitimate and real limitation of God’s power to comfort? His answer could be quite profound, or banal.

Or take a statement like, “Her prayer comes right out of the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, which was the passage that brought me back to Christian faith,” (God’s Politics, p.217). I believe that God can and does use such a motivation to come (back) to faith in Christ. And that such a faith grows in maturity, insight and nuance over time. Indeed, coming to Christ should be just as much out of adoration for the God who loves the poor as it is for the God who forgives sin through Christ’s work on the cross. Moreover, it is our sin which has broken the world and made us poor both in body and in spirit. To seek God for one motivation ultimately converges, I suspect, with the other.

But why is Jim Wallis a professing Christian today? We all have deficiencies in our views of God, in our theology. That must be admitted in light of the infinitude of God’s manifold beauty and attributes. Thus, we must learn from each other. And as one educator recently wrote in a Chronicle of Higher Education, “For a student to be educated, she has to face brilliant antagonists,” (Mark Edmondsun, Dwelling in Possibilities, the 3/14/2008 issue).
I ask this because while the soundness of his theology is not necessarily dependent upon his motives, they are related. And he is not followed merely for his views, but for his personhood, character, and what he stands for. I also ask this because as I read an author, I’m most interested in the mindset and journey of that thinker more than his current views. I learn more by how someone came to her views rather than person’s position (which can change) at a particular time.

Well, I don’t know if Jim Wallis is brilliant (nor do I consider him an antagonist), but I have plenty to learn from him, both his correctness and his mistakes. God help me know the truth, as best it’s known by someone like me.