Fast forward to 2015. America is in a volatile place. Many believe that the fight for equality still exists and that issues like race and gender are still battles that need to be waged in our country. With the aid of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and bias media news sources, one can easily perpetuate their cause to the level of epidemic proportions---even if that is not the case. A few instances of perceived injustice can be magnified, vilifying any person, persons, people group, or race, and make a single victim of that injustice the poster child for the mentality of an entire nation. Yes there is injustice, but there is also justice enforced when necessary. For instance, a young black man, with a known and public criminal record (thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) who is involved in suspicious activity, confronted by authority, and then due to his RESPONSE, is unfortunately killed in the heat of resistance, does not speak of racism. How can I say that? Because it happens to white men as well [2] (See news links below of a few examples). I am in no way minimizing wrongful death or the abuse of authority. My point is not to reject the notion that racism still doesn’t exist, as it still exists equally among the races; rather, it is to demonstrate that justice is being misunderstood, and even worse, many in the church are in a state of confusion on this subject because social justice is not biblical justice!
Justice should be reserved for those who cannot help themselves. The Bible does not command us to stand up for those who in their quest for "rights" will choose to rebel, riot, and torch entire neighborhoods destroying the homes and business of hard working families. Nor does it encourage us to stand with those who adamantly oppose Christianity, protesting against the church, in and mocking the very One who saved them.
No, biblical justice stands with those who have no voice, who are neglected, abused, abandoned in society, with no means of ever having a chance without the intervention of others. James 1:27 articulates this idea by reminding the church that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress…” The problem in America, and with Christianity that aims to join alliance with today’s social justice movements, is that it fails to see the hypocrisy present in the cause. For instance, issues like the race card can be played both ways. For every claim of "injustice" toward one race, one can also cite injustices against the other. Just because a white cop commits a crime against a black victim does not mean that there are not black perpetrators committing crimes against white police officers. For every bit of "hate speech" that is cited by the LBGT community against those who oppose their views, that same community will spew forth "hate speech" directed toward those who oppose their views. The hypocrisy of all this lies in that the truth in neglecting to see things as they are. Why isn't there an outcry for "justice" when a women is brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant? Why isn't there an outcry for those who seek "justice" for the millions of babies that have been aborted and their body parts illegally sold? The truth is because the church is too engrained into the fabric of culture. Social justice is simply that----justice informed by the mentality and ideology of society. At the heart of society is the worship and magnification of man. So man will use whatever leverage he can to magnify himself to get what he wants, even calling it the pursuit of justice. There will always be the poor, neglected, discriminated, and abused in society. We live in a fallen world and there will always be the corruption of power. As the church, we need to remember one important fact: the greatest suffering occurred upon the cross where an unparalleled amount of injustice was demonstrated. There were no riots. No hashtags. No demands. Just a brutalized, tortured body, hanging on a cross, dying for a crime he did not commit. And why? For all of our sin. Do we have the right to fight our own justice, when we are ALL blatantly guilty for the death of an innocent man? Biblical justice does not fight for the rights of men----it fights for the souls of men. It’s not ‘injustice” that is the responsible for the ills of our country, it is sin! Until we as a nation see that we are in sin and come to that place where we will “humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways” (see 2 Chronicles 7:14), we will never see an end to the chaos, divisiveness, and hatred which exists in our country. As believers however, we are not called to join in solidarity with the world and its causes----we are called to surrender our lives to Christ, serve others, and give up our rights for the sake of the kingdom. If we can do that, then perhaps we can make a difference not only in the world we live in but also one that will impact eternity.
