What is justice? Justice is the restoration of God’s original creation in which we were created to be relational beings living in radical love. I think before we can reboot we must reflect. It is only through understanding what was meant to be that we can look forward and declare what is going to be.
In Genesis 1 and 2 we see that God created 4 relationships that he saw goodness in. These are humans with God, humans with one another, humans with creation and humans with themselves. When sin entered the world, the perfection of these relationships ceased to exist and division became present between them. The injustice we see in our world today is a result of the brokenness between these relations which God created perfectly. Therefore, to live as a generation of justice, I believe we must once again learn to find the goodness in between these relations. Actively, this looks like drawing near to God’s heart in order to discover his intent for togetherness, which is ultimately to glorify him. If seeking justice becomes all about glorifying God and showing the world his heart, then who wouldn’t want to participate? As Christians justice is more than loving others, creation or ourselves, it is about loving God through loving and honouring what he has made. We can then begin to see goodness between ourselves and these things as they are where God’s heart is and God is good. Justice is about pointing a generation back to the goodness of God and what he created.
So, what does this look like practically when we look towards moving forward and envisioning and more just and equal world? Firstly, it looks like ‘Loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength’. If we ourselves are not positioned in a place where we can see the goodness of God, then how do we expect to point others in this direction? Furthermore, it looks like creating like the creator. Being inspired and encouraged by the original creation to build a place like that again. It is having a kingdom mindset in which the four perfect relationships will exist again and acting in the knowledge and pursuit of this daily. For me, this looks like re-examining my view on these relationships in my life. Do I see my friends through the eyes of Jesus? Is my image of God and of myself from the Bible or has it been influenced by others around me or by me creating an image I want to see?
Justice is a value at the very core of God’s character and being close to him is the only place in which we will gain understanding of God’s vision for justice. I don’t believe we can begin to create a vision ourselves unless we first try to look through the eyes of Jesus and are listening to God’s vision. In the Lord’s prayer we pray ‘your kingdom come’ therefore our vision must include a world in which we are desperate to see God move but also where the church is available for him to use us as vessels of justice.
In Micah 6:8 it says ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly’. The phrase that always stands out to me is ‘walk humbly’. Humility is an act of complete submission to God that says I am available but also understands that to think more of others and of God we must think less of ourselves. Ezra T. Benson says ‘Pride is concerned with who is right, Humility is concerned with what is right’. I think our generation is one full of activists but in order to move forward we must also remember that justice is found in humbling ourselves before others and the throne of God. Today I challenge you to ask yourself, what areas of my life can I ‘walk humbly’ in?