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faith, hope, insanitybytes22, justice, opinion, politics, reconciliation, redemption, restoration, social justice
Riding a puking bull is a rift off Pastor Wilson’s title, Until the Bull Pukes, which sparked a discussion about justice that spanned a few blogs. So in fairness here, this post is not really about the words he wrote, but rather the fruit of those words, the reaction they sparked.
Citizen Tom does a good post called Government,Love, and Charity in which he addresses a comment by Stephen that says in part, “…the ultimate example of human excellence was a submission and not some Alamo…” That sentence struck a chord in me.
And so we come to “riding puking bulls at the Alamo” and what that all means in terms of social justice. I am frequently caught somewhere between the Christian right and the Christian left, really desiring to figure out what the bible tells us about the kind of world we are supposed to be creating, and what social justice would really look like if we ever got it right. Quite likely this is an exercise in futility, because we can never even get on the same page when it comes to defining “justice,” but I have to amuse myself somehow.
I am forever trying to explain that justice is really about mercy, redemption, and reconciliation. That is the message of the cross. Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself that we might be reconciled with God. Justice is mercy, healing, restoration, reconnection. Then there is the other side that suggests justice is all about punishment and getting what you deserve. I have to say, this just doesn’t sit well with me. I call it, “grace for me and not for thee.”
Than we have “justice is about equal treatment under the law and fairness.” Excellent, so in the name of fairness and equal treatment I think you should just give me half your stuff. Also, I need a kidney and you have two. It’s only fair you stop hoarding your vital organs.
Justice is not really about “equal” anything, because there is no “equal and fair” anywhere in the natural world. There’s a huge difference between stealing a loaf of bread because your kids are hungry and shop lifting CD’s for the thrill. Same crime but unequal, unfair motivations. It would be a grave injustice to apply equal treatment under the law.
So our bread thief might get a free pass and that is sure to rankle some, because it’s not fair, but also because now we have to ask whose sins are greater, whose heart is more wrong-headed? The man trying to provide bread for his kids or the unjust system that forced him into thievery?
The same is true of expecting someone who is in their 80’s and disabled to work for a living. After all, the bible says if you don’t work, you shouldn’t eat, so children, the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, not my problem. I don’t exaggerate, there are people who actually believe that and quote scripture to back it up. That is called riding a puking bull at the Alamo. It’s all entwined in might makes right and a decided lack of mercy and justice.
I have to ride a puking bull of my own here and simply insist that as Christians we are called to the foot of the cross. There is no valid definition of justice that does not arrive there at some point. The cross, unfair, unequal, unjust. The cross is about not getting what you deserve. The cross is about avoiding the consequences of our own sin because Jesus Christ picked that up on our behalf. Justice is about restoration.
If our justice is only about riding puking bulls at the Alamo, it isn’t justice at all.
Am I sorry for the sexual abuse of children? You betcha. War? Yep. Slavery? Yep. Welfare policies that have wrought destruction on the family? Yep. Poverty? Yep. Am I my brother’s keeper? Yep. My part in creating this fallen world may be slight, but no one’s hands are totally clean. God gave us a perfect garden and we went forth and created something more akin to the 9th circuit of hell. Jesus Christ died for our sins in order to restore us to a right relationship with our Creator.
That is where justice begins and ends, at the foot of the cross.
Speaking of puking bulls at the Alamo however, ashv says to me at Pastor Wilson’s site
justice is actually redemption, reconciliation, and healing.
“You won’t find that in the Bible.”
You will. It’s called the entire message of the gospel.
“Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8
See, there's this thing called biology... 
Excellent and true! As I was reading, IB, a verse from Romans 8 came to mind: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” (v. 3, NASB) It can kind of read like a thought twister: Wait. Which was the Son, the offering for sin or the one condemning sin? Well, both. That’s what God’s justice looks like.
That’s one of the great glories of God: He can do what looks to us like an impossible contradiction. I’ve heard atheists say before that mercy and justice simply don’t go together. They cancel each other out. But not in God’s economy. He simply can do both, at the same time, and through the same act of sending His own Son.
It really is the entire message of the gospel, and it’s woven throughout the entire Bible.
Great post, IB, though I still don’t get the allusion of the puking bull. :v
Becky
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Of all my years of study in college and seminary, and tons of books I had to read, no one ever gave with such clarity and truth, the definition of social justice: “justice is really about mercy, redemption, and reconciliation”. Hey, if I ever start The Practical Real World Seminary, would you be one of my professors? At least, become a visiting professor?
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Justice has spoken, well worded and so rich!
What ever happened to the bumper stickers once prominently displayed by so many ‘evangelists’? The quite simple, yet equally profound message –
“Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven”
Then there was the meme that pictured a guy standing at the ‘pearly gates’ pointing at his car plastered with ‘witness’ bumper stickers. The speech bubble = “OK, your car can come in”.
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One of Martin Luther’s key discoveries was the significance of justice or righteousness in the letters of Paul. Luther had been taught that he had to be good enough to earn the Lord’s mercy and love, and he knew he was not that good. Then he discovered the Biblical truth that Christ’s perfect righteousness is credited to our accounts. We are right with God only through the work of Christ.
That said, I’m not sure that I agree that mercy is part of justice. To me, justice means people getting what they deserve. As you point out, on the cross Jesus accepted what he did not deserve so he could give us good things we do not deserve. As Satan stamps his little foot and shouts, “That’s not fair!” Jesus says, “I know it’s not fair. But I love these people, and for that reason I choose to rescue them.” When God is unfair to us for our benefit, that is not justice–it’s something much bigger than justice.
Therefore, when my children complain about things that are not fair, I remind them that certain things (love, mercy, forgiveness) are not fair. Although God is just, he is willing to be unfair to those whom he blesses, and that is fine with me. J.
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From the perspective of God? When Jesus died upon the cross for our sins, He preserved us from a just punishment by accepting that punishment in our place.
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Do you believe Hell is a real place?
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Happy New Year to everyone!
Hell is real. Whether or not it is a physical place is not relevant. Personally, I do not believe it is a physical place (consciousness, knowledge, etc. are not relegated to a physical domain – hope that makes sense to you).
Aside: we’re all spirit beings occupying a physical body (in order to survive in this realm, which is the reason once the body dies, the spirit cannot remain without a physical body, however the person doesn’t cease to exist upon physical death.
Here’s a wonderful article worth reading.
http://pennreview.com/2013/04/the-reality-of-hell/
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Excellent post.
Language is a confusing thing. What is the meaning of “justice”? Why do we argue about it? I think we forget that justice depends upon its source. God’s justice actually is redemption, reconciliation, and healing. God’s justice is full of grace and mercy. Because we cannot attain to our Savior’s grace and mercy, man’s justice is not full of grace and mercy.
Hence we have different levels of justice. God works with justice full of grace and mercy; He saves souls. Our government’s work is to maintain order by providing plain, ordinary justice. As individuals we do not provide justice. We just show our love for each other with grace and mercy.
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Hey Memi! Happy New Year again!
You know, that as I view your comments, and the comments of others, where you and they are not quite on the same page, I am always looking for,…………wait for it,……reconcilliation! ; – )
I am thinking that it we take your terms, and even ashv’s terms, to their full term, you may find yourselves closer than you might think on this topic.
What happened at the Cross? What Happened at the Alamo?
In both cases is not the popular perception that people sacrificed themselves for something greater than themselves?
Were not the Cross and the Alamo critical points in their respective struggles? (battles?)
Memi, your first term of Justice is “Redemption”. There was and is a sin debt that God requires to be paid. Sin evil, can only be covered by Sacred good. None of us have any Sacred good to cover our sins, God had to cover our sin with His Sacredness. You may not appreciate it, but one could say that Jesus rode that “bull” of debt and redemption, untill it puked, at the cost of His own life, at the Cross.
But in so doing, Jesus submitted to His Father in Heaven, not his accuser (s) on earth.
If we accept that Jesus took our due execution upon himself, that is one side of Justice, and a merciful one.
If we reject that we deserved an execution that Jesus took upon himself, that is the other side of Justice and a punitive one.
As you say Memi: “That is where justice begins and ends, at the foot of the cross.” Wilson agrees, as expressed in 2 Cor 7:10-12 below. Godly sorrow produces “indignation”, Alarm, concern and a readiness to see Justice done.
You know that I myself am in a struggle for personal, family and Church Justice. While I don’t think of myself as much of a “bull rider” I will “ride that bull ’till it pukes”, in my struggle of Justice, not unlike the way you write in pursuit of Justice, expressing your passions on your blog, as part of your personal ministry.
2 Corinthians 7:10-12
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you:
what earnestness,
what eagerness to clear yourselves,
what indignation,
what alarm,
what longing,
what concern,
what readiness to see justice done.
At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are.
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This is a confusing discussion. I’m probably missing the point. If justice is “mercy, redemption, and reconciliation”, where is the justice for that disabled young man who was tortured by 4 men and the videotape posted to Facebook? Where is justice for the raped woman? Where for the abused child? Justice is the means by which the government punishes the evildoer. It is the state administering the proper consequences that match the gravity of the crime. Mercy, redemption, and reconciliation comes into play when we decide that the man who steals bread to eat is less culpable than the man who steals jewels for the thrill. But how does justice mean mercy, redemption, and reconciliation for men who torture for a good time? God may offer them mercy if they repent, but we would live in utter anarchy if the state decided that justice for offenders means mercy, redemption, and reconciliation. The state simply must administer justice for violent crime. Otherwise, the innocent become prey.
In terms of using the term justice to describe what we owe each other, the term charity is more correct. It is not an inherent injustice for somebody to be poor. There are actually people who choose poverty. Is it socially just for me to insist that person may not be poor? We are our brother’s keeper, but that has little to do with justice because justice is concerned with crimes against humanity. Sometimes people are in bad circumstances because of choices they’ve made. If they want help out, charity demands we help. Sometimes people don’t want out. Does justice demand we force them out? Does justice demand that I take what one poor man has so another poor man can have it?
From my observations, so-called justice warriors spend a lot of energy demanding that other people are evil because they don’t do enough at the same time they themselves aren’t doing anything. They want somebody to do something as long as it’s not them. It’s easy to take to social media demanding an end to income inequality, but what are we going to do about the fact that some people have more stuff than others? Take away their stuff so somebody else can have it? What about the people who have a lot of stuff that they give away to missions? Or people who use their stuff to open soup kitchens? Or people who build orphanages in third-world countries? Are those people practicing justice or charity? And is it unjust that they have so much to give away while I have relatively little to give away? What level of income equality does justice demand?
I think your underlying message is that Christians should care about and take care of the people around them, but labeling that justice is using the wrong word. I couldn’t agree more that “I got mine and you don’t have anything and I don’t owe you anything” is a sinful attitude for a Christian. I’ve been sickened for years at the so-called conservative position that only lazy people are poor because, after all, this is America. You could have done better if you’d gotten your lazy self up off the couch. But helping people is charity, not justice. Mercy, redemption, and reconciliation are not synonyms for justice.
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“I am forever trying to explain that justice is really about mercy, redemption, and reconciliation. That is the message of the cross. ”
Amen! Perfect. I think the continual explanation is because of bad theology and human nature. We’ve confused God’s justice with retributive justice. But His justice is restorative. We see our court system, which works on retributive justice, and assume that this is how God’s justice works. Whole atonement theories have been built on this. Retributive justice punishes the perpetrator, but restorative justice heals both the perpetrator and the victim. Also contrary to popular opinion, God healed Jesus from our wounds, then reconciled us to Himself. We were perpetrators and executors, Jesus was the willing victim.
God’s justice is also not blind (like our justice paradigm). Blind justice is cold and indifferent…not about restoration. Reconciliation is motivated by love, His eyes are wide open and willing to pick us up and heal and restore.There’s no place for retaliation or revenge here which, unfortunately, is totally counter-intuitive to our human need for revenge and retribution..
You bring out some very important points and distinctions here (and hotly debated!). Blessings.
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“The state simply must administer justice for violent crime. Otherwise, the innocent become prey.”
The innocent are already prey. Even in the face of justice, that special needs guy was attacked. What is justice for him going to look like? It won’t change what was done to him, it won’t erase what he must now deal with. I’m not even convinced it will stop such attacks in the future. That guy who was hurt needs charity, mercy, redemption, reconciliation. That’s “justice” from his side of the equation.
Often we are so obsessed about punishing offenders, we’ll actually spend millions of dollars doing it while the victims pretty much just descend farther into poverty. They really don’t get anything out of our quest for “justice” that often becomes so obsessed with punishment, as if we can somehow stop atrocities after the fact. That tends to make us all feel better, but that guy that got beat up, he needs another kind of justice in order to heal.
“I think your underlying message is that Christians should care about and take care of the people around them, but labeling that justice is using the wrong word.”
Is it? I remain unconvinced. It is is gravely unjust to ignore the needs of people, to fail to love them. Justice and charity (love) go hand in hand. Is it “just” to simply dismiss people as lazy, poor, and stupid?
Often our charity, our helping people, from both sides of the political spectrum, never thinks of “redemption, reconciliation.” We aren’t trying to restore people, to bring them up and actually lift them out of where they are, we’re simply administering charity in the absence of justice, and as a result the poor just get poorer.
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To the question the writer indicated of what would biblical social justice look like “if we ever got it right”? — If you behaved the way Jesus did, & in the ways he said to behave, in all areas of life — THAT’S how social justice would look! You know, do unto others….. welcoming the stranger, turning the other cheek, feeding the poor, not indulging usury. To one such as myself, who is not Christian, all of those who claim their devotion to Christianity, but who do not behave like Jesus AT ALL, have no business telling anyone else, personally, governmentally, how to behave.
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Sadly, I am in agreement with you. I have reached that same conclusion, myself.
“If you behaved the way Jesus did, & in the ways he said to behave, in all areas of life — THAT’S how social justice would look! “
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