Thoughts on [social] Justice

You know how when you read something that has such deep implications for every aspect of your life you cannot stop thinking about it even at inappropriate times or you see ties to it in every conversation you have throughout your day? A Community Called Atonement is that kind of book for me.  I just finished it for a class and can’t wait to really unpack it into my life and ministry.

I want to share this quote from the begining of Scot McKnight’s chapter on Justice.  I love the idea that Justice for Christians is different than just fixing the ills of society (though that’s part of it)… anyway read and enjoy.

We make a serious mistake when we write with adjectives: “social” before justice limits justice and moves justice from the church into the government…  Justice for the Christian is not about freedom or liberty, rights, individualism, or the pursuit of personal happiness.  When that is what justice means to the Christian, that Christian has adopted Western values as the standard by which justice is defined.  Christians can’t let the US Constitution define what “justice” means.  We have to define justice in a way consistent with what Jesus meant…  I contend that a Christian sense of justice is one shaped by the Christian story.  And that means that a Christian sense of justice is shaped by love of God and love of others instead of a… concept of freedom and rights.

For the follower of Jesus, justice is not defined by the Magna Carta, the US Constitution, Kant’s categorical imperative, or any other social formation of law.  It is defined by Jesus and by the Spirit – and we learn of it’s Spirit-directedness through the Bible.

Now… Go buy the book (or at least read his blog)