Social Justice and the Non-Christian

When Tim Keller was in college, he kept asking himself: “If [some say that] morality is relative, why isn’t social justice as well?” He’s alluding to the fact that some people think life is gray when it comes to issues of morality but very black and white when it comes to issues like poverty and oppression.

To stand firm on the idea that giving money to the poor is a “duh” black and white issue but that having sex before marriage (for example) is a gray issue – is inconsistent and contradictory.

Someone might reply to this by saying that pre-marital sex is controversial, but giving to the poor is not. They would point out that giving to the poor is known worldwide as a “good” thing. It is not relative. It is just a fact. Pre-martial sex however is not.

Let’s break this down a little more. Because there is a consensus in our culture or country that giving to the poor is a good thing, doesn’t mean it is a fact. There have been billions of people scattered through many cultures and countries who have disagreed with the idea of social justice. There has been much injustice and oppression and murder since the beginning of time by various nations. So which cultures are right? Who gets to claim that they have a better grasp of the truth?

If anything, the people who have practiced injustice are more logical than anyone. If no God exists and a “survival of the fittest” is in play, then giving to the poor would be counter-productive to us staying on top of the food chain. If we are going to survive, then moving to the suburbs, ignoring the poor, and holding onto our money is the most rational option!

However, we all know that there are millions of people who don’t believe in God, yet they want to give money to the poor. Why? Is it because the reasoning behind social justice is logical? No, it is rather more illogical if God doesn’t exist.

It we are here because of a random natural act, then everything is up for grabs. Everything is relative. However, if Creator God uniquely created and shaped the world and the people in it, then our passion for every human to have dignity and value seems very "black and white".

Self-Boasting and Self-Loathing

We are all somewhere on the spectrum of loving ourselves or hating ourselves. Perhaps we swing back and forth from day to day.

Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village, makes the case that both of these things take value away from the cross.

If I’m always thinking about how great I am, I’m not going to have any need for God’s grace and mercy.

On the other end, if I’m always hating myself and feeling guilty for the sins I’ve committed, then what I’m really saying is that my wrongs are too big for even God to make right. I’m minimizing the cross and have a low view of God’s ability to forgive.

Whether I’m self-boasting or self-loathing, the problem is that I’m thinking of myself and not God.

Are we proud of our accomplishments? Have we forgotten that all of our successes are like filthy rags next to God’s accomplishments? In making ourselves high, are we making God low?

Are we sick and tired of dwelling on our failures? Have we forgotten that God’s grace (extended to us through Jesus’ death on the cross) is much bigger than we could ever imagine? In doubting God’s ability and desire to forgive us, have we ignored the punishment that Jesus endured on our behalf and are now trying to punish ourselves through guilt and condemnation?

May we stop our boasting and our loathing and realize that we have been fixing our eyes on ourselves, not God.

Everyone Has a God

*this musing was adapted from The Last Addiction by Sharon Hersh

“Whatever we are ultimately concerned with is a god for us.” – Paul Tillich

Whether we claim to believe in a god or not, we all have a god (or idol) that we worship and are addicted to – namely, a person, place, substance, activity, or ideology that becomes central to our mind, body, soul, and spirit.

Addiction is from the Latin word addictus, which means “to surrender to the gods”.

We all have a person, place, substance, activity, or ideology that we surrender ourselves to for the sake of finding peace and satisfaction.

It could be baseball. It could be shopping. It could be a parent. It could be a son or daughter. It could be work. It could be school. It could be a fraternity or sorority. It could be Allah. It could be a guy or a girl. It could be alcohol. It could be going green. It could be anything that we think about, talk about, and give praise to the most.

“Addiction is… worship. It is giving my heart and soul over to something that I believe will ease my pain…” – Sharon Hersh

As Christians, we might be tempted to worship something more than God Himself, which is idolatry. And even though an atheist might claim not to be religious (see last blog post), he does in fact have a religion because everyone worships something.

Here is the big truth about being addicted to anything other than God: “Addiction makes everything better until it makes everything worse.”

A man who is addicted to his work and makes it his god may be a good thing at first (i.e. job will bring in good money, favor from co-workers, recognition, etc.). But, when his family starts falling apart, everything gets worse.

We can apply this scenario to any of our idols. And the result is always the same: everything gets better until everything gets worse.

The only addiction that will not lead to emptiness, loneliness, and despair is the God of the bible.

“In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” – Psalm 16:11

Once we are addicted to the God of the bible, we can go on enjoying everything that He’s given us. We can worship Him who has given us all things instead of worshiping the things themselves.