Consider this small collection of statements from the Hebrew, prophetic, justice tradition. Note their repeated call to the people to practice “justice toward one another.”
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(Read this series from the beginning at Part 1 and Part 2.)
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
This is what the LORD says to you, house of David:
“Administer justice every morning;
rescue from the hand of the oppressor
the one who has been robbed.” (Jeremiah 21:12)
The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery;
they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the foreigner,
denying them justice. (Ezekiel 22:29)
But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always. (Hosea 12:6)
They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed. (Amos 2:7)
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24)
Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice. (Micah 3:1)
What does this mean for us today? I think of my own transition in my Jesus following: away from being so heavenly minded that I was no earthly good. When my practice of Christianity transitioned away from a post mortem focus to being concerned with oppression, injustice, and violence against those made vulnerable in our societies, some people accused me of becoming a social justice warrior. As if that’s a pejorative. That being concerned with social justice is somehow a bad thing.
In the gospels, John the Baptist stood within the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition.
In the gospels, Jesus stood within the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition.
Today, we too, as Jesus followers, should also be concerned with social, political, and economy justice in our world around us, seeking to practice justice toward one another.
One of my favorite statements that has helped me make sense of my own journey over the past decade is from Rev. Dr. Emilie M. Townes. She states, “When you start with an understanding that God loves everyone, justice isn’t very far behind” (Dr. Emilie M. Townes, “Journey to Liberation: The Legacy of Womanist Theology”).
When we begin to see everyone around us as those we are connected to, and then add to that connectedness that we are all objects of the Divine love, how can we be unconcerned with what affects each of us, positively and negatively? How can we love others and not be concerned with what materially affects those we love?
Not being concerned with matters of social justice is a failure. It’s a failure to love. It’s a failure in our Jesus-following. It may derided by those who have something to lose from making our world a more just home for everyone. That’s okay. To believe in a gospel of love means to be about justice because justice is what love looks like in public.
To listen to this series as a podcast episode got to:
https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/jesus-following-and-social-justice
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