He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?[ Micah 6:8 ]
“Social Justice!”
“No Justice, No Peace.”
“Black Lives Matter!”
“Environmental Justice!”
“Power to the People.”
“Silence is Violence.”
It is nearly impossible today to watch the news, observe a sporting event, see a TV commercial, look at social media, or even listen to a sermon without hearing some kind of message about justice.
“Yeah, but isn’t that a good thing?”
Possibly.
The truth is, this current emphasis on justice has the potential to be really helpful – or really harmful. It all depends, of course, on whether or not these notions are promoting true justice.
However, because justice is invaluable, and avoiding injustice is equally so, it is deeply troubling that very few people have bothered to sufficiently answer the most obvious and pivotal questions, such as:
- Considering our deeply divided society and opposing ideologies, who has it right when it comes to justice?
- Who has it wrong? And why?
- How can we be confident in our answers, and what specific qualifications help us determine all of this?
Furthermore, with so much riding on judgments about justice, should we not thoroughly figure this all out before we jump in and throw our support behind a particular movement–not to mention preach to others and demand their agreement with us? Did the NBA, NFL, Major League Baseball, Hollywood, cable news, DNC or RNC do this? Did churches and seminaries? How about you and your circle of friends?
This leads us to a simple yet self-evident principle that many have seemingly passed by:
Anyone who truly cares about justice should go to great lengths to make sure they are avoiding counterfeit justice—thereby creating injustice—all while pursuing true justice, which is based solely on truth. (cp. Deut 19:15-21; Is 59:14-15)
But isn’t everyone for justice?
Well, yes –at least when they or their loved one have been wronged.
Yet merely being passionate about justice, and fervently against injustice, is not nearly enough. In fact, and in tragic irony, zeal for justice—without the necessary accompanying qualifications—not only leads to many gross injustices and great harm, it is often done in the name of “justice” (cp. Prov 17:15; 19:2; Rom 10:2-3; Gal 4:17).
And those who do this actually qualify as (In)justice Warriors.
(See Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-5; Gal 1:13)
WHO HAS IT RIGHT?
When it comes to understanding and pursuing true justice, who, specifically, has it right, and why? Because this is so important, and because the word “justice” is increasing in popularity, we need to ask and answer this critical question:
What specific traits qualifies an individual or group of people as actually being for true justice, all while not creating injustices, and not falling for and spreading counterfeit justice?
In addition, it is vital that we accurately know and, hopefully, agree upon our terms and definitions. With this in mind, we need to start by defining the essentials.
Definition of JUSTICE:
- The impartial assignment of merited rewards or punishments
- The quality of being just, impartial, or fair
- Conformity to truth, fact, or reason: correctness
- The principle of moral rightness; decency
When it comes to those today who are perhaps demanding justice the most, how well do the above definitions apply? How comforted and assured, or alarmed should we be by their qualifications, or lack thereof?
From what, exactly, do they derive their “moral rightness”? In other words, what gives them the moral authority to judge others, and judge right from wrong, just from unjust? Where does your moral rightness come from?
Is this source more subjective or objective, and to what degree does this source of their moral authority qualify or disqualify them to judge and condemn others? What about your source?
3 MORE ESSENTIAL DEFINITIONS
Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the Lord. [ Proverbs 20:10 ]
- OBJECTIVE: not dependent on the mind for existence; external to the mind; not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or opinions in considering and representing facts; unbiased; based on facts
- SUBJECTIVE: existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought; placing excessive emphasis on one’s own moods, attitudes, feelings, etc; biased
- UNOBJECTIVE: “not possessing or representing objective reality”
When it comes to those today who are perhaps demanding justice the most, how well do the above definitions apply? How comforted and assured, or alarmed should we be by their qualifications, or lack thereof? Why?
On a scale of 0 to 10—if 0 is decidedly unobjective and 10 is perfectly objective—what number would you assign to those who are preaching and demanding justice the most? What kind of justice or injustice will they produce? How would you rate yourself?
How would you explain how essential objectivity is when it comes to justice? And how detrimental and destructive is subjectivity?
QUALIFICATIONS FOR JUSTICE
Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours? [ 1 Kings 3:9 ]
Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. [ Exodus 18:21 ]
If you wanted a person to preside over a supreme matter of injustice/justice, what traits would you say are absolutely necessary? In other words, what are the most essential personal characteristics needed to avoid injustice and for true justice to take place?
Here are thirteen we came up with–a baker’s dozen, if you will. Are there any that you would add – or take away?
TOP 13 INDIVIDUAL QUALITIES FOR TRUE JUSTICE
1 | Objective | They highly value objectivity and heavily depend on objective sources. (Is 8:19-20; Acts 17:11; Ti 1:8; 1 Pet 5:8)
2 | Hold To Objective Standards | They hold to a right, unchanging, objective standard and authority that is knowable by all. In other words, it is not secret, nebulous, unreasonable, always changing, or dependent upon feelings and emotions. (Matt 4:4, 7; Rom 15:4; Is 8:19-20; cp. Jer 5:30-31; Rom 1:25; Eph 4:14; 2 Tim 3:16-4:5)
3 | Keenly Discerning | They are highly skilled and practiced in discernment–that is, they accurately differentiate between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, just and unjust, real and counterfeit, all according to a right and unchanging standard. (1 Kgs 3:9; Heb 5:14; Acts 17:11; Phil 1:9-11; Prov 2:11ff)
4 | Aware of Counterfeits | They are painfully aware of many forms of counterfeit justice—and they accurately and actively warn others about these perversions of true justice. This includes counterfeit love, and, for believers, it includes false gospels, false Christs, false teachers, etc. (Prov 17:15; 24:11-12; 2 Cor 11:3-4, 13-15; Jas 5:19-20)
5 | Independent Thinker | They highly value thinking for themselves—according to objective standards and sources—while always rejecting and warning of groupthink and echo chamber type groups. (Acts 17:11; 1 Kgs 22; Rom 11:5)
6 | Avoids Subjectivity | They have an acute awareness and avoidance of what is biased and subjective (e.g., feelings; emotions), especially when it comes to their own biases. (Jer 5:30-31; 23:25-29; Prov 11:1; Ex 23:1-3; Lev 19:15; cp. Ps 139:23-24)
7 | Loves Truth | They have an obvious love for the truth. This is evidenced by a high esteem for truth and accuracy, hatred for what is false, and the ability to receive correction well. (Zech 8:19; 1 Cor 13:6; 2 Thess 2:10; 1 Jn 3:18; Ps 119:128; cp. Prov 15:31-33)
8 | Zealously Against All Falsehoods | They passionately fight against falsehoods and false accusations—with objectivity and objective standards—just as much as they fight for truth and true justice. (Ex 23:1; Deut 19:15ff; Prov 6:19: 17:15; 20:10; Ps 119:104)
9 | Careful, Care-Filled Judgment | They do not make quick, rash judgments, ascribe motives, or summarily dismiss others—based on little information or misinformation. They refrain from making false summary judgments or statements like, “You’re a pharisee/bigot/ racist.” Instead, they are very careful to thoroughly research a matter before making a judgment. (Deut 19:15-21; Prov 18:13, 15, 17; 1 Tim 5:19-21)
10 | Avoids Erroneous Ideology | They hold to ideas and beliefs which are tried and true, not new theories or trending ideas–or old theories that have consistently failed. (Ps 1:1-3; Jer 2:13; 1 Cor 1:18ff; Col 2:4, 8)
11 | Fears God | They have, at least when to comes to self-proclaiming Christians, a healthy dose of the fear of the Lord. This is evidenced by their good character, uncompromising principles, and their desire to live primarily for God, out of love and reverence for Him. (Ex 20:20; Job 28:28; Prov 1:7; 8:13; 9:10; 14:2; 15:33)
12 | Esteems Eternal Justice | They, when it comes to Christians, are not only for true justice, but also see God’s justice—particularly eternal justice—as their utmost and transcendent concern. (Rev 20:11-15; Jn 3:18-21, 36; Mk 1:15; 8:36; Lk 13:3-5; Phil 3:18-20)
13 | Avoids Harmful Unity | They do not join or align themselves with those: who are against God and His Word; who rely on violence and deceitful tactics; who demand justice, yet are clearly biased and unobjective; and who depend on “man’s wisdom” and failed ideology. (Prov 25:26; 28:5; 2 Cor 6:14ff; Ex 23:1-3; Ps 1:1; Phil 3:18-20; Col 2:8; 1 Jn 4:5-6; 2 Jn 7-11)
Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the Lord understand all. [ Proverbs 28:5 ]You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. [ Exodus 23:1-3 ]
BONUS TRAIT
14 | SEEKS HUMILITY & MERCY | They make judgments about justice based on truth, and out of humility–not emotion, anger, or arrogance. They also highly esteem mercy, humility, grace, forgiveness, repentance, and truth-based love, and they never keep victims in their victim-hood. (Mic 6:8; Eph 4:31-32; Col 3:12-14; 2 Cor 7::10-11)
PERSONAL & GROUP QUESTIONS: TRUE JUSTICE
- When it comes to justice, what are your top three to five characteristics from the list above? Why those particular traits?
- When it comes to those today who are perhaps preaching and demanding justice the most, how well do the above 13 qualities apply? How comforted and assured, or alarmed should we be? Why?
- On a scale of 0 to 10 (10 being the best) how would you rate these same people in these areas? How would you rate yourself? Your circle of friends? How about your preferred leaders (in the church or in society)?
- Which is worse: lacking zeal for justice, or having zeal for justice, all while lacking objectivity, discernment, and concern for accuracy and truth? How often does the latter happen, and why does it happen?
- How would you explain what counterfeit justice is? What specific characteristics go into making these fakes, and what specific ones are you aware of?
- How alarmed should all of us be about counterfeit justice, and how alarmed are we in actuality? Why is that?
- In what ways might a counterfeiter, or deceived individual, distort or manipulate Scripture to support their counterfeit justice?
- What specific movements or groups should Christians not align themselves with, at least when it comes to things like justice, equality, etc? Why those groups?
- Why, specifically, is it unwise, harmful, and even un-biblical for Christ-followers to join with or be sympathetic toward non-Christian or anti-Christian groups like these (e.g., anarchists; Marxists)?
- “Jesus died to start a revolution of justice” … how might this newer assertion support, or distort, the so-called “traditional gospel” [e.g., Jesus died on the cross for us, for our sins, so that could be reconciled to Him, and spend eternity with Him, and not go to hell]? How dangerous, or helpful, might this teaching be for the Church?
- What can you conclude about all of your answers?
RESOURCES
True Justice: Who Should Not Judge? is the second part in this series, in which we examine the disqualifications for justice.
Taken together, the two parts in this True Justice series is perfect for an individual, family, or small group study. Simply link to or print out copies for each person, and then take time to go through the principles and Scripture. This is an invaluable way to grow in wisdom according to the truth according to God’s Word.
You can also find more equipping and discernment resources in the HOPE FOR LIFE SHOP including our two newest books which go into greater detail on the themes of true justice and how that particularly applies to all that is happening in our world today.
Leave A Comment