Let Justice Roll

This past Saturday I attended the first ever Let Justice Roll Conference at Park Community Church in Chicago. The title of the conference is rooted in Amos 5:24, which reads: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” In the book of Amos God chastised Israel for the injustice in the land, especially in regards to the oppression of the poor and needy (cf. 2:6-7; 4:1; 5:11-12; 8:4). God detested all their religious feasts while such things occurred (5:21-23). He instead wanted them to establish justice in the land by ministering to the needy (5:15, 24; 6:12). The Let Justice Roll Conference was aiming to motivate Christians to establish justice in the poor neighborhoods and communities of inner city Chicago.

While the conference was not particularly geared toward abortion, the whole issue of God’s justness and his call for his people to establish justice applies very much to the abortion debate. One of the speakers gave what I thought was an excellent definition of justice. To start, injustice is simply the abuse of power. When those with more power use it to oppress, take advantage of, discard, and/or push away those with less power, especially by depriving them of life’s necessary resources (food, clothing, friendship, etc.), they are acting unjustly. This can be seen is something as horrendous as sex trafficking to something as common as a bully picking on someone in school. Any time power is used to oppress, there is “injustice.” On the contrary then, justice is the responsible use of power. Jesus ultimately taught us that the “just” way to use power is actually to give it up (as Phil 2:1-11 explains) in order to serve and love others. When we use our power and resources to help those with less power and resources, we are acting justly.

In the Bible justice is a huge concept. God himself is a God of justice (Ps 111:7; Isa 30:18; 40:14), he loves and delights in justice (Psalm 33:5; Jer 9:24), he delights in hearts of justice more than religious rituals (Micah 6:7-8), he is displeased by injustice (Isa 59:14-15), he executes justice for those who cannot stand up for themselves (Deut 10:17-19), especially the weak, the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut 27:19; Ps 82:1-4). It should be difficult to miss the emphasis on God’s heart for justice in the Bible. When we look at the Biblical concept of justice, it emphasizes the importance of caring for those who are needy. That is, we have more than just a responsibility to care for souls, we also have the responsibility to care for human needs here and now. When we do this, God delights.

I believe that the concept of justice needs to come into the abortion discussion. To me, there is no clearer example of the powerful oppressing and discarding the weak than abortion. If we are going to act justly, then we ought to, on the one hand, name and shame abortion for the injustice that it is, and, on the other hand, we ought to do whatever we can to help mothers and abortion-vulnerable children wherever we find them. I believe that churches, ministries, and individuals who do so are truly establishing God’s justice on earth.