What comes to mind when you hear the word “justice”?
For many people, it equates to the idea of punishment for wrongdoing, and it might make you think of recent events in your home country or in the news.
In North America, justice might bring to mind racially-motivated crimes and the pursuit of retribution, or it might make you think of the larger backdrop of the fight against unfair treatment of marginalized groups in general. In Canada, as of this writing, much news coverage is currently being devoted to the recent discovery of mass unmarked graves of Indigenous children who lost their lives due to conditions and treatment in mandatory residential schools throughout the 1900s.
Throughout the news coverage, one question persists: who should we hold accountable?
“Justice” according to the Bible
The Hebrew word for justice is mishpat, and it encapsulates the idea of law, judgement, and the human authority to carry those out with the understanding that ultimate authority rests with God. It frequently appears with the word tsadik, which means righteousness.
Retribution is one important dimension of justice — but the Bible actually most often uses mishpat in the context of restorative justice, focusing on how those who have been wronged can be given back what was taken from them. Justice is, then, multi-dimensional; Tim Keller describes it as “giving people what they are due, whether punishment or protection or care.”
The punishment part of justice is easy to understand in terms of giving people what they are due. So is protection, when we think about human rights. But why do people deserve “care”?
All people are made equal in the image of God
We see the practice of giving people care baked into the very fiber of Old Testament law and Jewish tradition. In Leviticus 19:34, God commands the Israelites, “the stranger that dwells with you shall be to you as the home-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” And when observing Passover, it is a God-ordained tradition to welcome a stranger (or someone outside the community) to Seder.
Why is caring for outsiders so important?
God is deeply invested in the care of all people because every person is made in his image, equally deserving of fairness and love. Throughout the Bible, God demonstrates particular concern toward the vulnerable, and outsiders are only one example — widows, orphans, and the poor are also mentioned. Today, refugees, migrant workers, and the homeless are vulnerable as well. So are racialized groups, as we sadly experience in North America every day.
According to God, justice involves more than punishing wrongdoers and ensuring we ourselves do no harm; it involves lifting up all of the vulnerable and disadvantaged onto equal ground, giving them a voice and a place in society, where they are not an afterthought and cannot be easily oppressed.
What does this view of justice mean for governments today?
It may be too difficult to form a prescriptive, one-size-fits-all approach to the shape our governments should take, but it’s clear that our governments — the central institution of human justice — should be deeply invested in caring for all members of society. In other words, they should function to serve the common good.
Failure to serve the oppressed and vulnerable is a failure of justice. Tim Keller puts it this way:
The mishpat, or justness, of a society, according to the Bible, is evaluated by how it treats [the vulnerable]. Any neglect shown to the needs of the members of [vulnerable groups] is not called merely a lack of mercy or charity but a violation of justice, of mishpat. God loves and defends those with the least economic and social power, and so should we. That is what it means to “do justice.”
While there are endless ways our governments can take steps and build systems for greater justice, there are some guiding principles we should follow in this pursuit.
Stewardship
Michael Oh rightly notes that one “realm of governmental protection and stewardship is the care of God’s material creation.” Political leaders have the important responsibility of overseeing the use of earthly resources.
The most immediate application of this may be the use of resources in the face of our changing climate, which is not only concerned with environmental justice, but also social and biblical justice. As industrialization continues to impact our climate, people across the world have been increasingly displaced by drought, famine, and the consequences of changed weather patterns. Some countries and communities are more vulnerable than others.
How can our governments become better stewards by implementing policies that contribute to the more sustainable use of resources, protecting our local communities and global neighbors?
Shaping Institutions
Our institutions shape our cultures, and our cultures shape our collective values and patterns of thought. These, in turn, shape our relationships and how we practice justice and righteousness amongst one another on a daily basis.
Governments oversee the distribution of public funding for various institutions across society, and they make important policy decisions impacting our institutions as well. Schools and educational centers, marriage and family, research and innovation initiatives, and centers of art and entertainment are all impacted by government.
In 2015, Glasgow was dubbed the “murder capital of Europe.” With a longstanding “booze-and-blades” gang culture, the city had seen 83 homicides over the year before. The police decided that it was impossible to “arrest their way out of the problem” and began to approach the issue of violence as a public health concern — something that spread from person to person and needed to be contained to be reduced. They restructured, setting up a violence reduction unit providing access to counseling, housing, and alcohol recovery programs for individuals who had been involved in violent encounters. The program has been met with great success and a reduction in crime.
In essence, law enforcement underwent an institutional reshaping, leading to greater justice for the city of Glasgow.
What does this mean for you?
If you work directly in a government role, there are numerous ways you can become a leader, bringing biblical justice to your workplace and policies impacting your community.
- Bring excellence to your work; this reflects God’s character, and when people see excellence they see authority, giving you greater ability to create positive impact
- Build relationships founded on Christ-like love; showing care to your coworkers is justice, and they will see how that translates to how you approach your work
- Advocate for policies that bring greater justice to society
If you do not work directly in a government role, there are still many ways you can bring greater justice to your government and city. If you run a business, keep in mind that business and commerce are significant drivers of change for social and environmental justice, often interacting directly with government entities. Business operations have the power to impact government policies for the better.
If your area of influence is outside of government, business, and commerce, you have no less of an opportunity to bring greater biblical justice to your city. Leaders are needed across all areas of society in order to transform communities for the common good. Whether you play the greatest role in technology, art and entertainment, family, church, education, or any other area, you have the opportunity to “do justice and righteousness” and impact those around you.
As we continue to navigate tragedies of injustice and ask each other who should be held accountable, we should also ask, “how can this be restored?”
How could we bring justice to our everyday actions and decisions, ensuring we care for those outside of our immediate circles?
This article is part of an ongoing series exploring what it means to live out the Christian faith in all areas of life: family, media, church, art & entertainment, education, government, commerce & technology.
©2021 Cities Project Global
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