Neighbor Groups: Seek Justice预览

Nasty and Fake

Remember that package we talked about yesterday? Now, imagine going back to the doorstep, opening the box, and finding a nasty, fake version of something you gave your entire life savings for. How would you feel? At the very least, probably devastated and angry. 

That’s injustice, and that’s how God feels about it.

God poured Himself into creation, and He even put His image on mankind. Then, He gave us a choice between trusting Him as our Maker, Provider, and Protector, or trusting ourselves. Adam and Eve chose themselves when they ate from the forbidden tree. Since then, we’ve all tried to be self-made and self-saved on our self-paved roads to self-defined success. 

So like justice, injustice is not new—it has affected our world since the first sin. 

In the Old Testament, we see God repeatedly pave a path to make things right with humanity, only for His people to reject Him in favor of their own path. God promises Abraham a child, and in his impatience, Abraham has a child with a concubine. In the desert, God gave the Israelites manna for the day, and they hoarded double for tomorrow. God gave His people commandments to follow, but they created a golden calf to worship. 

If justice is an autographed picture of God, injustice takes a marker and draws all over His face. But through it all, God keeps doing what He’s done since the beginning: He makes things right.

In Leviticus, to help make things right, God makes a gleaning law. He commands His people to purposely leave part of their harvest on the ground so people with less can have something to eat. 

God’s law required that the edges of a field shouldn’t be harvested, in order to feed people with less money, food, relationships, and status. It wasn’t just a religious rule—it was a way God provided for all of His creation while encouraging His people to look more like Him. It was justice.  

An abundant God created an abundant world with more than enough resources to provide for every living being. Yet, from the Old Testament to today, people have lacked food, water, opportunity, safety, and equity—even where it’s readily available. That’s injustice, and it exists because we all fall short of the glory and image of God. 

But that doesn’t give us permission to allow it, participate in it, or benefit from it. As God’s image in the world, we’re here to undo systems of injustice.

If we go to church, sing songs, read the Bible, pray, and say the right things but don’t break the chains of oppression, then we’re missing out on knowing and reflecting God. The Apostle Paul compared that kind of faith to a resounding gong or clanging cymbal in 1 Corinthians 13. The prophet Amos called it a stench. Injustice is nasty and fake.

Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for always moving and working to make things right—even when we get it wrong. Move my heart toward Yours so that I can be used to help bring justice to Your world. Help me know and reflect You better today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Challenge: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you ways your life might be allowing or participating in injustice. Ask God for forgiveness and help in bringing justice to these areas.