Justice

It was one of the go-to camp choruses not too many years ago when “contemporary” meant that you had put the words of a biblical text to a tune that was easy to sing. The text in this particular case was Micah 6:8 – “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (NIV)

Fast forward a few centuries and the Epistle of James seems to reflect that Christians don’t always live up to “what the Lord requires” of us. “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.” (James 5:4,5, NIV)

At whatever level it might be appropriate to place these two texts beside each other, there seems to be some reason to think that failing to pay fair wages and living in luxury and self-indulgence are contradictory to the prophetic call “to act justly.”  To live in that way is akin to fattening an animal in preparation for the day of slaughter. Like the animal who doesn’t likely think about what will happen when it is “fat enough to slaughter,” is it possible that the alluring nature of things so enthralls us that we become unconscious of our failure “to act justly?”

We are often quick to be critical of pastors and religious leaders who get too close to politicians and find themselves unable to speak too plainly about justice. But what about the church that often gets too close the corporate board room and depends too heavily on the financial support that we can’t speak too plainly about justice? Or to the average believer who, in his or her pursuit of stuff, finds it difficult to be too critical of the values of the company who makes the things I desperately want to have?

Just to think a moment about what James is saying – what makes a company “just?” A million questions can easily come to mind here? What are fair wages? What is the right level of return on investment risked? When do I know the return has become “luxury and self-indulgence?” Does a generous charitable contribution alleviate the potential of exorbitant rates of return? If I’m leading a mission trip is it ok to charge a little extra to those going so I don’t have to pay for my own trip, though I could? Is it “just” to hoard billions rather than create new opportunities for people called jobs, when I’m not sure about how the federal government will regulate those jobs?

There is definitely a flip-side to those questions as well. How is it “just” for my hard earned salary to be taken away and given to someone who doesn’t work? If I am going to take what I have worked hard for and saved over the years and invest it, isn’t it “just” that I get a great return on my investment because of the risk I’m willing to take? If I can afford an iPad but you can’t adequately take care of your family, is it “just” if I go ahead and get it? I can afford to send my kids to a very prestigious private school, but you can’t and live in a neighborhood with a very poor public school system, is it “just” for me to send my kids to get great educations while your kids are stuck in a dead-end school system?

If I had the answer to these kinds of questions, I would probably be struggling with whether or not it was “just” for me to live in the fine Caribbean home I built from the proceeds of my book!

For thoughtful  followers of Jesus, life will be spent struggling with questions like these. It surely is a part of what is involved in “denying self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus.”  How that idea intersects with daily living – where we are called upon to “walk worthy of our calling” (Eph. 4:1) – will take a life time of thinking, and perhaps then some.

But if the church is to have a valid prophetic voice in the modern culture in which we live – it must be courageous enough to speak with clarity about justice. But before we can do that, we must take Micah seriously and commit ourselves “to acting justly.”