I grew up surrounded by a phrase that many evangelical Christians are familiar with. “God is love, but he is also just.” More and more, I’ve been finding myself disliking that phrase. It makes God’s justice out to be opposite of God’s love. I’d say that God’s justice is a product or an expression of his love.
I think that God has to be just. To me, any interpretation of God that doesn’t involve justice simply doesn’t work. Not only because I think the Bible describe God that way, but because we live in a world of extreme injustice. For the millions of people who are oppressed, a God who doesn’t have justice is a God of injustice. Often I’ve heard and used the term ‘God’s justice’ to describe my personal sin or abstract sin, but it’s interesting to see how the Bible, especially the prophets, describe God’s justice. It’s often in the context of oppression of the poor. Given the state of our world, I think that it’s more important than ever to have a right understanding of God’s justice. God loves so much that he defends the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized with justice. Jesus showed this justice by showing God’s love for the outcasts and rebuking those who would keep them out.
Athanasius, one of the early Church fathers, has an interesting take on this. He describes death and sin as a state of losing our existence. The great gift that God gave mankind was to exist, to live as children made in God’s image. Sin distorts the image of God within us. Athanasius describes how because God is a God of justice, he cannot allow his gift, the image of God within us, to be distorted. He is too just to allow such a thing to happen. Rather than the view I’ve grown up with, where God’s justice and love are opposed and God really wants to love us, but just can’t because of his justice, this view shows God’s justice and love being united. Because of God’s justice, he cannot and will not let sin and death have the final word over his beautiful creation. He would not be just otherwise.
I agree alot with you about grace and forgiveness, but I I suppose this all depends on our definition of justice. I know that I am certainly guilty of letting my American view of justice get in the way of understanding God’s idea of justice. America’s view is a blind-folded woman holding a pair of scales. Lady Justice. But what if that is not what justice looks like for God? What if God’s idea of justice isn’t the same as people getting what they deserve? Justice doesn’t have to be about punishment. In fact, it seems to me that true justice is meant to be restorative. Many of the Hebrew prophets talk about justice, but it’s also in the context of restoration. It’s the prophets lamenting that the people of Israel have oppressed the poor, but also expressing hope.
The reason I have to push back a bit against this is that both in the Bible and in our contemporary world, innocent people are slaughtered, raped, and exploited daily. As a white, middle class American, it’s easy for me to avoid talking about justice. I’ve rarely experienced true injustice. For the countless Christians whose entire lives have been full of poverty and starvation, a concept of justice is incredibly important. For example, a few weeks ago my church hosted a few women who had had their sons murdered. One of them had an unarmed autistic teenager who was killed by police (without any provocation on the teen’s part) and the shooters were deemed innocent by the courts. For her, a theology that tells her “God isn’t interested in injustice, God’s interested in love.” is the same thing as saying “God doesn’t care about your son dying”. Her response to hearing that God only is interested in love would probably be “Love for who? My son or his murdered?”
The parable of the prodigal son is set in the context of the injustice of the Pharisees and religious elite. At the beginning of Luke 15, we see that these parables are Jesus’ response to the elite and powerful complaining that Jesus spends time with the people they’ve pushed out of society. They’ve diligently made sure that these “undesirables” can’t be part of their world and here Jesus is bringing them back. Luke 15 is a rebuke to the powerful religious leaders.
I think that the three parables in Luke 15 could be also taken as being about God’s justice. God is unwilling to let the outcasts in society continually be pushed out and oppressed (the younger brothers), but at the same time God wants the older brother to be part of the relationship as well. Justice is all about restoring relationships. I think we can speak of justice, grace, and forgiveness in the same breath without contradiction.
I have to be committed a theology that is true to who Jesus is, but also faithful and meaningful for people’s real life experiences.
Glad you responded! I’m enjoying this dialogue.
Totally agree and acknowledge the American lens of justice. I come across the phrase “God’s idea of justice” vs ours quite a bit. Is it something outside our scope of understanding and we need to accept that we can’t understand it, it’s “higher than our ways,” rather than simply contemplate a lack thereof? Is there justice in heaven (taking into consideration the Lord’s Prayer)?
As a woman I’ve experienced injustice. I have an acute sense of justice. I get it. However, for the lady losing her son the answer is a resounding “Both!” That woman is to love her son’s murderers. To be patient, kind, content, self-reserved, humble, honoring, giving, un-perturbed, ignoring offenses, rejoicing in truth, protecting, trusting, hopeful, and persevering towards them. That’s about as far from Just as I’m betting she could imagine God could be. As a mother I’d rather puke than be told that under those circumstances. However, enter Jesus. Who, besides proclaiming that to follow him you must follow the above approach, claims God judges no one. And he only does what God does. If there is no judging, is there justice?
What we seem to fail to grasp is that God loves everyone. None more than others. All the same. If we, as the human race, actually believed and acted on God’s view of everyone would there be world peace?
“For the countless Christians whose entire lives have been full of poverty and starvation, a concept of justice is incredibly important.” Religion spends BILLIONS of dollars on BUILDINGS. Every. Year. Think that’s justice to all these people and those not claiming Christianity but existing in poverty and starvation? God let’s that happen. We let that happen. Where is the justice? Only one example.
Maybe if we spent more time embracing the world with no judgment, no seeking justice, rather radically accepting all and living in love we would have a different world.
This is me, on a journey, my real life experiences. I’m putting it out there and enjoying the dialog as well. Thanks for your responses.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8New International Version (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God does appear to allow humanity to exist in a distorted image. Not because it’s intended for us, but because he still exists in Love for us whatever the distortion. In kindness and Love he presented a true image. Not because he could not accept the other. But because he is Love. Humanity can still reject the true image…but we’re still here and accepted.
My thought behind this is, perhaps God, Love, is not just because Love has nothing to do with an idea of right or wrong or can and can’t. Perhaps God doesn’t need to be Just because he is Love. Love just is. It doesn’t have to be fair, set things right or seek to fix.
Love is an expression of all the above from the Bible whether that’s Just or not doesn’t matter because Love is and this is how it operates.
While Jesus rebuked those who were not Just, Jesus still spoke and demonstrated forgiveness on them. His responses that rebuked injustice were provoked, but he wasn’t actively seeking to “set them straight” or to be Just.
I think the story of the prodigal son gives us the best picture of God and the lack of need to be Just. The father did not try to set anything right or even seem to be concerned about setting it right. He simply loved -rejoiced in righteousness and Truth. Not because of anything his character did or didn’t allow him.
When Injustice was pointed out by the older son, he dismissed it because it didn’t matter. Because love isn’t worried about Justice. Love is.
I don’t see that not having a Just God detracts from having a loving God. Rather, I consider that being love has nothing to do with anything other than simply being and demonstrating Love. Even when it’s not Just, because all so often it’s not Just, it’s radically better than Justice could ever be.