A year and a half ago I began sharing guest blogs here on My Race to Run; I realized God had surrounded me with people who have a unique heart and perspective, and I couldn’t think of a better place to spotlight them. Stacie wrote the very first one – A Safe Place For Blueberry Stains – and today, she has written another piece for us to chew on. Stacie’s words are humble yet bold, rooted in truth from the Bible and motivated by God’s love. I pray that you are inspired and challenged to dig deeper and take action. For more from Stacie, head to her blog – Basicallyamazing.net!

Savoring the Gospel in the Midst of Injustice by Stacie Van de Weghe

In a few days, we will be halfway through 2020. One phrase has been echoing in my mind with ever-increasing intensity: the world is on fire. Health and humanitarian crises abound from pole to pole, all of them highlighting the fact that we are plagued by something much deadlier than a virus.

Sin has infected every human heart and is at the root of every injustice ravaging the people on our beautiful planet. I cannot find adjectives strong enough to describe the darkness rampant in our world. Racism, human trafficking, refugee crises, abuse, abortion, poverty, war, not to mention the global pandemic. Such a list leads me to ask two questions. Where is God in the middle of it all? And how am I to respond?

If we pause to savor the gospel, He will reorient our hearts by illuminating His character, calling us to act, and filling us with hope.

The Just and Justifier

The longer I live, the more aware of the darkness I become. In the face of grievous injustice, I want to see God come thundering down from heaven as described in Psalm 97. He has founded His throne on righteousness and justice (Ps 97:2), yet the corruption of mankind is pervasive and systemic. Let Him arise with power and come down to right all the wrongs. Let “fire go before Him” while the “earth trembles” and the “mountains melt like wax” (Ps 97:3-4). Let the Prince of Peace establish His kingdom and annihilate injustice forever!

As I look around me, my heart breaks over first one social justice issue and then the next. I finally understand the desperation of the psalmist’s question, “How long, O LORD?” (Ps 94:3). Do you feel it too? Just like the psalmist, we look forward to the day our conquering King will come tread down all oppression, swallow up death with life, and drive out darkness forever with His marvelous light. (See Rev 19: 11-16, Rev 21:1-8, 1 Cor 15:14, 2 Cor 5:4, 1 Peter 2:9)

But unlike the psalmist, we can also look back at what our conquering King has already done to guarantee the ultimate defeat of injustice. He wrapped Himself in flesh so He would have a body that could be murdered unjustly. What a stunning paradox! We ask where He is in the middle of all that is dark and broken, and we find Him hanging on the cross for both the oppressed and the oppressors. The beauty of the gospel is God forging a way to justify sinners without compromising His justice. He is both “just, and the justifier” (Rom 3:26).

As a result, there is no room for harsh polarization. We must walk humbly because the gospel blows apart our categories, leaving no room for prideful judgment of others. Before God, there are no good people and bad people. Instead, there are only broken people in need of rescue. This gives us a new lens from which to pray and pursue justice.

Love Kindness Because He is Kind

Since Jesus has justified us before God, we make it our goal to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). We must be very careful to keep this verse anchored in the gospel. We are not trying to impress God or earn our place in His family by how we live. Rather, because of His great kindness toward us, we seek to show kindness to our family, friends, neighbors, and even enemies.

There are a few lies stalking the body of Christ and hampering our ability to live out this humble, gospel-centered activism.

The first is the toxic polarization seeping into the Church from secular culture. It causes us to attack one another’s character and values, preventing us from walking in unity. For example, one believer posts that if I stay silent on the issue of police brutality, it might as well have been my knee on George Floyd’s neck. The next believer posts that if I really believe Black Lives Matter, I’ll care more about the multitude of Black babies killed by abortion. But if we let go of our tunnel vision, we will find the two issues inextricably connected. They cannot be tackled in isolation.

In fact, that is exactly why God calls His church a body, united under Jesus, the living head (1 Cor 12:12-20, Col 1:18). My husband recently bought me a bicycle. Can you imagine if my feet cursed my hands because they believed pedaling was the only way to move forward? But if my feet humbled themselves, they would notice that forward motion without my arms to turn and my core muscles to balance and my eyes to see where we’re going would be disastrous. So it is with the body of Christ. He calls each of us to focus on a specific task. In tandem, we work to “seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17, see also James 1:27).

I’ll use my local church as an example (note: I have changed the names for the sake of privacy). Adam works hard to prevent sex trafficking throughout the world. Brittany works tirelessly to provide ethical shopping opportunities. Carl leads the charge to bring clean water to the thirsty. Dan seeks out children in our community falling through the academic cracks. Emily serves at the food bank. Francis mentors moms at the pregnancy clinic. God is calling each of them to pursue justice and relieve suffering in specific ways, but it is all the same mission.

The enemy would love to divide us, causing us to overvalue what God has placed on our hearts and belittle the rest. We are one body. Jesus prayed fervently for unity among us (John 17). Let us remember that we have all been justified by the same blood. We can choose to actively support one another. When we disagree, we can do so with humility and kindness.

Do Justice Because of His Justice

The second lie seeking to ensnare us is that we should only focus on sharing the gospel. Some within the church are concerned we are at risk of allowing our pursuit of social justice to overshadow the gospel itself. It is worth reminding ourselves that the deepest human need is to be justified before God. May we never lose sight of the Great Commission.

At the same time, may we never use the Great Commission as an excuse to leave our heads in the sand and ignore the plight of our fellow humans. How can we claim to belong to Him and ignore the afflictions of those around us? Jesus Himself spent a significant portion of His time on earth alleviating human suffering. Just like Him, we cannot profess to care about people’s souls without also caring about their minds, bodies, and living conditions. Though we cannot bring light to the darkness simply by trying to make the world a better place, our message loses all its credibility if we come across as indifferent to injustice.

God calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. The enemy prefers us to love our friends as ourselves and ignore everyone else, but the gospel reorients us. We started life as enemies of God, and while we were dead in our sin, He died to save us (Rom 5:1-11). May His kindness toward us overflow from our hearts and empower us to actively pursue justice for the oppressed. Anything less is exactly what James describes:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe — and they shudder. — James 2:14-19 (CSB)

One of the most chilling stories Jesus tells is of the final judgment. He plans to separate those who are His from those who are not. The defining difference is how each individual has treated the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the sick, and the imprisoned. For, He says, whatever we have done (or not done) for the least of these, we have done (or not done) for Him (Matthew 25:31-46). Again, we must anchor these verses in the gospel. Jesus was not implying that if we do enough good deeds we will earn a place in His kingdom. Rather, because of His good deed, we have been gifted a place in His kingdom. At the cross, His kindness and justice merge. Now they overflow through our lives as we seek to share the good news while we care for the needs of those around us.

The Days of Injustice are Numbered

As children of God, we are caught in an awkward reality called the present. We look back and see that Jesus has accomplished His justifying work once and for all. We look forward with great anticipation to the day He will return to right all the wrongs. In the meantime, He has left His body, the church, empowered by the Spirit to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with Him. So take heart, friends. The days of injustice are numbered.

Note: God’s Word has brought so much clarity and comfort to me as I process these issues. I’ve compiled some key passages below for you to use as a launching pad if you’d like.

On God’s justice:

• Psalm 73
• Psalm 18
• Psalm 94
• Revelation 21

On the gospel:

• Ephesians 2:1-10
• Romans 5:1-11
• Titus 3:3-7
• Colossians 1:13-14

On unity in the church:

• John 17
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:13
• Ephesians 2:11-22

On living justly and kindly:

• Micah 6:8
• James 2:14-26
• Isaiah 1:11-20
• Luke 10:25-37