Christianity is a group
of about 20 paradoxes. God’s ways just don’t
make sense to the human mind. For example, if you want to lead, serve. God is both Lion and
Lamb. And we are to do justice and love mercy...
It is hard to combine the
two. But God can – and does. Kingdom activity flows in
this way. We find that our models and paradigms don’t work that well. We need a better grid... God loves to bring us
into cross-cultural contexts, because it jolts us out of our boxes.
Micah 6:8 shows the steps to Justice. God has shown us what is good and what He
requires:
You, do justice!
Justice is not practised much by the church; the church tends to stay
away from contentious issues.
But God gets involved in messy situations
You, love mercy!
Mercy and humility, compassion, kindness, thoughtfulness
Mercy is acts of kindness for all, even for those who don’t deserve it
Mercy first, then justice – dealing with inequality
You, walk humbly!
You don’t start with justice
You start with humility
Always remember that you are a guest here.
Don’t come with your Western ideas and solutions
Respect, honour, grace
Don’t walk rough-shod over situations
God is concerned with
levelling the ground.
Why is the person crying? What is actually happening? How can I help? This calls for discernment and
sensitivity and patience.
The Kingdom of God works through displacement: light for darkness, righteousness for sin. Displacement slowly pushes these things back
Justice is dealing with the perpetrator; humility and mercy deal with the victim.
Mercy is a pre-requisite
to justice. You have to do your time
in mercy before you get to participate in justice. When you have loved
mercy, then you will be allowed to participate in justice.
The process of Implementing Justice
- Encounter
You don’t have answers yet.
This is the time to live inside the question.
There are no easy solutions to the problem.
You are learning and discovering.
Intercession plays a big part.
- Advocacy
You wrestle with the situation,
gleaning, gathering and sharing information.
You become a voice for the voiceless; a voice testifying to what you
have seen; telling others.
You are still learning and discovering.
Intercession plays a big part.
- Intervention
You have to do something; you can’t just walk on by.
Christians are supposed to be at the forefront of social action.
The problem is huge, but there is also something that you CAN do.
This is how the Kingdom gets built; piece by piece; and one day it all comes together.
It spreads as others see and get involved too.
Partnering with others.
Be satisfied with small things – don’t despise the day of small
beginnings.
Take simple steps.
Remember the 5 loaves and 2 fish.
Don’t worry about the multitudes – yet.
Go after the one, and the one, and the one...
- Restoration
You take the broken and restore them to God’s original design and
destiny for their lives, no matter how bad the situation.
Justice is about breaking the yoke and setting the prisoner free.
Just being here will produce growth and encourage others.
Do what you know to do and then God will do the rest.
Don’t ‘make’ it happen; let go of your agenda, relax and go with God’s flow.
Respond to what God shows you.
God spins things together and you see them happen in front of you.
It may be in simple things, like planting trees and creating beauty.
No comments:
Post a Comment