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Social Justice begins with Grace

I believe I may have written on here once before about how the idea of human rights is entirely consistent with the Christian worldview. And it still is.

As people made in the image of God, that ‘image of God’ we bear confers some kind of divine dignity that should not be trampled upon. I think of Genesis 9:6 as I write this:

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.”

But, what I’ve been completely blind-sided by recently was that a Christian’s commitment to social justice or charity shouldn’t be based at all on the rights of the receiver. Getting someone their rights for the sake of justice doesn’t appear to be the primary motivator for the biblical commands to do social justice.

Rather, social justice begins with grace. Our love of our neighbour should be based and reflect foremost on God’s love and common grace over all creation. And there is no criteria by which we determine how much our neighbour is deserving of help, other than the fact that they are our neighbour.

Christian social justice should not be based on the deserving-ness of others to redeem their human/social rights, but rather on how Christians should mirror God’s endless grace and generosity. With love as the starting point, the way Christians engage with social justice work should look starkly different to non-Christian charities, and it should change the way Christians engage with providing services to the needy.

Christian social justice isn’t about Christians helping others get their just deserts, but it’s about Christians reflecting God’s character.

Maybe I don’t actually want to be a lawyer

I had a bit of a startling reflection earlier today. I don’t think I’m that madly in love with the idea of being a lawyer. I just happen to like justice, and solving peoples’ problems. Lawyering just happens to be a convenient intersection of these two worlds - and one which I enjoy studying.

It’s quite freeing to realise this - because now, my identity* isn’t tied up in a specific job title, or following a certain career ladder. As long I can achieve the desired effect, it doesn’t really matter what my job is. I’d be happy to find a job where I can do some justice work, and solve peoples’ problems. Lawyering is not necessarily the singular criterion. All the better if I can join this desire up with my faith.

In the meantime though, I think I’m going to persevere with this lawyering gig. Being about half a year or so away from becoming an actual lawyer is quite exciting, and I hope God opens doors for me to use my lawyering to help people.

* No, I’m not saying that I find my identity outside of the wholly satisfying life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I’m speaking loosely in the sense that I’m a Christian trying to find a job that is satisfying even while still on this earth.

Reflecting on Emotions

One thing that struck me from the weekend getaway with my uni Christian group’s law faculty was that our emotions are often not an accurate thermometer by which we can measure the state of our faith or godliness. Nor are they any measure of how close God is to us. After all, the ‘wicked’ in the Psalms are often those without any troubles and indulge in themselves, whilst the godly are often those who are crushed underfoot yet it is there that they persevere with faith.

In reflecting on this, I also think about that articulation of our actions (by Thomas Cranmer) summed up as, “What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies”. What a problem it is when the heart is naturally bent towards evil! (Any amount of experience with the world will tell you of the inherent sinfulness of the human soul.)

But it is impossible to discard emotions altogether, since emotions are an essential part of how God has put us together. I think one of the beautiful parts of the Christian story is how God redeems humanity, not just from a guilty record of sin, but also from sinfulness itself. He transforms us, and teaches us to love what is good by giving us a ‘new heart’ (Ezekiel 36:26). The rest of the Christian life is the sober minded choice of fostering this heart of a cross-shaped life, and denying our old ways of sin.

A reflection on Wealth

The Bible study group I’m in at my church has been looking at the idea of wealth/money throughout the Bible. What I’ve been learning most through this is how money is such a neutral object - with great potency for both good and evil.

On one hand, the love of money leads to greed and idolatry of this materialistic world. On the other hand, money is a means of doing good things and to be wealthy can indeed be a blessing from God.

There appear to be four categories of people in the Proverbs: the righteous rich, the unrighteous rich, the godly poor, and the ungodly poor.

The unrighteous and ungodly are those who squander their wealth, commit sins against one another and God, and they try to hoard their wealth without purpose.

But the righteous and the godly are those who recognise God as being the provider of all things - spiritual and material - and obtain their wealth in obedience to God and acting wisely.

One thing which struck me is that Proverbs doesn’t try to pretend that socio-economic inequality doesn’t exist. It accepts this fact and commands the rich to be generous with the poor. You could say that this is a duty of those who are rich, and so we should be quick to recognise whether or not we are rich or poor.

Another thing I noticed was that the Proverbs offer genuine and practical advice on managing finances - which dispelled any suggestion that the Bible was against having material wealth. No, in fact material wealth as a result of God-given wisdom can indeed sometimes be sign a godliness as opposed to being the impoverished sluggard. I do however imagine that it is far more difficult to learn humility as a rich man than as a poor man, and perhaps this is why Jesus says that it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:23)

To finish this off, there’s probably one part of Proverbs which I find to be a beautiful approach to holding wealth and trusting in God’s providence:

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

- Proverbs 30:7-9

I used to look down on the idea of putting forth legal arguments that were nothing more than grasping at straws. But it's different when you know these straws are all that your client has and absolutely needs for these straws to hold strong in order to survive. I think this is when it becomes tempting to twist/reinvent their story/application so that they can present a stronger case albeit based on lies. (Which of course I will never do.) It's tough having genuine clients for whom the law doesn't offer any clean solution.

#lawyerlife

hecallsmelovely

If Jesus were walking the earth today, and a group of homosexuals and heterosexuals ran up to him and asked him what he thought of the Supreme Court ruling, I bet he would pause for a bit, and then say just one or two sentences. And those one or two sentences would cut to the heart of those gathered, and make them realize that the darkness in their own hearts was more threatening than any Supreme Court ruling. And some gathered would leave in anger, plotting against Jesus, and some gathered would be grieved about the evil in their own hearts and marvel and say “Truly this man is the son of God.”

(via hecallsmelovely)

Reflection - The sins of the client, and grace for the enemy

Having just recently started my practical legal training (PLT), I’ve come to realise how important it is for lawyers to have some sort of framework for dealing with all the darkness that is in this world.

It is in the legal system where we have the darkest facets of our world brought to light. Perhaps I exaggerate, because I’m doing my PLT in a particular niche area of law surrounding human trafficking - yet I don’t think it would be possible for me to make sense of how people can treat each other in such ways, except for how the Bible reveals human nature to be.

For one, I have learned and experienced how sin is innately human problem - with non-believers, and even those who claim the name of Jesus, treating other people as mere property - as slaves.

It is in this way that I found myself needing to believe in the justice of God. The God who will speak for the powerless and one day bring judgement against the oppressor.

However, I have also learned that even victims are not spotless. Our sins vary in degree from one person to another. One may have been a prostitute, and another may have been a killer. Each client has a unique story - yet all have been affected, and even twisted by sin.

God’s judgement on the oppressor is also God’s judgement on all people, for God is impartial in His judgement. It rings true to me where the Scripture says that “No one is righteous, not even one”, and it is for this reason that rather than despair, I see the grace of God all the more.

It is redemption which makes Christianity beautiful. By knowing the grace that Jesus gives - it gives me grace great enough to cover any wickedness a client confesses to me a Christian lawyer. A greater challenge though, is to see this grace as great enough to cover the sins of those who did such evil against my clients. I know that it should change how I feel towards them, but it is a struggle I must work on.

Note: This is not to say that any crimes committed should be ignored in the name of grace. A lot of justice involves recompense to the victim, especially where the perpetrator remains unrepentant. Further, I’m primarily concerned here with my own role as a lawyer and a Christian, responding the wickedness of those around him.

hey, so I am a new Christian and I have a boyfriend, or you can say ex bf, we are on a break at the moment because I'm trying to grow in faith and fix a few mistakes I've made.... anyhow he is lost but I'm praying he finds Christ too. I love this man soooo much its overwhelming. My prayer is that he finds Christ, grows in faith so I can one day marry him, lol I know it sounds like a fairytale, my question is, Am I being realistic?

Hey,

I’m sorry I didn’t get to see this message earlier. (I have no idea when you sent this to be honest, and I haven’t been on my Tumblr for a while.)

The way I would respond has two dimensions to it:

1 - God can do absolutely anything. Anything is possible for God, and it’s to this part, whenever we fall smitten with someone who doesn’t believe in Christ, we really hope for - that they’ll change and believe. There are many stories of couples who marry, knowing they didn’t share the same faith, and eventually over the course of time both of them believed in Christ and sometimes the initial unbeliever became the stronger of the two. (I think of my grandparents when I say this.)

However….

2 - God calls us to be wise and uncompromising in our faith. This is the answer I feel we both know and hate. We do want those we care for to believe in Christ, but God calls us to be wise in our own faith first and foremost. The idea that Christians should not date/marry unbelievers, I’m sure you may know, comes indirectly and peppered throughout the Bible.

It could be from how the Apostle Paul commanding Christians, when we are given a choice, not to marry an unbeliever. (1 Corinthians 7:39 - keeping in mind that in those days, only widows were those who had the ability to choose who to marry. The other commands concerned people who became Christians after they were already married to an unbeliever.)

It could be from the ways in which the patriarchs of the old testament were considered badly when they married foreigners (i.e. those who believed foreign gods) like Esau whose foreign wives made life bitter for Isaac and Rebecca. (Genesis 26:34-35) Today, we understand ‘foreigners’ to be those outside the household of faith.

So to answer your question directly - Yes, it’s possible to marry your unbelieving (ex?) boyfriend and eventually he’ll come to believe in Jesus. But it’s a gamble, and one you can reasonably expect to lose. There is a difference between choosing to marry an unbeliever, and becoming a Christian after you are married. And even though God can work in spite of your decisions - you would have to bear the very realistic consequences of marrying someone of another faith. And the question that we don’t want to ask ourselves is - what happens when the warm and fuzzy feelings fade?

(Where we are in our lives, we don’t want to believe that to be true. But all married couples whom I’ve talked to say that yes, the feelings do fade. Not disappear, but fade well enough for us to see the faults in our partners.)

This may mean years of prayer that fall on seemingly deaf ears. This may mean conflicts as to how best to spend your Sundays as a couple. This may mean conflict over how to spend money. (How much should you give in generosity and trusting in God’s providence? And we haven’t even started raising questions of how much to give to church.)

I’ll finish this by saying - your situation sucks, and I feel for you. I would wish it on no one, and the Christian life sometimes involves very emotionally hard decisions. But whatever decision you make, you must live with the consequences of it. To live with another, with the very real possibility that they may never convert, or to cut them from our lives so as to guard our own faith.

I have often heard Hebrews 4:12 shared as a word of encouragement:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

I had thought this verse was talking about the power of God’s word in transforming people’s lives and I never really considered the context of this verse until now. People are indeed transformed through the reading of the Bible and prayer, but here - God is speaking, and He is asking us to listen.

By His Holy Spirit, He says,

“Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” - Hebrews 3:7-8, Psalm 95:7-8

Once we have heard (or read) God speak, we cannot hide from its message. It goes straight to our very hearts, and nothing can be hidden from Him. (Hebrews 4:13)

When we are confronted with God’s word, we are not merely asked to be in awe of it. We are being asked to obey.

I found to confronting, especially after listening to yesterday’s sermon at my church, where in reference to John 4:34 where it says,

“Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

the preacher highlighted that the primary work or ‘job’ of a Christian is obedience to God, just as Jesus’ main work was obedience to God. What does obedience mean?

It means to obey God’s instructions when He declares (speaking of Jesus),

“This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” - Mark 9:7

It means to put our faith in Jesus (John 14:21, Hebrews 5:9).

It means when God speaks to us - through His word, we obey.

“Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” - Hebrews 3:7-8, Psalm 95:7-8

Modesty - When did it become about sex appeal?

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. - 1 Timothy 2:8-10 ESV

These verses, amongst others, talk about the idea of modesty as an aspect of the Christian life. Here, the Apostle Paul instructs women not to be ‘adorned’ externally - not to find value in the clothing they wear - but to be adorned internally, through gentleness and godly conduct.

From passages like these - when did ‘modesty’ become a shorthand form to discuss sex appeal in clothing amongst Christians? I think this idea has come from a general amalgamation of other ideas of godliness in the Bible, yet when put together has created a bizarre outcome.

A common perception of ‘modesty’ (as I see it within Christian culture) is that:

Women should dress themselves in a manner so as not to provoke men into lusting after them. Doing this is the ‘modest’ and respectable thing to do, and to fail to do this is to cause a fellow Christian to ‘stumble’.

There are several ideas wrapped into this:

We should not cause fellow Christians to weaken in faith, or to doubt - otherwise known as ‘stumbling’. (Romans 14:13-23, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33)

Lust is a sin. (Matthew 5:27-30)

The Bible commands modesty and to be respectable. (1 Timothy 2:8-10, 1 Peter 3:1-6)

And, an entirely unspoken implication of this is that women can be held responsible for the sinning of men. Is this what the Bible is saying though?

The modesty verses

It is critical that we see that these verses are not commanding women to dress less provocatively. Rather, the Apostles Paul and Peter (1 Timothy 2:8-10 and 1 Peter 3:1-6 respectively) use the language of external adornment as ways to demonstrate where one’s value comes from.

That is to say, are you noticed for your good works, or for your nice clothes? Do people notice you for your gentle heart, or for your jewellery? One adornment is internal, the other is external - but nowhere is there a command for women to dress in rags, and much less a command to avoid the eyes of lecherous men.

Causing fellow Christians to stumble

However we must be clear that to go around and flagrantly cause temptation for others to sin is solemnly warned against by Jesus himself, as he says, “it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)

Yet, we must hold this in tension and acknowledge that the person who lusts is entirely responsible for their own sin. Jesus warns, “if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29). We cannot shift the blame of sin onto someone else, rather we are responsible to God in taking captive every thought and deed we have and submitting them to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

It’s not about sex appeal

True modesty is a goal for every Christian - male or female - so that the church of God is noticed for is godliness rather than external adornment. It is a grace that fellow Christians may choose to dress in a way that does not encourage lust, but that is not the modesty which the Apostles speak about. Don’t let modesty be defined by what one wears, but rather by what one does.

So I just felt like listening to a sermon today and came across this sermon on the blood of Christ by Charles H. Spurgeon. An oldie, but an incredible encouragement - to remind oneself of the importance and necessity of Christ’s blood.

Give it a listen if you have time.

Hebrews 12:22-24

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. - Hebrews 12:22-24

Having returned from a week-end away with my university’s Christian group (the wonderful Credo), I found myself especially encouraged in hearing these words from the book of Hebrews. And here, the author of the epistle reminds us Christians of the joy we have in coming to faith in Christ.

In faith, we can behold this great fellowship of believers - of believers in history past, and being received glady in a great feast. And, here we see Jesus, whose blood has been shed for us.

Yet, the blood of Jesus speaks a greater word than the blood of Abel. Abel, an innocent man, was murdered and his blood that stained the ground cries out for justice. Yet, Jesus too was an innocent man, murdered and whose blood had also stained the ground. But Jesus’ blood does not cry for vengeance - it speaks of grace, of love, of forgiveness. A voice that cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Let us hear what the blood of Christ says to us, and respond in reverent thanksgiving.

I remember recently having a conversation with a Christian brother whom I trust dearly - and our conversation focused on the place of wisdom and the plans of God.

I was saying something along the lines of - “If I go out and act on faith, I can trust that God will close doors on whatever He doesn’t plan for me to do.” I think the conversation was on applying for jobs (interstate).

My friend turns to me and says, “Mate, I get that but God gave you a brain and wisdom for a reason. Just going with the flow is a copout to using the wisdom God has given you.”

This made me realise one of the ways in which I realised I was trying to apply the doctrine of God’s sovereignty to alleviate my personal responsibility. Of course my friend was right - even though God is in perfect control and will open and shut doors for all of us, it is not up to me to delegate my life decision-making to God. A servant doesn’t get led by the hand, but he goes out and applies his wisdom to how to best serve his master.

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

I find myself tested and tempted in a variety of ways over the course of my Christian life. If you spoke to me three or four years ago, I would assure you that career idolatry would never have any hold on me - yet as the end of my tertiary studies approach, I find myself seeking and worrying over things that I had not worried about before. At other points in time, I thought I would always err on the side of generosity when it came to sharing money, or food - yet I find myself counting every cent I hold.

And so we must be careful not to let the strength of our faith erode away. There is nothing extraordinary about a man who pursues a high-paying career to eventually neglect any and all time he spends in the Word of God. The thought has only come to me now that when Jesus speaks of the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Luke 6:46-49), he talks about the action of ‘building’. The wise and sure foundation is, of course, a life grounded in faith and service to Jesus Christ - yet I hadn’t realised that a house is not built overnight. What a waste it is to leave the house half-finished for when the ‘flood’ comes.

In a similar way, what a waste it is if we are careless in how we grow or build up our fellow Christians. As the Apostle Paul warns, “If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:15) I don’t want to be a Christian who ‘just’ makes it over the finish line, nor do I want the shame of leaving my faith half-baked (Luke 14:25-35).

I am just glad that God has made it so simply clear what He wants of me,

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. “ - Colossians 2:6-7

It's not about whether you can or can't...

I was just considering 1 Corinthians 8:13, where it says:

Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

The Apostle Paul makes his point clear - if there is anything that would discourage or destroy your fellow Christian's faith - don't do it. Give up meat even, if that is how you remove a stumbling block from your fellow Christian.

However, his approach to reaching this conclusion is what suddenly struck me. There are many things that Christians have "knowledge", and can take as their 'rights'. We may say that, we have the right to eat pork, and drink alcohol (not in excess, of course) - but to the Apostle Paul, he says,

This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Although my knowledge of the Bible permits me, and even gives me the right to eat meat, it is by our love for others that we constrain ourselves.

I find these thoughts quite challenging, because for me - I feel like I live in a world which tells me, "If you have the right to do something, you should do it - and no one is allowed to complain about it". Perhaps that's because that is how it is in law - where the role of a lawyer is to help you find out and exercise your legal rights.

But the way of Christ was sacrificial and selfless.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

- Philippians 2:5-7

In sum, this is for me a helpful lesson for whenever I try to tiptoe the line of what I think I can or can't do as a Christian - and whenever this happens, all I need to do is remind myself in the words of Jeff Goldblum:

#christian freedom

A Freedom to Offend?

The recent tragedy in Paris has brought about many different reactions. Many have marched and stood in solidarity with the victims, saying, "Je suis Charlie" (trans: 'I am Charlie'). Others have done the contrary, such as the Anti-Charlie Hebdo riots happening in Niger at the moment, where 8 churches were left burning.

What had happened? A famous cartoonists' offices were attacked by machine gun fire after they re-published an infamous cartoon depicting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. Within Islam, this is considered a great sin - the equivalent of making a statue of a cow and calling it "God".

I imagine that many Muslims in the west face a paradox. On one hand, they condemn the violence and murder that has taken place - but on the other, how can they say, "Je suis Charlie" with those who did indeed commit one of the gravest sins in their religion? (Of course, many Muslims have also condemned the following riots which took the lives of at least 12 people.)

The issue here is freedom of speech, and its perception as a 'right to offend'. But what about us Christians? Are we Charlie also?

Western Libertarian Freedom vs Christian Freedom

Many of us have been brought up under a Western Libertarian notion of freedom. To put that in other words, it is to say, "I may disagree with your opinion, but I'll defend to your death the right to share it". Under such a definition, we are free to say and share any idea we want (with some few exceptions). We have the right, not only to speak our ideas, but to write them down, or even to draw them into pictures. We would be technically allowed to draw a picture of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The right to share contrary ideas is a freedom that many in our society protects with vigour. But I believe Christian freedom of speech is slightly different.

We as Christians have a lot of freedom. If we want to mark up and bind our conduct with rules and laws, there are very few laws we need to adhere to. There is no direct prohibition to draw pictures of Muhammad in the Bible.

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. - 1 Corinthians 10:23 ESV

We are free to do anything, but not all freedoms should be practiced, nor should all rights be used. It is a matter of spiritual discernment. Jesus tells us of two commands which capture the entire Law of God:

[Y]ou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

- Mark 12:30-31 ESV

We may have the right to do anything, but I believe we are constrained by our love for our neighbours. If we love our Muslim neighbours, we would not needlessly offend them with a picture of their prophet. We cannot be Charlie Hebdo who freely uses their right to create controversy, but we must be constrained to this law of Christ, as the Apostle Paul says;

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.

- 1 Corinthians 9:21 ESV

- Sam

P.S. I do not intend cause any offense or insult to those affected by the events which have come to pass. What I write here does not change my sincere condolences for those affected by this tragedy.

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