Sermon Video: God is merciful, even to the murderer Cain - Genesis 4:8-16

It is well known that Cain killed his brother Abel, what is less well understood is that God showed incredible mercy to Cain when he confronted Cain afterwards. God could have struck Cain down in righteous wrath, ending his life right there, he had earned that punishment. Instead God chose to show mercy, an act of grace that reminds us that all of us who have come to know Christ as our Savior are the recipients of tremendous grace.

6 months since October 7, there are no winners here: A response to the essay by Frida Ghitis (CNN, 4/5/24)

 

{“In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers.” - Neville Chamberlain     That quote would probably be better remembered if it wasn’t from Neville Chamberlain.  The former British Prime Ministers is best remembered for appeasing the maniac Adolf Hitler before WWII started.  But Chamberlain wasn’t wrong.  He was about Hitler in particular, there was no bargaining with that evil man, but he was right about war.  Even when it is necessary, even when it could be deemed a righteous act of defending the weak against the strong, one doesn’t “win” a war, one survives it, and hopefully limits the damage.  That’s the situation that Israel has been facing since October 7^th of 2023: it can’t win, the only question is how costly will survival be both to the Israelites themselves and to the Palestinians.  The essay below is attempting to reason through to that conclusion.}

Almost exactly six months ago, Israelis awoke to a nightmare. Civilians in the southern part of the country, areas near the border with Gaza, were under a brutal, ongoing attack. It would become the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust and a prelude to unspeakable suffering on both sides of the border.

{To think and talk about the costs of the war against Hamas that followed after October 7^th is not to minimize the horror of that day.  The same is true for the tragedies of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  In each case an act of sudden evil caught a people off-guard and led to a forceful and far greater response.  In each case, moral questions were raised by how the aggrieved party responded and by the unintended consequences of those responses.  The original moral evil in all four instances has no excuse, no justification, no sympathy.}

Six months after Hamas launched that deadly rampage, knowing that Israel’s response would be ferocious, there are only losers in this terrible war.

It’s hard now to find many winners with the death toll mounting among Gazans and hunger growing in the strip. And with Israeli hostages still held captive, perhaps in dank Hamas tunnels.

{As it was with WWI, WWII, and the War on Terror, so it has been in Israel and Gaza.  War takes on a life of its own, one action leads to another, one cost justifies another.  WWI left an entire generation decimated and cynical, it weakened institutions that were necessary for civilization leaving them unable to stop the march toward WWII.  WWII gave us not only the firebombing of entire cities, but the atomic bomb and the Holocaust as well.  The scale of the War on Terror was much smaller than WWI and WWII, but it still left us with the Patriot Act, drone strikes across the globe, seemingly endless war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the shame of Abu Ghraib.  Looking back upon history, each response appears solidly unavoidable, each war a product of choices made at the time that felt reasonable, but if that is indeed true and such death and destruction was the inevitable result of what had preceded it, we still must count the cost to both the innocent who suffered alongside the perpetrators and how fighting those wars changed us as well.  It is in this vein that All Quiet on the Western Front and Slaughterhouse Five were written, among many others.  And so, it is entirely reasonable to look at the Israel/Hamas War after six months and count the cost, to remind ourselves that history teaches us that we should not expect to find any winners.}

For Hamas, the fact that war continues may count as a victory, but thousands of Hamas’ fighters — the exact number is disputed — have been killed. Hamas may be decimated, perhaps unable to hold on to power, but that’s no victory for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under growing global pressure and besieged by protesters at home, and whose legacy will be forever darkened.

Even US President Joe Biden has paid a price, caught in an election-year political vise between those who think he is too supportive of Israel and those who think he has been too critical.

The strife has also detonated a worldwide explosion of antisemitism, reviving a hatred that had lain lightly dormant. It’s causing anxiety across Europe, and leading some American Jews to conclude that one country where they had felt safe is no longer a haven, as they face antisemitism from the left and the right. Anti-Muslim bigotry has also increased.

This awful chapter started on October 7 last year, when Hamas terrorists breached what was supposed to be a secure border and slaughtered Israelis in their beds, in their living rooms, in their cars, at an outdoor music festival and bus shelters and parks.

They raped countless women with horrifying brutality.

Israeli security forces were nowhere to be found for hours. Hamas — the Iran-allied group that rules Gaza — killed more than 1,200 Israelis and dragged back hundreds more as hostages. The area lay in ruins. Israelis’ sense of security had been shattered.

Today, it is Gaza that lies in ruins, tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel in its quest to uproot and destroy Hamas. As Israel crushes Gaza, its global reputation is getting shattered. But still the IDF believes around 100 Israeli hostages remain captive of Hamas and other militants in conditions that one shudders to imagine.

This week’s Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy, killing seven aid workers, adds to the calamity of this convulsion in the perennially unstable crossroads of the Middle East. Amid the outrage and heartbreak, WCK’s founder, celebrity chef José Andrés, accuses Israel of targeting his staff. Israel has apologized, saying the convoy was misidentified. Israel has fired two officers and reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into the strike.

{The cost has been high.  Evil like that unleashed on October 7^th against innocent men, women, and children always leads to a ripple effect of costs, nearly always spirals out of control.  Inevitable?  Perhaps, but still horrific, still worthy of lament.}

There was never any question that Israel would respond to October 7. It had been attacked by a group that promised it would repeat the massacre of Israelis and is backed by Iran, a country whose leaders have vowed to destroy Israel. The attack led some there to conclude that whatever price Israel should pay for absolute victory — including in global public opinion — it is worth paying. Besides, the attackers kidnapped hundreds of its citizens, including women, children and the elderly. Israel needed to save them.

{I remember the days after 9/11.  There was never any doubt that wherever these terrorists were hiding, American bombs and bullets would find them.  That day’s shock and horror gave rise quickly to songs and slogans about stomping on terrorists, and to a sudden rise in anti-Islamic sentiment among a people who previously had spent little time thinking about Islam.  Likewise, Israel was going to respond, and with much greater force than Hamas had employed (because of the limits of Hamas’ resources, not a limit on its hatred, they’ve stated many times their desire to kill all Jews).

This is not the response envisioned by Jesus when he commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  Even if a government needs to respond with war to protect its citizens, the hatred that war gives birth to in the hearts of the people who were attacked is a tragedy.  Few times in Church history has the response to evil been forgiveness and mercy.  Individuals have responded to their own suffering, even martyrdom, with Christ-like forgiveness, but rarely has this translated to a whole people.  Sadly, when our nation experienced tragedy similar to what Israel has just lived through, the Church in America wasn’t able (much of it wasn't willing) to be a voice of reconciliation after 9/11, myself included.  The desire for justice, even messy justice that says, “Kill them all, let God sort them out” is a powerful enticement.  The path of peace after injustice is brutally hard, for this reason we are in awe of those like Nelson Mandela who choose it instead of vengeance.}

In the immediate aftermath, world leaders expressed support for Israel. But when the death toll in Gaza starting climbing, as Hamas knew it would, international support for Israel turned to withering criticism. In the most painful irony of all, Israel — the country that became home to Holocaust survivors, under attack by a group whose original charter outlined a genocidal ideology and a vow to destroy Israel — was itself perversely accused of genocide.

{Entirely predictable.  The initial support followed by eventual criticism as the death and destruction continued is the exact same pattern that America experienced after 9/11.  The primary difference between the two stories is that the reality of global antisemitism gave Israel a shorter runway between sympathy and criticism, i.e. a much briefer window to respond to terrorism before criticism, justifiable or not, began to mount.}

As always, the greatest suffering, the biggest losers, have been civilians on both sides. Palestinians in Gaza are enduring a living nightmare. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 30,000 have been killed in the conflict. The figures don’t distinguish between combatants and civilians, but there’s little doubt that horrifyingly large numbers of them, including children, have been killed. The territory is a wasteland.

Gazans are caught between the cynicism of Hamas, the geopolitical concerns of their Arab neighbors and Israel’s determination to win at any cost. Hamas leaders, comfortable in exile, proclaimed early on that they are “proud to sacrifice martyrs.” Hamas fighters embedded themselves in Gaza’s population, including in hospitals, essentially daring Israel to kill civilians to get to them.

In most wars, civilians would have been allowed to flee the fighting, but the people of Gaza were not allowed to leave the territory whether they wanted to or not. Hamas urged them to stay. Egypt, worried about whether Israel would allow the people to return and concerned about instability on its soil, closed its border to all but a small number of Palestinian civilians.

The cruel fact is that the lives of Palestinians have not been the highest priority for anyone in this war.

{It has always been this way in human history, innocent civilians always pay the highest price in war.  It has also always been true that the evil men who sow the seeds of war rarely are the ones who pay the consequences, that’s one of the reasons why they’re willing to start down that path in the first place.}

Complicating the situation is the political crisis in Israel, which preceded the October 7 attack. Netanyahu — a political survivor who faces corruption charges — already presided over the most right-wing government in Israel’s history. Before the war, tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in nearly 10 months of weekly protests against a plan that would have severely weakened Israeli democracy by stripping the Supreme Court of much of its power.

Netanyahu was, in my view and others’, already the worst prime minister in Israel’s history even before October 7.

Polls have found that most Israelis want him gone. Now Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet but also the leading opposition figure before the war, has called for new elections in September. Recent polling says say he’s Netanyahu’s most likely successor.

Devastation in Gaza as Israel wages war on Hamas

The fact that Netanyahu is heading the government during one of the most dangerous, most damaging times in Israel’s history only adds to the disturbing nature of this conflict. Israel is not in good hands.

Would another leader, a different government, have been able to conduct the war with fewer civilian deaths, with less damage to Israel’s global standing, without eroding the vital relationship between Israel and the United States? I suspect the answer is yes.

{Few leaders are up to the task of shepherding their people through a time of war and at the same time minimizing the cost that it exacts from both their own people and the civilians on the other side.  While it is true that Netanyahu has numerous critics both in Israel and beyond, I think the essay strays in this section away from the salient and necessary conversation about the cost of war itself.}

If there’s any glimmer of hope in this dispiriting landscape it is that the young Abraham Accords — which normalized relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors — have survived the toughest of stress tests. That augurs well for the long run, for more stability of the region, eventually.

{What lies on the other side of this war?  None know for certain.  If there is a path to a wider peace between Israel and its neighbors, it will feel like a miracle.  We can hope that the horrors of this war will make it harder to start the next one.}

It opens the door to the possibility that once this war is over, once the post-war phase — whatever that looks like — also comes to an end, there could be a new architecture that leads to peace. For that to happen, however, two of the many losing protagonists in this conflict, Hamas and Netanyahu, cannot remain in power.

{We have set aside time in our worship services each Sunday since October 7^th to pray for Israel and Gaza, for the Jews and the Palestinians, for Christians, Muslims, and followers of Judaism in the Holy Land.  As I lead these prayers, my focus is primarily upon those suffering from the war, on both sides, pleading to God to protect them.  I also pray for a just and lasting peace, admitting in my prayers that I don’t know how we get from here to there.  Which leaders would it require and what choices would they need to make?  That answer is in God’s hands alone.  I don’t know if peace is possible with Netanyahu as the Prime Minister of Israel, because nobody really knows the answer to that question.  And so, rather than calling for specific steps, my prayers leave the “how” in the hands of God, and focus instead on the ordinary people whose lives have been forever changed by this violence, may they be protected, comforted, and healed, and may peace prevail even after the horrors of war.}

{Lastly, talking to my Bible Study group and leading FB Live prayers just after October 7^th, I said, “There are no good choices left.”  I then explained that whatever the government of Israel did next, the choices would all be bad, and the cost high.  The same calculus existed for the Palestinians, they would only have bad choices left to them after what Hamas had done.  That wasn’t prophecy, simply an awareness of history because humanity has seen this cycle play out over and over again.  Unfortunately, this time hasn’t been an exception to the rule, this war has been like so many others that preceded it.  Whatever happens next, let us pray for those in need, let us hope for justice and peace.}

Jesus, Jim Harbaugh, and the fallacy that, "Only the guilty take a plea."

 

Before I begin, I'm aware that terms like Innocent, Guilty, and Victim ring fairly hollow when thrown around between the NCAA who makes billions off of college athletes, the Big Ten which makes hundreds of millions, and the coaches who are making tens of millions.  That being said, perhaps this crazy saga of the University of Michigan cheating scandal and its coach Jim Harbaugh can open our eyes just a little to how these issues play out when a high school dropout is charged with a crime, doesn't have the money to make bail, and has to rely upon a public defender.  

Jim Harbaugh, Michigan drop court case and accept Big Ten punishment for sign-stealing scandal - Yahoo Sports, by Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger

For those of you who aren't aware, the University of Michigan yesterday dropped its effort to sue the Big Ten over the suspension of coach Harbaugh after having called it "insulting" and "unethical" in previous public statement.  They shouted that their guy was a victim and this whole thing a conspiracy of a witch hunt, and then they did the equivalent of taking a plea and accepting the lighter punishment that was on the table.  I don't really care why they made that choice, whether or not they had evidence that this would only get worse as long as the light was shining on the case, or even whether or not Jim Harbaugh knew about the scheme in the first place.  The point is, they had public opinion, Michigan politicians, and high priced lawyers on their side, and they still folded.  That ought to be instructive to us.

What you think about the criminal justice system and those charged with crimes probably isn't true.

At least not fully, there's more going on most of the time, certainly more than the politicians and pundits shouting about the issue are willing to tell you.

There are a lot of people who find themselves in the middle between "fully innocent" and "completely guilty."  When the choice they face is between decades in jail of a judge or jury convicts them and a plea that will only cost a few years, it is inevitable that a significant portion of them will plead guilty, even if they're not guilty.

Fixing the criminal justice system is a massive undertaking, on some level it will always have these flaws, and while it is entirely noble to fight injustice and push for honest reform, I'm also concerned with the larger issues of power, justice, mercy, and forgiveness.  Why?  Because Jesus was.

One day Jesus was confronted by the ugly truth of a criminal justice system that was clearly corrupt.  He was asked to choose between the authorities and a perpetrator.  His critics thought they could use whichever side he picked as fodder to discredit him.  They were wrong.  They were wrong because Jesus saw clearly that the whole situation was impure, that their was guilt to be found on both sides, and so he chose a new path.  The following account from the Gospel of John illustrates Jesus' solution:

John 8:3-11  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus chose a better way forward, a way that contained both love and repentance from sin.  A way that actually fulfilled that line we say without really knowing what it means to do it, "Hate the sin, love the sinner."  I don't have a snappy plan for how we can apply this lesson to the criminal justice system in America, but I hope that the next time I interact with someone who has a criminal record, or just a more difficult past or present set of circumstances than my own, I act more like Jesus toward him/her than like the Pharisees.

Sermon Video: When God sets you free, who can condemn you? - Romans 8:33-34

Using Monty Python and the Holy Grail's infamous witch trial (witch=wood=duck) as a foil for humanity's imperfect justice, the comparison is to God's full, impartial, and absolute justice.  God knows each and every sin (evil) in the hearts of humanity.  And yet, God has chosen to declare some of those same people to be his children, to be 'not guilty' and instead righteous.  How??

The answer is simple: In Jesus Christ

God justifies (declares not guilty) those who have faith in Jesus because Jesus' life of righteousness and total absence of sin enables him to be our substitute, to take our place.

Once God has done that, who is left to condemn us?  Nobody.

Not ourselves, not other people, not Satan himself.  Nobody.

Sermon Video: The Justice of God's Chosen One - Isaiah 42:1-4

In addition to his expected role as Messiah of king, Jesus added that of prophet and priest, but even more remarkably, that of servant as well. As God's chosen savior, a marvel in that because of Jesus' divinity it was in reality God choosing himself, Jesus served here on earth with remarkable self-control and compassion as he worked to establish God's justice on earth, a process that his death and resurrection secured the final victory for, and one that he will conclude when he returns in power and might.

For now, the calling of God's people is to imitate his self-control and compassion as we continue his mission of furthering God's justice on earth.

Listen to the Word of God: 62 Scripture passages that refute 'Christian' Nationalism - #2: 2 Chronicles 19:7

2 Chronicles 19:7

Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.”

Among the ways in which 'Christian' Nationalism damages the Church is by compromising its moral authority.  When the Church (or segments of it) ally themselves with worldly (political) power, it creates an incentive to criticize 'them' for moral failings and a disincentive to criticize 'our team' for those same moral failings.  In our own setting, we have seen this play out time and time again since the rise of Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority.  In addition to giving 'our' politicians and pundits a free pass while lambasting those of the opposition, 'Christian' Nationalism also encourages the defending of organizations and institutions (See: Clergy Sex Scandal, Catholic, Protestant, etc.) because they are part of that same team effort and if their moral failings were made known, if a reckoning and justice were to be pursued, it would be seen as a win for the other side.  When the nation or world is divided in this way into two camps competing for worldly power (as opposed to Paul's theology of worldly vs. spiritual), moral authority diminishes to a tactic, a cudgel, for the bashing of one's enemies, justice is denied, and the Church becomes complicit, at the least, in it.

How do we know God doesn't operate in this fashion?  The case of King David is illustrative.  Despite being the man hand-picked by God to rule Israel, and having been given the title, "a man after God's own heart", God didn't hesitate to send the Prophet Nathan to excoriate David and pronounce a hard judgment against him (2 Samuel 11-12).  God didn't look the other way, and he didn't engage in the repugnant 'what about' moral equivalency that seems to be the go-to response anytime a member/institution on 'our team' commits moral evil (hint: we'd call it a sin if they did it).  That King David was on his own side didn't pervert God's justice, let alone stop it.

How does this use of morality, as a tool for our own power rather than a standard to live by, affect our Gospel presentation?  How does perverting Justice advance the Kingdom of God?  These are questions that 'Christian' Nationalism has no answer for, and as God's Word makes clear, that's a problem.  

Sermon Video: God: Good will be rewarded, Evil punished - Romans 2:5-11

In the process of explaining to those who think they're on God's good side, but who in fact have stubborn and unrepentant hearts, that they are in fact angering God and storing up wrath for themselves, the Apostle Paul hits upon a universal truth: Good will be rewarded, Evil will be punished.  It may not seem like it now, but ultimately Justice will prevail.  Why?  Because God is Just, it is his nature.  That God offers grace to all who will repent and believe does not negate this fact, God didn't ignore the sin's of humanity, Jesus paid for them.  The implications of this truth are voluminous, among them the hope and encouragement those living righteously by faith receive knowing that their labors are not in vain.

Sermon Video: Righteousness by Faith - Romans 1:16-17

It was the study of Romans, in order to lecture upon the letter, that led Martin Luther to question the accepted understanding of the relationship between faith and righteousness, and it was these two verses, in particular, that brought Luther into conflict with his contemporaries.

Romans 1:16-17 is Paul's thesis statement, the idea that he will prove in his letter moving forward.  Paul proclaims that the Gospel (the Good News about Jesus Christ) is the power of God on display for EVERYONE who believes.  How?  The Gospel combines both God's justice, for payment for sin is indeed necessary, and God's love/mercy/grace because that payment comes not form ourselves but through Jesus by faith in him.

It is not our righteousness that is revealed by the power of the Gospel, for we have none and that's the heart of the problem, but God's, which he has in abundance in the sinless life of Jesus Christ.  Thus it is not the wonders of Creation that most reveals the power of God, but the willingness to die upon a Cross.

Is God 'woke'? The answer should matter to you.

Language changes constantly.  Every language does this, words are coined, borrowed, transformed, to fit the need of the moment.  Old words take on new meanings, sometimes at odds with how they were once used.  Some words fall into disuse and disappear from the cultural consciousness, other words rise into the zeitgeist for their own fifteen minutes of fame.

Woke is having a cultural moment.  During the 2022 and 2024 election cycles you will hear the term woke used a lot, a whole lot, by pundits and politicians, usually as an insult, a Scarlet 'A' akin to calling someone a Commie back before the Berlin Wall fell.  {Not that smearing one's opponent as a Communist or Socialist has fallen out of favor entirely}.  How the word 'woke' is being used now, especially as an insult, goes far beyond what the word meant just a few short years ago.

woke

/wōk/

Learn to pronounce

verb

1. past of wake¹.

adjective

INFORMAL•US

1. alert to injustice in society, especially racism.

   "we need to stay angry, and stay woke"

As Professor Andy Smith taught me back in the day when I was trying (and sort of succeeding) to learn Biblical Greek: "Word usage determines word meaning".  'Woke' doesn't technically mean anymore what the dictionary (in this case Oxford) says, at least not only that, because it isn't be used that way primarily anymore.  A 2nd definition now exists after the first, "an insult synonymous with calling someone a 'liberal'".

But what of the question in the post title?  Is God 'woke' by the dictionary definition?  Is God alert to injustice in society, especially racism?  Let us let the Word of God speak, and then we will ask the crucial question: Does God's attitude on these issues matter to us?

Leviticus 19:15 (NIV) “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."

Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV) He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

Deuteronomy 27:19 (NIV) “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.”  Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Psalm 82:3 (NIV) Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Psalm 140:12 (NIV) I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

Proverbs 21:3 (NIV) To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Proverbs 24:24-25 (NIV)  Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. 25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.

Proverbs 29:7 (NIV) The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.  Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Jeremiah 22:3 (NIV) This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Amos 5:10-12 (NIV) There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. 11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain.  Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.  There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has shown you, O mortal, 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.

Luke 11:42 (NIV)  “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 2:14-17 (NIV) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

There are more, a lot more, verses and passages of holy scripture that both declare God's concern for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner, AND reprimand God's people, in no uncertain terms, for failing to maintain justice.  Of the things that caused God to send Judah into exile (which included idolatry), how the poor and powerless were treated was a primary cause of God's anger.  In addition, Jesus himself famously (and controversially at least with the Pharisees and priestly class) sought out those in 1st century Judea who were forgotten, belittled, and oppressed: tax collectors, prostitutes, 'sinners', Samaritans, etc.  Few things angered Jesus' critics more than his willingness to point out to them that they were failing to 'do justice' because they had slammed the proverbial door in the face of those in need.

There is no way to read the Word of God, or study the history of Israel or the Church, without concluding that God is very much alert to injustice in society, that God cares a great deal about how society treats the 'least of these', and that God will absolutely judge, indeed he will pour out his wrath, upon those who oppress others and deny justice.  

If you think that racism is somehow an exception to this call for Justice, as if its pains and sorrow, injustices and griefs, are somehow lesser in God's sight, I pity you.  God is the Creator is all mankind, his Imago Dei is equally stamped upon every person, neither race nor nationality make any single person more or less the image of God than any other person.  Racism denies God's role as Creator, it spits in the face of God's common grace, of Jesus' commands to take the Gospel to all nations.  Racism is injustice in the eyes of God no less than sexism or classism, all of which immorally place human beings in categories of greater than, less than.

God is not less aware of injustice than we are, God is more aware, perfectly aware.  Afterall, God knows the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, and is not fooled by our pretenses and the lies we tell ourselves.  As the Judge of the living and the dead, God will avenge those who have been the victims of injustice.  

God knows the flaws (and strengths) of America, American culture, and the system of justice in America, with perfect depth and full clarity.

God is more 'woke' than anyone, he has been from the beginning.

God cares about injustice, therefore lack of care about injustice on our part is a sin, period.  On the flip side, putting effort and passion into overcoming injustice is an act of righteousness because it reflects the mind and will of God.  God honoring Christians can, and will, disagree about whether or not this particular example is injustice at work.  God honoring Christians can, and will, disagree about how to best remedy injustice in a free society.  But God honoring Christians cannot disagree about the importance of justice and the sinfulness of injustice, God has taken that option off the table.

Do you still think that 'alert to injustice in society, especially racism' is a fitting insult?

For further reading:

The Prophet Amos: What provokes God's wrath? - Injustice and False Worship

Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"

Systemic Racism: The casual racism of the phrase "Black on Black crime"

Josh McDowell's folly in addition to racism: Claiming that the Bible only talks about individuals

When the shameful past of Racism hits close to home

"What does the Bible say about systemic racism?" by WWUTT.com - an error filled and shameful tragedy that only makes things worse

Mitigating racism can't wait: Why Pastor Robert Jeffress is wrong

The danger of defining 'real' Americans vs. the necessity of categorizing 'real' Christians

Sermon Video: The Moral Cowardice of Pontius Pilate, Mark 15:1-15

We often think of cowardice in physical terms, as in standing up to the bully on the playground, but moral cowardice is both more consequential and more common.  Pontius Pilate is easy to portray as a villain, but the reason why he walked away from Jesus' innocence is important.  Standing up for Jesus would have cost Pilate something, at least in theory, and since he was far from being a good man, it wasn't that hard for him to choose himself.

Question: If the Church in America today comprised the crowd that Pilate addressed, what would our collective response to the choice between Jesus and Barabbas be?  Before answering consider, Jesus represented a spiritual kingdom won by self-sacrifice, and Barabbas represented an earthly (political/cultural) kingdom to be won by any means necessary.  It pains me to say, I don't know what the answer would be.

Sermon Video: The Sham Trial of Jesus - Mark 14:53-65

Sham/Show Trials are a common feature of autocratic governments, but 'free societies' are not immune to them.  The most famous sham trail in history is that of Jesus Christ.  After a series of false witnesses failed to lead to conviction, even after men had twisted and warped Jesus' own words to try to use them against him, the High Priest himself was forced to move the trial to the question of whether or not Jesus was the Messiah.  In the end, then, Jesus was convicted for telling the Truth by a group of religious leaders who had already decided that Jesus was, "Not my Messiah!"

For the people of God, this trial offers a warning: When we choose underhanded tactics, and false testimony, as our tool against 'them', we sow the seeds of our own judgment.  Also, when faced with provocateurs and fools, the best response is often silence, until they asked him about the Truth, Jesus said nothing.

The Prophet Amos: What provokes God's wrath? - Injustice and False Worship

Amos was an ordinary man, a farmer from Judah, chosen by God in the 8th century BC to go to Israel to warn the people of the impending wrath of God.  Israel was the name given to the 10 northern tribes that broke away from the Davidic dynasty following the death of Solomon (due to the arrogance of Solomon's son Rehoboam).  The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC, less than two generations after the warning given to it by Amos.

With the idea of Justice prominent in our conversations as Americans and as Christian Americans, it benefits us to consider what the Justice of God looks like.  What provoked the wrath of God against his Covenant people of Israel and Judah?  What offenses were the prophets commanded to condemn?

The text below is excerpted from the book of Amos, its nine chapters can be read in twenty or thirty minutes; please do so.  These texts appear in the order they are given, not arranged thematically.  My commentary will appear in bold after each text.

 Amos 2:4-5 (NIV)

4 This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Judah,

    even for four, I will not relent.

Because they have rejected the law of the Lord

    and have not kept his decrees,

because they have been led astray by false gods,

    the gods their ancestors followed,

5 I will send fire on Judah

    that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

Judah is not the focus of Amos' ministry, but his prophecy begins by announcing God's wrath against the surrounding peoples, primarily for their violence toward neighboring peoples, including the people of Judah to the south.  Judah's sin is more specific, involving idolatry and the worship of false gods.  Although Judah was a troubled society, their kingdom endured until 586 BC when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, they too committed the same type of sins that Israel will be charged with by Amos, and God sent them prophets as a warning in turn. 

Amos 2:6-8 (NIV)

6 This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Israel,

    even for four, I will not relent.

They sell the innocent for silver,

    and the needy for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample on the heads of the poor

    as on the dust of the ground

    and deny justice to the oppressed.

Father and son use the same girl

    and so profane my holy name.

8 They lie down beside every altar

    on garments taken in pledge.

In the house of their god

    they drink wine taken as fines.

Here begins the indictment: (1) selling the innocent for silver, (2) trampling the poor, and (3) denying justice to the oppressed.  The society of Israel systematically oppressed the poor, taking advantage of them both in business and in the courts of law.  These themes will be repeated throughout Amos' prophecy.  In addition, the people of Israel indulged in sexual immorality ('Father and son use the same girl') and mocked God by coming to his altar while retaining a garment taken in pledge (an act forbidden by the Law, Exodus 22:26-27).  Lastly, they were drinking wine in God's house that had been taken as fines (presumably unjust fines).  These last two point toward a pattern of false/insincere worship.  God will not be mocked.  Galatians 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  To worship God while in the middle of conducting sinful behavior, will not be tolerated.

Amos 2:11-12 (NIV)

11 “I also raised up prophets from among your children

    and Nazirites from among your youths.

Is this not true, people of Israel?”

declares the Lord.

12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine

    and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

God was not silent when these injustices and blasphemies occurred.  His response was to send prophets, but the people made a mockery of the Nazirites (who had taken vows not to drink alcohol) and told the prophets to be quiet.  This idea will be repeated in Amos, the powerful do not like to be reminded of their sins (anymore than the rest of us, but they have the power to silence their critics).

Amos 3:1-3 (NIV)

1 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2 “You only have I chosen

    of all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

    for all your sins.”

3 Do two walk together

    unless they have agreed to do so?

This is a key point that is often overlooked: God holds his own people MORE accountable than the rest of humanity.  When we talk about Justice, in society, we hope for equality and fairness, but when we consider God's Justice, we need to be very aware that God is both more stern and more gracious to his people.  He is willing to forgive our sins, if we repent, but highly intolerant of our immorality if we harden our hearts.  I know that many of my fellow Christians consider America to be the New Israel (Replacement theology), thinking of us in the same Covenant terms that were given by Moses to the people.  The theology of this position is flawed, and that can be demonstrated by examining Paul's letter to the Romans, but there's an important reason to be glad we aren't the New Israel: We wouldn't survive God's wrath.  Israel was held to a higher standard than their neighbors, no nation in our world today would survive such scrutiny. 

Amos 4:1 (NIV)

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,

    you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy

    and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

The upper class women of Israel were as involved in crushing the poor as their husbands, laughing at the situation in a way worthy of Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake!"

Amos 4:4-5 (NIV)

4 “Go to Bethel and sin;

    go to Gilgal and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

    your tithes every three years.

5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering

    and brag about your freewill offerings—

boast about them, you Israelites,

    for this is what you love to do,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.

This section shows God's sense of humor.  In this case, biting irony.  The people were still obeying the FORM of correct worship while their hearts were far from God.  They oppressed the poor and needy during the week and worshiped the LORD on the Sabbath.  Such worship is not only fruitless, it actually offends and angers God.  The prophet Isaiah makes this clear, "Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being.  They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them." (Isaiah 1:14)  Once again, if America were the New Israel, it wouldn't matter how many people were in church on Sunday morning when God considered our nation's ample inequality, injustice, and immorality (sins that God's people sadly participate in all too readily).  As it is, we cannot hope to receive God's blessing as a nation if we don't address the issues of injustice in our society.

Amos 5:10-12 (NIV)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court

    and detest the one who tells the truth.

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor

    and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,

    you will not live in them;

though you have planted lush vineyards,

    you will not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your offenses

    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes

    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

The pronouncement against injustice continues: (1) injustice in the courts through false testimony, (2) heavy taxes upon the poor, (3) the taking of bribes to deprive the poor of justice.  Looking at a list like this, I'm struck by the animosity toward the idea of social justice in America.  Many Christians, and a not a few prominent Christian leaders, demonize the idea of seeking equality before the Law, calling it a political ploy or a Leftist plot {See: Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"}.  And yet, God cares about these issues enough to make them the FOCUS of the warning of his chosen prophet that judgment is at hand.  I'm not saying that those advocating for social justice are without error (in their tactics or judgments), but how can the very IDEA of seeking equality in the face of injustice be against the will of God?  The Scriptures say otherwise.

Amos 5:14-15 (NIV)

14 Seek good, not evil,

    that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

    just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil, love good;

    maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy

    on the remnant of Joseph.

How can God's people avert the disaster heading their way?  Repent and administer true justice.  This is one piece that is often missing in the discussion of America's history of racism.  IF we truly have repented of the way in which our ancestors treated Blacks, Indians, and various other minorities, we would now be actively seeking to "maintain justice in the courts."  In other words, the sincerity of our repentance, as a people, is not judged by our claims of sincerity but by the results of our actions.  Actions speak louder than words.  The verdict on whether or not America retains systemic racism will show itself in the way in which our justice system treats ALL the people.  IF we have repented, we will live in a way that proves it.  {This is what true repentance always looks like in the Bible, without follow-up actions that prove it is genuine, the repentance is not considered legitimate.}

Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)

21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

    your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

    I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,

    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Harsh words from God (via Amos) about the value of the worship of the people.  God does NOT accept worship from a people mired in immorality.  Why?  Because God is holy, his people must seek righteousness, must "hate what is evil; cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9)  If they do not, no amount of worship, offerings, or singing will be accepted by God.  What is the antidote to false worship?  "let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"  And yet, churches that involve themselves in helping the poor, in seeking racial harmony and reconciliation, often by working for a more just and fair legal system, are accused of abandoning the Gospel.  The Word of God warns us of the frailty of a path that focuses upon worship and ignores injustice, of one that claims to follow God on Sunday, but ignores the needs of the people in our community the other six days of the week.  The Gospel call for salvation by grace through faith must always remain central to our ministry, but that message is made COMPLETE (by actions that demonstrate the sincerity of our faith) when we work for righteousness in our community.

Amos 7:10-13 (NIV)

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,

    and Israel will surely go into exile,

    away from their native land.’”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

Was Amos welcomed with open arms?  Nope.  The leadership in Israel were not pleased with Amos' warning and told him to go home.  Why?  Because the sacred space at Bethel, and the authority of the king couldn't be bothered with hearing from God.  There is irony here, of course, that those in leadership should be most keen to hear from God, but are in fact the least.  Why?  Because their hearts are hard, and because they benefit from the oppression of the poor.  That dynamic is true in every society in human history, ours included.

Amos 8:4-6 (NIV)

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy

    and do away with the poor of the land,

5 saying,

“When will the New Moon be over

    that we may sell grain,

and the Sabbath be ended

    that we may market wheat?”—

skimping on the measure,

    boosting the price

    and cheating with dishonest scales,

6 buying the poor with silver

    and the needy for a pair of sandals,

    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

Lastly, Amos broadens the indictment of oppression of the poor with examples: (1) the eagerness of the merchants to get back to business as soon as the Sabbath is over, (2) the dishonest business practices that cheat the customers.  I've also read that the term Economic Justice is an affront to Justice, an insult to God.  That doesn't seem to be the case here.  The prophet of God is concerned with something as commonplace as dishonest scales.  Should not the Church of Jesus Christ concern itself with the ways in which the poor in our nation are treated?  Should not issues of homelessness, housing, education, addiction, and the need for a living wage be our concern?  God-honoring Christians can disagree about HOW to address such issues, about which political or legal solutions are best, but we have been given no wiggle room as to the question of whether or not we should CARE about these things.

What does the book of Amos illustrate to us about God and Justice? (1) God cares about legal injustices, (2) God cares about economic injustices, (3) God holds the rich and powerful accountable for these injustices, (4) God will not accept worship from his people if they are involved in  perpetuating these injustices, and (5) the rich and powerful are unlikely to appreciate being called to task by a prophetic voice speaking the Words of God.  

Social Justice?  Racial Justice?  Legal Justice?  Economic Justice?  God cared about them then, and their lack provoked his wrath.  God does not change.  God cares about them now, their lack still provokes his wrath.  The prophet Amos was called to bring to the people's attention these failings, we honor God when we do likewise in our time and place.

Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"

 Exodus 20:7 (NIV) “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

To abuse Scripture to portray God in a light contrary to the Word of God is a violation of this commandment.  This is a danger that faces those who purport to speak on God's behalf, a warning of the need to treat the Word of God with respect and honesty.

PragerU is not a university, or an educational institution of any kind, rather it is a popular social media content company founded by talk show host and writer Dennis Prager (co-founded by Allen Estrin), and funded by billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks (from the petroleum industry.  The Wilks family founded the Assembly of Yahweh church, a group with numerous non-orthodox/heretical beliefs {they're essentially unitarian, denying the Trinity and making Jesus a created being; not to be confused with the Unitarian Universalist Church, that's a very different group}).  PragerU espouses a Conservative, often Libertarian, consistently Republican viewpoint.  This being America, PragerU has every right to support these views, to share them in any legal manner, and those whose beliefs coincide with those views have every right to appreciate the content that PragerU creates.  However, PragerU decided to bring God into the conversation, to declare that the Bible (and God) 100% supports their position on an issue, that the Bible (and God) 100% condemns the other side on this same issue, and that those in the Church who disagree are, in essence, fake Christians.  If you're going to take such a God-centered position, you'd better be able to back it up with theology drawn from the whole Bible (not just cherry-picked verses), from Christian theologians and thinkers throughout Church History, AND you'd better present your argument with honesty and integrity, "for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

Below is the transcript (in this font) of the PragerU video (link above, please watch it to see for yourself).  My comments upon the video will appear in bold.

The Lord is a God of social justice. 

That’s the message in many—maybe most—churches and synagogues in America and the West today.

But here’s the problem: The Bible doesn’t actually say that. It says (in Isaiah), “The Lord is a God of justice.” You’ll find a lot of references to justice in the Bible. But you’ll never find it preceded by the word “social.”

1. The "____ is not in the Bible" argument is both foolish and disingenuous.  Why?  Because it can easily be used against any modern concept.  Let me show you.  "The Lord is a God of democracy...But here's the problem: The Bible doesn't actually say that."  Other words not in the Bible: capitalism, socialism, America, vote, Republican, Democrat, free trade, minimum wage, etc.  I've seen this argument used before, and it is always an exceedingly weak one.  Not only are modern concepts not in the Bible, which is of course a document written in the Ancient World, but the Bible you and I read isn't in its original languages.  The Bible was written in ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic (just a few verses), and thus whether or not a particular English word or phrase is in our Bible is also a translators decision.

But you’re probably thinking, “What’s the difference? Isn’t God the God of justice and social justice?” Well, not if He’s consistent. You see, God cannot be the God of justice and social justice because social justice is not just.

2. Here is the premise of PragerU's argument: Social justice isn't just.  That's a serious theological position to take, one that would require numerous examples of social justice movements and advocates actually seeking injustice, as well as significant exegesis of Scripture to establish, but instead of that, PragerU's video will next create a false Straw Man version of Social Justice to attack, declare that version to be unjust, and move on hoping nobody noticed the bait and switch.  They are correct that God cannot be the God of injustice, nor of immorality of any kind, including dishonesty.  

Justice is getting what you deserve without favor. Social justice is getting what you don’t deserve because you are favored. 

3. Here's the Straw Man: "Social Justice is getting what you don't deserve because you are favored."  No it isn't.  From the Oxford dictionary: "The objective of creating a fair and equal society in which each individual matters, their rights are recognized and protected, and decisions are made in ways that are fair and honest."  Or from Dictionary.com if you prefer: "Fair treatment of all people in a society, including respect for the rights of minorities and equitable distribution of resources among members of a community."  Here's an important lesson in language: Word usage determines word meaning.  How words are used is what they mean.  Dictionaries tell us what words mean based on how people are currently using them.  PragerU has decided to make up their own definition of the term social justice, which is not a definition at all, but a critique from their own political philosophy.  That's not how dialogue works, but it is how punditry works, and this sort of 'argumentation' is one of the reasons why Americans are often at each other's throats.  In addition to be unhelpful in actually discussing an issue, this is dishonest.  The vast majority of people who advocate for social justice do NOT believe that people should get what they don't deserve.  And since PragerU brought Christian Churches into this conversation (in order to condemn them), there are few Christian Churches who believe that their efforts for social justice have anything to do with PragerU's 'definition'.

Justice is blind. Social justice is not.

4. Here lies the heart of the matter and the fundamental flaw in PragerU's viewpoint:  Justice isn't blind, not in the real world.  It may be blind, ideally, but throughout human history it has rarely been so.  Social Justice is the response to this perverted justice, it is an effort to re-balance the scales of justice, to take away the advantages that certain people/groups have (in America that would be, in order of importance for having 'justice' tilt in your direction: rich, males, who are white) with respect to justice, and also taking away the disadvantages that certain people/groups have (in America, again in descending order that would be: poor, minority, female) with respect to justice.  The Rich have one version of justice (in America, throughout the world, and throughout history), the poor have another.  The powerful (often associated with class, caste, or ace) have one version, the weak have another.  And yes, men have one version, women have another. 

Let's say a man robs a store. Justice demands but one thing: that he be tried in a court of justice, and, if he is found guilty, punished. 

That is not how social justice works. Social justice doesn’t only ask if the person is guilty. It asks about his economic condition: Is he poor or wealthy? About his upbringing: What kind of childhood did he have? About his race or ethnicity: Is he a member of a group that has been historically oppressed?

5. The Straw Man version of social justice once more in action.  I've never heard anyone advocating for social justice proclaim that a criminal who is a minority should be given a 'get out of jail free' card.  Again, justice isn't blind.  The system of criminal justice (as the example is about crime) both in America today and throughout the world and its history, is one that is unfairly tilted toward those with power (typically wealthy, but also things like aristocratic birth).  The system affords them ample opportunities to avoid true impartial justice, while at the same time, stacking the deck against the weak and powerless.  This is a fact of both history and the world today.  It is beyond dispute, yet PragerU mentions this disparity in their video, not at all.  This is the heart of social justice movements, but PragerU is declaring that God hates social justice without touching upon this element.  

Justice demands that everyone be equal under the law. Social justice demands that everyone be equal. Period. Economically, socially, and in every other possible way.

Justice asks, “Who did it?” Social justice asks, “Why did he do it?”

Lost in all these social justice considerations is the individual’s own responsibility for what he did. That’s why social justice advocates have abandoned the term “justice.” They deem justice alone as unfair. And sometimes it is. A man who was beaten by his father and abandoned by his mother is more likely to commit a violent crime than a man raised in a loving home. But those facts cannot and should not determine his innocence or guilt. 

Why? Because justice is, first and foremost, about truth: Is the person guilty or innocent of the crime? None of us is omniscient. We don’t know why people do what they do. After all, the vast majority of people raised in abusive homes do not commit violent crimes. Nor do the vast majority of people who are members of an historically oppressed group. 

6. PragerU is arguing from the false standpoint that justice is currently fair and that those seeking social justice want to make it unfair.  If that were true, they might have a point, but it isn't, neither part of it.  The secular justice system in America should take into consideration if a defendant was an abuse victim, if he/she has a mental illness, and other mitigating factors.  A TRUE search for Justice (with a capital J) has room for compassion, has hope for rehabilitation of offenders, and takes into consideration the circumstances behind why a crime is committed.  Why?  Because that's the way God judges us (more on that later).  Again, this is a broken record, but PragerU is arguing against a false version of social justice, as if the idea of social justice is to excuse the guilty from any/all punishment, rather than seeking to actually allow justice to operate without its prejudices. 

So, how does God judge human beings?  Are we treated equally for fairly?

James 3:1 (NIV)  Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

Luke 12:42-48 42 (NIV) The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

Hebrews 6:4-8 (NIV)  4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[a] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

More examples could be given, but when studying God's interaction with human beings in his Word it becomes apparent that God's justice is not 'blind'.  It does indeed take into account the attitudes and knowledge of the people being judged, and it holds those who have received more blessings, MORE accountable.  God is not a computer, he's a person.  God views humanity with both righteousness (his holiness requires it) AND compassion.  With both anger toward the wicked and mercy toward the repentant {See Jonah: Jonah didn't want to go to Ninevah to share God's warning with that wicked people precisely because he wanted to see them destroyed not saved, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."}

As Christians, what kind of Justice ought we to imitate?  Blind justice, or God's justice?  One could argue that a secular society should seek to administer blind justice and not be influenced by Judeo-Christian ideals, but that's the opposite of what PragerU is saying here as they're actually advocating for blind justice (which we don't currently have, and won't have without social justice, an irony to be sure) in the name of God, and condemning those who want a justice system that more closely resembles the way in which God judges people.  

Being a victim, however that is defined, is no excuse for hurting other people. And what about those who are hurt—the victims of those crimes? Shouldn’t they, and other law-abiding citizens, be society’s first consideration?

7. Social Justice doesn't care about victims.  That's a big statement, if only it were backed up with any evidence...Oh, and if you're going to bring God into the picture (which PragerU purposefully did), don't spend the whole time talking about Law with no mention of Grace.  If the character of God is the barometer of whether or not our system of justice is a righteous one, it had better take into account BOTH God's willingness to punish the wicked, AND God's willingness to have mercy upon the wicked.  So far this presentation is 100% Law.

Social justice advocates say no. They say we need social justice to even things out. And that means favoring the have-nots over the haves—the poor over the rich, the female over the male, and the brown or black over the white.

The Bible does not see the world this way. In fact, it speaks against it in very explicit terms. 

Here’s a law in the Book of Exodus: “Do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.”

Here’s one in Leviticus: “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great but judge your neighbor justly.”

Moses, the greatest lawgiver in history, declares in Deuteronomy: “Follow justice and justice alone.”

And the New Testament declares in the Book of Romans: “God shows no partiality.”

8.  Here is the entirety of the thesis that the Bible is against social justice: 4 verses of scripture.  Of the 4 verses chosen by PragerU, two warn against favoring the poor, and two speak of impartiality in general.  If only the Bible spoke, anywhere, about NOT favoring the rich and powerful, if only the prophets had bothered to speak on this topic too...Here is a list of 100 verses commanding God's people to protect/advocate for the helpless (poor, widow, orphan, foreigner, oppressed): What does the Bible say about protecting the Helpless?  Let me highlight a few of them below:

Deuteronomy 27:19 ‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

Psalm 12:5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Isaiah 58:6-7 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Jeremiah 21:12 O house of David! Thus says the Lord: ‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’

Jeremiah 22:16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord.

Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Romans 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Or if you prefer, here is what Compassion International (one of the most respected Christian charities) has to say about God's relationship to the poor: What the Bible Says about Poverty

Or look at how World Vision (another highly respected Christian charity) addresses the issue: What does the Bible say about advocacy?

The point is, PragerU has badly cherry-picked scripture to create a false impression, one that it simply tries to dismiss with its next paragraph.  Why does the possibility (not the reality, this isn't happening now) of the poor being favored offend PragerU so deeply (its the only type of injustice they mention) but the reality of the rich being favored day after day isn't an issue?

None of this means that there is no place for compassion in a system of justice. Of course, there is. The Bible is preoccupied with the protection of the widow, the orphan, and unfortunate. But compassion follows justice. It doesn’t precede it. 

9.  Yes!  The Bible is preoccupied with the protection of the weak and powerless!  How can your very next sentence start with 'But'?  "Compassion follows Justice.  It doesn't precede it."  Thank God this isn't true.  Compassion is integral to Justice, Mercy is foundational to Justice, Love is intertwined with Justice.  Does God execute complete Justice with regard to human sin?  Absolutely, that's why Jesus died upon the Cross, to take the full weight of our sins upon his perfect shoulders.  {See the book of Hebrews for a detailed discussion}  Do we experience complete Justice?  Thanks be to God, we do not.  Christ died for the ungodly, Christ died for the undeserving, Christ died for sinners.  THIS is the character of God, this is the Justice that we should aspire to.

Well meaning and God honoring Christians can, and will, disagree about HOW MUCH injustice exists, about which particular examples are unjust, and about HOW TO CORRECT that injustice.  These can be normal healthy disagreements and discussions about the command we have received from the LORD to administer true justice, protecting the powerless.  What does not fit within a Biblical framework is a viewpoint that treats the effort being made to correct injustices as an abomination to God.  That viewpoint, expressed as it is here in PragerU's video, is taking the name of the LORD in vain and misrepresenting his Word.

Also, justice, in and of itself, is compassionate. First, to the victims of crime and to their loved ones. And second, to the criminal: How can you become a better human being if you don’t first recognize that you’ve done something wrong? 

That’s why any time we put an adjective before the word “justice,” we no longer have justice. Economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice—any form of “social” justice which seeks to “correct” actual justice—undermines justice. 

10. The word social preceding justice automatically negates it?  As a former English teacher this claim leaves me scratching my head.  This is another argument that doesn't make any sense because it could equally be used against other uses of adverbs and adjectives in front of nouns with silly results.  For example: Agape Love, Brotherly Love, Loving Kindness, Saving Faith, Holy Spirit, etc.  Why is this one example with the word justice, somehow evil when we use words like this all the time, and so does the Bible?  The answer is PragerU's political philosophy, not Biblical theology.  

"Any form of 'social' justice which seeks to 'correct' actual justice- undermines justice."  This would only be true IF actual justice were actually happening.  To correct injustice IS justice.  To stop further injustice IS justice.  This is the Straw Man still going, social justice doesn't seek to undue true impartial justice, but rather the perverted form of justice that many people in society have to reckon with.  What actually undermines Justice in a society?  When the rich and powerful guilty are allowed to go free (or get greatly reduced punishments) and the poor and powerless have the full weight of the system upon their backs, whether or not they are guilty.  Is the LORD supposed to be pleased with this?  Is God supposed to be smiling upon America (or any other nation) as a paragon of true Justice?  If the prophets of old excoriated Israel for failing to follow God's Law with justice, what makes you think any other nation is beyond God's ire?

So, then, if social justice is not a biblical concept, why do so many churches and synagogues promote it? 

Because many Christians and Jews no longer regard biblical principles as binding. Because it’s a lot easier to dispense compassion than hold people to a biblical standard. And because leftism has superseded the Bible in many houses of worship—and leftism, as a guiding principle, holds that the weak are good and the powerful are bad. 

That’s why the great battle of our time is between Judeo-Christian values and leftist values. The former is rooted in justice; the latter is not.

11.  And the icing on the cake?  PragerU has declared that Christians and Christian Churches who follow the Bible's commands to advocate for the poor and the powerless are in fact fake Christians who care more about Leftist politics than they do about God.  This is a sweeping and broad condemnation, one that would include MLK Jr., Mother Theresa, St. Francis of Assisi, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, John the Baptist, and of course Jesus himself who had a pesky habit of siding with the poor and the oppressed against the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin.  

What does the Bible say about Right vs. Left?  Nothing.  What does it say about Capitalism vs. Socialism?  Nothing.  Take these fights outside and stop dragging God into them.

Here's an uncomfortable truth for PragerU: The only economic system that God ever created was that of ancient Israel through the Law of Moses.  This system was NOT a free-market land of rugged individualism, but rather a system designed with a safety net for the poor {See Ruth and the law of gleanings} as well as a powerful mechanism to rebalance economic inequality in the Year of Jubilee.  Every 50 years the entire nation of Israel was required to return all property to its original owners (leaving no families destitute with generational poverty) and free all slaves.  God required his people to RESET the wealth/poverty ratio on a regular basis.  This was not 'blind justice' in action, but God's justice, for it contained both mercy and grace.

I’m Allie Beth Stuckey, host of Relatable on BlazeTV, for Prager University.

12. I have nothing against Allie Beth Stuckey, but if you're going to claim that God is on your side, maybe chose a theologian and not a pundit to make the case.

Acts 20:27 (NIV)  For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

There is plenty of room within orthodox Christianity to discuss the issue of social justice with fairness and honesty.  There is plenty of room to disagree about the extent of injustice and the potential solutions to it.  I have family and friends, and members of my church whom love, who disagree with me on issues of social justice (racial, economic, etc.)  We disagree about how to obey God, and that's ok, we're living and learning together.  Historic, orthodox, Christianity, grounded in the Word of God has maintained an advocacy for the poor and the powerless, and it has maintained a prophetic voice against the abuses perpetuated by the rich and powerful.  This stance honors our God, for it imitates him.  PragerU is free to make its arguments in the political sphere, but if its going to try to dictate the will of God to the Church, it had better go back and read the WHOLE Bible.

For further discussion of Justice in the Bible: Justice, the Bible Project

"While justice can be used to talk about retributive justice in which a person is punished for their wrongdoings, most of the time the Bible uses the word justice to refer to restorative justice, in which those who are unrightfully hurt or wronged are restored and given back what was taken from them. Taken this way, the combination of righteousness and justice that God dictates means a selfless way of life in which people do everything they can to ensure that others are treated well and injustices are fixed."

Or: What is Biblical Justice? by Paul Metzger, CT

"Justice flows from God's heart and character. As true and good, God seeks to make the object of his holy love whole. This is what motivates God throughout the Old and New Testaments in his judgments on sin and injustice. These judgments are both individual and corporate in scope."