In Genuine Pursuit of Liberty and Justice for All
By Joseph Parker
“For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” – (Isaiah 30:18)
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” – (Micah 6:8)
“For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: afflicting the just and taking bribes; diverting the poor from justice at the gate. Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time.” – (Amos 5:12-13)
“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” – (Amos 5:21 – 24)
Justice is a very popular word and topic in our culture today. People often speak of wanting liberty, justice, and fair treatment for all. Sadly, true justice isn’t really sought after for “all.” The justice many are seeking is selfish. It is a “justice” that includes some while leaving out others.
Allow me to illustrate. We often quote the words of one of our forefathers of the Revolutionary War era. Patrick Henry nobly and boldly stated, “Give me liberty or give me death!” For the colonists, those were words to cheer and admire. However, the same patriots who would have cheered for Patrick Henry may not have reacted the same way, had a black slave said the same thing. That slave would likely have been shot dead. It’s easy to say we want liberty and justice for all, but so often we really only want justice of “just us.” That is, justice for whatever group we choose to include while excluding those we choose to exclude.
Today, many tout justice as a priority for themselves and our culture. On many college and university campuses, students will say that standing up for justice is very important. They will speak out, attend protests, and show great passion in seeking for justice as they see it.
Yet if you ask many of these same students about their thoughts on the importance of standing up for life and standing up for justice for babies in the womb, their loud voices grow strangely quiet. In fact, many of those voices may express anger that you would bring up such a topic. “Well, I believe in reproductive rights for women!” How dare you infringe on the “rights” of women – the right to choose what she can do what she wants with her body!”
What about justice for the babies? Do they not matter? What happened to justice for all? What they really mean is that they only want justice for people like them or that they like. They don’t truly want justice for all. They want for it for a specific person or groups of people. But not everyone.
God is justice and His Word lets us know that we are all made in His image. So we all have worth and are equal in His sight. Praise God that true justice is defined by Him, not people. Culture’s definition of justice may change from one situation to the next, from one group to the next. Someone always seems to be ignored when it comes to justice. Thank God that in His eyes we all stand equal before Him. God is the Judge and He is justice. He will ultimately and finally dispense it perfectly to everyone. In the meantime, if we are going to pursue “justice for all” then let’s mean what we say.