JUSTICE IN THE BIBLE: PART 1

The subject of justice, specifically social justice, appears over and over in the Bible. It is arguably the major theme of the Old Testament Prophets and summarizes the requirements of the Second Great Commandment. Thus, I was not really surprised when years ago an elderly (i.e., my present age) retired country preacher from a small Texas town stated from the pulpit, not once but on two separate occasions, “You can't be a conservative Christian without being a social and political liberal.” I don't think that went over well with our congregation, and it would be an even more unwelcome message in most current evangelical churches.

I don't want to dig too deeply into political issues in this blog, but I would like to summarize some points made in two interesting articles appearing in the latest Christianity Today magazine. What follows is a brief summary of an essay is by the noted evangelical Bible scholar M. Daniel Carroll R(odas), who recently wrote an excellent and exhaustive commentary on the Book of Amos.

He ponders what Old Testament prophets such as Amos, Isaiah, or Micah might think if they sat in on one of our Sunday morning worship services. Carroll notes first that there has been a renewed interest in worship among all church traditions from the most liturgical to the most free-wheeling and emotional. Among the reasons for this increased interest are worry about declining attendance, desire to recapture historic liturgies, and attempts to become more attune to cultural norms of the congregation.

But to what end is all this worship aimed? I know that I have asked myself the same question when listening to some recently composed praise music. In much of it, not only are the words puerile and repetitive, but the very delivery by the music team often casts a dark gloom over the lyrics with its mournful rendering by whining voices. To summarize, it is neither biblical nor joyful and certainly does not meet any recognized definition of the word “praise.” All it appears to accomplish is to produce a sort of mystical and inward-facing trance. It is doubtful that this is what God had in mind.

Most of us are familiar with this well-known passage found in Amos 5:24 – “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Rather than appearing as a stand-alone injunction, Carroll notes that the context of these words appears at the conclusion of a passage on worship. And God speaking through Amos goes as far as saying that He despises the people's offerings and songs and will not regard any of such forms of worship as long as they continue to trample on the rights of the underprivileged.

Carroll is careful to note that this point, “It is not to eliminate ritual; that is the only way that humans can worship. Even so-called nonliturgical churches have routine ceremonies and practices.” However, “Amos leaves no doubt that separating worship and social justice is distasteful to God.” And he concludes his essay with these words: “Worship, at its core, must be formative, designed to mold and nurture a people of justice, who lift up the God of justice and embody what that means in our lives and in society. That is the worship the Prophets clamored for.”

I would add that such teachings are by no means limited to the Old Testament. Besides Jesus' own words on the subject of exhibiting love to the “little ones” in our society, just consider I Corinthians and Paul's harsh words concerning that church which did hold regular communion services associated with group meals, but the wealthy in the congregation refused to share their food with the poorer members who had little to eat. In such a manner, some of the members were actually condemning themselves at the very time they were practicing worship.

The next most logical question for a Christian to ask is in regard to the means by which such social justice can best be carried out in today's world. That will be the subject of a following post.