Thoughts on Justice

As I’ve been reading Timothy Keller’s book Generous Justice, Keller has opened my eyes to what justice really is. Justice to me has always been limited to the realm of criminal justice.

I’m not very far along in the book, but Keller has given me a lot to chew on regarding justice, the poor, political division, and what the Bible says about it all. I don’t know that I necessarily endorse Keller and all that he says, but this book has already challenged what I believe about justice and why I think that way.

Here’s an excerpt that challenged some of my thinking and perhaps may challenge yours as well:

“There are valid reasons why many become concerned when they hear Christians talk about ‘doing justice.’ Often that term is just a slogan being used to recruit listeners to jump on some political bandwagon. . . . We do justice when we give all human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the righting of wrongs, but generosity and social concern, especially toward the poor and vulnerable (18).

The Bible demands that we share our resources with the needy, and that to fail to do so is unjust, taken as a whole the Bible does not say precisely how that redistribution should be carried out. Should it be the way political conservatives prescribe, almost exclusively through voluntary, private giving? Or should it be the way the political liberals desire, through progressive taxation and redistribution by the state? Thoughtful people have and will argue about which is the most effective way to help the poor. Both sides looking for support in the Bible can find some, and yet in the end what the Bible says about social justice cannot be tied to any one political system or economic policy. If it is possible, we need to take politics out of this equation as we look deeper into the Bible’s call for justice (32).”

(December 2016)