I've come to a conclusion...I am spending far too much time in the company of Sam Harvey. This young rudugger (while older than me) has officially destroyed my enjoyment of scripture, and to a certain extent...life. Where I was once able to open my bible and read some nice passage that brought a tear to my eye, or gave me a warm Jesus moment, now instead all I see is issues relating to social justice.
How often do we talk about Social Justice? How often do we rant about a need for things to change? About how we are the generation to make it happen? The thing that seems to evade most conversation on this topic is the sacrifice required to make it happen.
In his musings on this notion of justic Richard Kauffman says that 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere'. For me, this is a hugely convicting statement. I start to wonder if the $40 that leaves my account each month for a kid in Kenya is actually for his benefit or for mine. The injustice here is that I use this to feel okay about myself while I'm only doing what God requires of me as a Christian anyway. There is a healthy distance in my donation, I can feel like I'm making a stand for world poverty while not having to face any reality but the smiling child in the photo on my mantlepiece.
I'm definitely not leading the charge to stop payments to aid organisations. This money is without a doubt changing lives. It is the motive that worries me. I feel sometimes like we talk about Social Justice till we're blue in the face, but we're only addressing the product and not the problem. Like sexual sin, Masturbation and pornography aren't the problem - the problem starts with insecurities in my heart. If I only address the outcome I simply hide and don't allow God to bring about REAL change.
If, like Kauffman says, 'that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere', then the injust heart at the core of us is surely the biggest hinderance to seeing justice brought about today. I cringe when I look at this verse in Isaiah 5:18-19 when God rebukes the leaders of Jerusalem.
"You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. And you say, "Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see if for ourselves!"
This sounds a bit too much like me sometimes. I rant about a desire for 'the miraculous' or 'real change', but I haven't asked God to change the state of my heart. I lie in the way I walk and talk about these issues, in the hope of creating a smoke-screen over the apathy that's rife at the core of me.
I've heard it said that hope and frustration often go hand in hand. I think that's where this post is coming from. The small part of me that desires freedom and justice, and this other part of me that can't stand the fact I don't see it already. Back in Isaiah 5v16 it says that 'God shows who he is by bringing Justice.' In light of this verse, I am desperate to see God's people showing who he is in the same way.
How often do we talk about Social Justice? How often do we rant about a need for things to change? About how we are the generation to make it happen? The thing that seems to evade most conversation on this topic is the sacrifice required to make it happen.
In his musings on this notion of justic Richard Kauffman says that 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere'. For me, this is a hugely convicting statement. I start to wonder if the $40 that leaves my account each month for a kid in Kenya is actually for his benefit or for mine. The injustice here is that I use this to feel okay about myself while I'm only doing what God requires of me as a Christian anyway. There is a healthy distance in my donation, I can feel like I'm making a stand for world poverty while not having to face any reality but the smiling child in the photo on my mantlepiece.
I'm definitely not leading the charge to stop payments to aid organisations. This money is without a doubt changing lives. It is the motive that worries me. I feel sometimes like we talk about Social Justice till we're blue in the face, but we're only addressing the product and not the problem. Like sexual sin, Masturbation and pornography aren't the problem - the problem starts with insecurities in my heart. If I only address the outcome I simply hide and don't allow God to bring about REAL change.
If, like Kauffman says, 'that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere', then the injust heart at the core of us is surely the biggest hinderance to seeing justice brought about today. I cringe when I look at this verse in Isaiah 5:18-19 when God rebukes the leaders of Jerusalem.
"You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. And you say, "Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see if for ourselves!"
This sounds a bit too much like me sometimes. I rant about a desire for 'the miraculous' or 'real change', but I haven't asked God to change the state of my heart. I lie in the way I walk and talk about these issues, in the hope of creating a smoke-screen over the apathy that's rife at the core of me.
I've heard it said that hope and frustration often go hand in hand. I think that's where this post is coming from. The small part of me that desires freedom and justice, and this other part of me that can't stand the fact I don't see it already. Back in Isaiah 5v16 it says that 'God shows who he is by bringing Justice.' In light of this verse, I am desperate to see God's people showing who he is in the same way.
