I’m amazed in today’s world about how fickle we’ve become. I’m not amazed at the world but at the people of God. We spend countless hours, tons of energy, and resources fighting to be treated justly in a world we already know to be unjust, full of sin, and woefully fallen.
The Good Samaritan
While we cannot condone the unkind treatment of our fellow human beings, we also are not called to correct every injustice on the face of the earth. I believe the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) illustrates the way we should treat those who are downtrodden and beat down. We should never pass by and ignore those who are suffering under the hands of oppression or any form of injustice.
All Injustice is NOT a ‘Good Samaritan’ Situation
On the other hand, when we set out to fight ALL injustice, at all costs, we create the mess we’re in at the moment. Everything becomes wrong in our eyes and no one in authority can ever do right by us. Injustice will always be there. Our job is to work in the lives of those we’re called to such that the Gospel affects their actions more than the law of nature. The law of nature is the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
Men and women of God have been caught up in divisive and hatred driven causes that threaten to tear the fabric of our society. I believe and know that we have a mandate as God’s people, to reach the world around us and by the grace of God, to bring light where darkness prevails.
What Do We Want?
I wonder how we’ve come so far as to negate the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in social issues. The Spirit of the Lord is just as powerful when it comes to social issues as it is when it comes to the miraculous. Are we asking God for a society that is just or are we asking Him to send His Kingdom to earth, as it is in Heaven? Are we crying out to be saved from the present danger or are we looking to see how we can impact the world in spite of the present danger?
Jesus taught His disciples to pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done, on earth as in Heaven. What a powerful prayer! The only way Heaven comes down is through us. The only way the earth is changed is through us. The only way God’s biblical justice prevails is through us. Heaven can come and affect the earth in profound ways if only we call on Heaven more often than we call on earthly governments.
The change most are looking for cannot be attained in any society. While we need a justice system that’s impartial, we also need to connect to a just God that sees all wrongdoing, even the hidden motives of the heart (Proverbs 20:27). He is perfectly impartial and sees beyond the actions of men into the motives of the heart.
What We Need
I’m not who I was. I’m being transformed daily into His image as I behold Him face to face. I hope that many will be similarly transformed as we shift our focus from seeking elusive earthly justice to seeking a Heavenly justice that adjusts and corrects all wrongdoing for the purpose of making us holy like He is. I do not desire to be a good human being. I do not even desire to be a great human being. I desired to be a Godly human being, reflecting His glory into the earth as I behold Him from the Heavenly place where He is seated.
Choose victory over victimhood. I believe in a God who supersedes social constructs, injustices of all kinds, and all our shortcomings to give us true victory in the face of all adversity. True victory can only be found in Him. There is no earthly structure that can give you true victory. A victim will always find a suitable villain.
Choose victory over victimhood. It’s interesting that we have faith in God to heal us, feed us, and sustain us yet we don’t believe that the same God can help us stare down adversity as we scale through life situations. Let Heaven come and change our society!
Nelson Masinde 