Written for Slant33
What if Christ had this same mindset—viewing setting things straight as a side job or something he needed to do as a part of his ministry plan? Love wouldn’t allow him to view it that way. It was who he was—a just man, a just God, and a just Spirit.
Embodying justice in our lives, ministries, and future plans often calls us to really believe the stuff we say about justice. Doing justice becomes a response to a God we are beginning to understand more fully because we’ve allowed the Spirit to teach us and show us how to live.
And how should we live? Micah throws us an answer by saying that we should seek justice and walk humbly with God.
Humility is something I’m familiar with but not something I’m comfortable with. I’m not great at admitting when I’m wrong or when I don’t have an answer. I would like to say that I’m a person who thinks about justice more than most, but I still struggle with getting so focused on me that I forget that God wants justice to be a part of the definition of who I am.
While attending seminary, I was immersed in a more diverse culture. There were students and professors who understood what it meant to be “the least of these.” Through their eyes, for the first time, I began to see what it meant to live justly. It would have to begin with the attitude of my heart, the content of my words, the way I viewed those affected by the just acts of others.
It was a defining moment for me, to learn about justice from a new perspective, and I began to think differently, view life through different lenses, and speak differently too. Justice couldn’t be the end goal anymore. It would have to be a way of life for me, even when life gets full and loud and demanding.
With that said, I hope to seek justice with my mind and heart. It’s important to find ways to understand what justice is and what it means to those who receive it. After all, we’ve received justice that we didn’t deserve.
I write standing up. There’s a movie playing for my daughter in the background to keep her from saying my name too many times as I write, and I realize that embodying justice is a journey on a path to the kingdom Christ has called us all to seek—even if that path lies in the simple and crazy life of a youth pastor’s house. Seek justice. Walk humbly. These are words not just to live by—but words to be defined by.
