To Understand Justice (3 & 4)

Introduction

“I have come to feel strongly that the greatest service I can still render to my fellow men would be that I could make the speakers and writers among them thoroughly ashamed ever again to employ the term "social justice.” - Frederick Hayek, “Law, Legislation, and Liberty” 1973

Just so. The terminology and ideology of social justice rips us away from the basic realities of actual justice and, like so many other false doctrines, attempts to convince people that they can be like God. In this particular case, they can know all and fix all the ills of the world.

As we have already suggested, our role is actually rather modest by comparison. What’s more, social justice has most often and will most often only lead, ironically, to greater injustice.

So much of God’s instruction about justice is about placing limits on our folly. So that we stay within the boundaries of what we are capable of. We disregard these boundaries to our own peril.

“William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”

Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!”

Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat?

Determining our Role

Do I have a role in the adjudication of this offense.

Am I the one offended (Matt. 18:15)?

Am I a witness (1 Tim. 5:19)?

Is this in my jurisdiction (Jn. 18:31-38)?

Is this an offense worth pursuing

Have we given all the benefit of the doubt we would want to receive (Matt. 7:1-5)?

Is there an actual offense or just hurt feelings (2 Cor. 6:11-13)?

Is this a conversation or a prosecution (1 Corinthians)

I have been in both misunderstandings.

Trying to have a conversation when it was taken as prosecution.

Trying to make a formal accusation when other parties were only willing to have a conversation.

Do we have enough facts and/or witnesses to proceed?

Perhaps you have one witness and no evidence (Deut. 19:15).

Perhaps you have some evidence but not enough to draw any firm conclusions.

We often imagine we have roles where we absolutely do not (2 Sam. 16:7-8).

The Proceedings

The nature of witnesses

No anonymous witnesses (Deut. 19:17-18).

No single witnesses without corroboration (1 Tim. 5:18).

It must be eye-witness testimony and not hearsay.

We may sympathize with a witness unwilling to testify and be cross-examined, but we cannot break rules for them.

Enough evidence to tell a story is not the same as enough evidence to prove a story (Josh. 9:3-13).

Motives can play a role but must be proved (Josh. 22).

Character matters (Num. 12:6-8; 1 Kgs. 2:36-45).

All of this takes some time to play out (Josh. 7:16-18).

Judges and juries cannot make decisions on gut feelings (Jn. 7:50-52).

Gossipers and False-Witnesses

God has been very plain about what to do with false-witnesses (Deut. 19:18-21).

Sometimes false-witnesses have very wicked motives, but sometimes they are just fools (Matt. 26:59-61; 2 Thess. 3:11).

When we choose to pass along unverified information, we become participants in potential gossip or false-witness (Prov. 10:18; Ex. 23:1).

When we choose to comment in a way that shows we have formed judgments before any process takes place, we have participated in making justice harder to accomplish (Prov. 18:17).

The court of public opinion is rarely just (Acts 19:32).

Even if your opinion ends up being correct, that does not vindicate gossip.

Doing Justice

Are you practicing justice in your very small jurisdiction (Lk. 16:10)?

Are there people you are willing to pervert justice for or against (Ex. 23:3, 8)?

Do you receive accusations that you should not (1 Tim. 5:19)?

Are you able to reconcile and balance justice and mercy (Jas. 2:13)?

What About Equality

Economic justice is about being fair, not about redistributing wealth (Lev. 19:36).

A just man will be a charitable man, but charity and justice are not the same thing (Deut. 10:17-18).

All of the passages that modern social justice warriors are appealing to were written in a time when God explicitly allowed the enslavement of captives of war. Modern notions of political, social, and economic justice are far more tightly alligned with Marxist ideologies than anything in scripture.

“The idea of social justice is that the state should treat different people unequally in order to make them equal.” - Hayek

Conclusion

Doing justice is difficult and requires a great deal of restraint.

But there should be great relief that we are not asked to carry a burden that we are not capable of bearing, yet so many seem eager to pick up.

The world is full of unjust judges, do not add to that.

Rather, find peace and comfort in the hands of truly just and merciful God of us all.