“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23:23)
How we love to control what we can control and let go by what we can’t. How well I understand this. This is the diversion of religion, and when Christianity becomes just a religion, we get all taken up with things like going to church, reading our Bibles and praying while missing the bigger issues of the heart — things that color all that we do and say. Jesus mentions three of those things here: justice, mercy and faith.
The first one, justice, is sorely missing in conservative Christianity today and has been for some time. I admittedly know little about it and I have been around Christian ministry all my life.
Years ago, in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the church let the world take up the banner of justice and we haven’t done much about it since. Yet Jesus mentions it as one of three important things for us not to miss. How many sermons besides those of Martin Luther King, Jr., admonished us as followers of Christ to treat everyone adequately, fairly, and with full appreciation — and that’s just one aspect of justice. There are many more.
I think we get confused over this sometimes because justice is often paired with its social counterpart to create social justice — something that has more to do with the laws of the land than with individual responsibility. That may be obliquely related to what Jesus was talking about here, but I think He meant something more attached to the heart, and how each one of us thinks about and treats other people.
We are going to look more into this in the coming days, but I must say that I am not as far along on this journey as many of you probably are, so bear with me. I have much to learn.
How can any follower of Jesus bypass what He has so clearly marked out as being an important matter? So please, teach me about justice. Write to me with some illustrations of what you have experienced as acts of justice or lack of it. Let’s do this together. Marti believes that justice is going to play a big role in the next spiritual revolution and I, for one, don’t want to miss it this time.
John Fischer The Catch 
“Justice, mercy, and faithfulness” are, I think, Jesus’ repetition of Micah’s words: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” I also think Jesus say saying essentially the same thing in Matt.22:37-40, where we find his statement that the greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is like it, love your neighbor as you love yourself. Standing on the sideline during the civil rights movement (if not actively opposing it) should — must — certainly be among our biggest embarrassments. I hope Marti is right, that justice (AND mercy) will be the “next big thing,” and I think she is right. Already, I see conservative churches all over the land moving in that direction, being led by our younger members. You are right that it has been too long in coming — but it is coming, for which we can thank God.
(BTW, I really don’t know that the “liberal” branch of Christianity was doing any better on that. They certainly called on the government to do it, and perhaps that’s something, perhaps not. But just like conservative Christians looking too much to politics for the answers, liberal Christians did likewise — though they obviously were (and are) seeking different things, seeking political answers to a different set of problems. Regardless, let us all be like the widow who offered her “mite.” There’s always something one CAN do, instead of getting overwhelmed by what one CANNOT do. With our kids grown, we’ve begun to use our extra space some of the time to provide a few months’ lodging for some in an economic hole and trying to get back on their feet. You and Marti have worked to restore hope to some homeless women. Can we solve these massive problems by ourselves? Of course not. But we can certainly make a big difference to SOMEBODY. Let’s all resolve to do what we can.)
I have to reiterate Andrew P. with Micah 6:8, It has been my life verse for some time now. My version is a little different which will give another perspective to the light of truth. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Life is not fair, but God is just. It is HE who brings justice. I think it is the Holy Spirit who produces Godly justice in us. We’re too short sighted to have that on our own, but we certainly can be on the lookout for it!
O, how you do love to bash the church, John! That is Christ’s bride you’re bashing, by the way.
My church has a ministry called “Justice Ministry” that is made up of volunteer lawyers trying to help the downtrodden and marginalized get the help they need. I’m sorry that you don’t know much about it, but that is no one else’s fault. There may be TONS of things you don’t know about. That doesn’t mean you need to bash the church for each one of them. 🙂
The three things you trivialize, attending church, reading the Bible, and praying, are things we are told, in the scriptures, to do. When we do those things faithfully, our hearts begin to cry out for justice, mercy and faith. We want to become more like our Lord. We begin to learn how to love our brothers in the faith and to love those strangers outside the faith. The cyberchurch will never take the place of the church where we GO to worship, learn, and to fellowship with others. The church I attend is in Chico, CA and it, along with many more are very much involved with feeding the hungry, helping those in need, visiting the prisons. I could go on and on but I don’t think I would make a dent in your thinking.
Sorry, John. I believe you missed the boat this time. I’m also sorry that you appear to dislike the traditional church so much.
Bev… I believe you and Waitsel misinterpreted my intent here, or I probably didn’t say it clearly enough. I meant no slam on the church or on reading the Bible and praying. I meant a slam on the same thing Jesus slammed — outward signs of religion while the heart remains unchanged. Jesus in this passage picked tithing as an example; I merely chose to use something more commonly associated with typical Christian activity. Church-going, reading the Bible and praying, as good as they are, can all become as empty and self-centered as the legalism of the Pharisees that Jesus renounced. The Pharisee who prayed “Lord I thank you that I am not like that sinner over there…” didn’t get any points for praying. His prayer revealed that his heart was wrong, and that was the more important thing.
Thank you for your answer. I understand that you are saying, and I fully agree, that if our heart is not changed and longing to do whatever we do because of our love for Jesus, then our works are empty. Am I correct in my interpretation of your position?
I do enjoy and agree with almost everything you say in your columns, but I would love to see you encourage your cyber flock to look for a really good church (bricks and mortar) to attend along with the group here on the computer. The cyberchurch is fantastic for those unable to leave their homes for one reason or another, but the Bible states that we “are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together”. I realize that there is somewhat of an assembling on the computer, but that doesn’t take the place getting to know people, a handshake, a hug, etc.
There was a time when I was going through a horribly difficult time, but didn’t confide in anyone. So many people in my church asked me if I was ok, if there was anything they could do for me, telling me they were praying for me. I thought I was hiding my pain quite well. That couldn’t have happened if these people didn’t know me well and see me regularly. I believe God used my church family to help me get through that dark time.
Thank you, John, and I continue to pray for you and you family. I pray that God will direct every step you take, and care for your needs.
It’s interesting you should say this because many people see the Internet as a place where they can be more honest than they can in a group — even sometimes with those who know them well.
I agree with John, and was just going to make the same point he has just made. In my church we are doing all sorts of “justice” ministries so I did not take this catch as an offensive remark. I do remember that in children’s ministry we were teaching the children to read their bibles and come to church as standard answers to what a christian life should look like. When we realized that these were becoming rote answers we questioned them further about how they could practice their beliefs at school and in the neighborhood. Boy were they challenged!
It is also good to hear that people are doing things that make the poor and needy’s circumstances more bearable and showing we care at the same time.