(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
It’s an injustice when where you live determines whether you live.
Right here in America there are zip codes in the same city where there can be a difference of as much as 20 years in the average life span of a person.
It’s an injustice when where you live determines whether you live.
Wayne Bridegroom, our guest this week on BlogTalkRadio, tells a story about how a great grandmother in his church had a granddaughter who adopted a child from Mexico, and when she proudly introduced the child to the great grandmother’s friends, one of them said, “Why doesn’t she go back to where she came from?” Needless to say, great Grandma was devastated that an act of such compassion and hope was met with such a racist reaction. The answer to that facetious question is clearly, “Where she came from is a place with little hope of her living at all.”
This adoption was one small brick in the walls of injustices that exist all over the world today and something to celebrate. There are small things and big things we can do to right the wrongs that have been done in society. But standing for justice is not just a social issue, it’s a personal one. Justice is something that enters into all our relationships.
The Old Testament meaning of righteousness means to be right with God, but it doesn’t stop there. Our idea of righteousness is mainly about personal morality. But the Hebrew idea of righteousness is not only to be right with God but right with everybody else. It means treating all your relationships with generosity, fairness and equity, which sounds a lot like justice, in fact the two words are often used together in the Hebrew.
That would mean that justice is a part of our everyday lives and relationships. Think about that. Do you treat everyone in your life with generosity, fairness and equity. Even those closest to you? Justice is a much bigger thing than we typically realize.
John Fischer The Catch 
Since when is righteousness only about personal morality? The bible says just about everywhere that righteousness includes how you treat others. Your neighbor is everyone. There is no small print excluding anyone as neighbors we are to love.
By the way if everyone had to “go back to where they came from” the Jews could have never left Egypt, the early Christians could have never left Israel to spread the gospel and the only people aloud in America would be Native Americans.
Well said, John. Thanks for your comments. Don’t you think, though, that when most Christians talk about righteousness they’re talking about being a really good person?
I do tend to think that term is used only in the context of morality. If someone is known for giving to others, they are called a philanthrope or charitable. Are they called righteous? If someone is known for being selfless and putting others first, they may be called a kind sweet person, but righteous? Now if you abstain from sex outside of marriage, never curse, don’t drink, and go to church a lot suddenly Christians call that righteous living. The world just calls it being religious and they value the others more. Yet for some reason they don’t get called righteous when that is exactly what they are.
Thanks for the comments. Justice should always be a part of each of our lives. I like the comments also from Mr Fagliano. He really hit it right on the target especially about the reply concerning the remark of go back where you came from. Thanks for more detail this week about justice in our lives.
Great Catch, Pastor John! I worked me over a bit…. which is good I think/believe…