Justification and Justice

I shared this at the beginning of our livestream today, May 31st, 2020. Check out the rest of it here. Also check out more resources on our Karis Church website.

I want to start out by reading this definition of the good news of Christianity, of the “the gospel” by Tim Keller. 

Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

Now here’s what I love about that definition so much. It puts rightly together the personal and private and spiritual with the corporate and cosmic and physical. What do I mean? Well, it’s easy for us to think the gospel is just about me. I trust Jesus. And He saves me. And that’s true. 

But it’s far more than that. It’s also about us. It’s about them. And it’s about all of this. You see, the gospel is so much bigger than we realize. 

It’s not just about justification - how you and I are made right with God. It’s also about justice - how everything around us will one day be right again. It’s both. God has restored us to Jesus. He will restore His creation to Him, as well. Colossians 1, verses 19 and 20 put it this way: 

Col. 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Getting this right is critical. It makes it so much easier to see that gospel truths have gospel implications. And that helps us so much as we look at the situation with race here in America. 

Think about the debate that we see and hear in our nation - and even in the church. Some say racism is all about personal responsibility. I repent of my racism. I don’t live as a racist. That’s the extent of what I do. We trust the gospel to change one heart at a time. We don’t concern ourselves much with what’s going on out there. I just deal with what’s going on here. And I share the gospel with those around me.

Others say the problem has more to do with systemic injustice. There are structures in place that work against people of color. The deck is stacked against them. They may technically have freedom to pursue what they want, but it’s like they start the race a mile behind or have an arm tied behind their back. This group of Americans and Christians would say, “It’s not good enough to just repent personally. We have to speak out against the system. And work for change.”

Some say racism has to be dealt with at the personal level. Others say at the systemic level. And I want to say, it’s both. Right? And our brothers and sisters of color need white Christians to say that. They need to see repentance over personal sin. Yes, but they also need to hear sin spoken out against in society. The worst possible response is to remain silent. 

The American church is good about speaking out and taking action. We think it’s a great injustice that babies are killed in the womb. We’ve spoken out against that. We’ve marched against that. And we should have. 

But when a black man’s neck is crushed against the asphault, many don’t say a thing. Or they say, “Let’s wait for the facts.” And beyond that, they end up directing their criticism at those who protest. At how minorities respond to all of this injustice - that’s happened, don’t forget, for hundreds of years.

But I want to go back to where I started. When we do that, we misunderstand the glorious gospel of Jesus - its extent, its scope. We misrepresent it to those around us. That’s because one day, everything wrong will be made right. God’s multi-ethnic people will gather around His throne in worship. Racism and prejudice of all forms will be no more. 

So as we share our faith, the message of justification through Jesus - and seek to bring people from here and now into that day then and there, we must, at the same time, also try to bring what will be true then and there into the here and now. We seek after justice in Jesus.

It’s both/and, church. Let’s pursue that together, Karis.