Multiply Justice

Archive for the category “Violence”

Create true justice God’s way

TV news is no different than the entertainment programming: They put the actors onscreen, not the executive producers.

The rioting you see on TV today — and the inevitable blowback from opposition — is just the storyline. The actors are but pawns in service to kings and queens whose only concerns are money and power. The storylines are just fodder for viewers who the kings and queens hope to manipulate into actions that serve their purposes.

Street activists and rioters are fools, as are the ones who defend the unjust status quo. Do not allow yourself to be counted in either camp. Though the word pops up everywhere, none of these people understand ‘justice’ as the Creator intends it.

“Human anger does not produce the justice God desires.” (James 1:20) and “The Lord executes righteousness and justice to all who are oppressed.” (Psalm 103:6).

Systemic injustice in this country is real. Denying it is an insult to the Creator of justice. But the solution lies in caring enough to cross barriers, develop deep relationships in which people from separate worlds can listen to each other’s stories, understand our common humanity and different struggles, and together find solutions that help people in desperate need enter the Kingdom of Abundant Life.

Injustice inspires revenge, but “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) And he means vengeance upon both the oppressor and the rioter.

Get out of your comfortable bubble and take a risk. Refuse to stand with angry people bent on violence. Align yourself with the God of Justice and look for the opportunity the Lord wants to give you to be a peacemaker.

Otherwise, you are nothing but a pawn of evil souls who care only for their own welfare.

Evil points us to the gospel

CC Adrees Latif/Reuters NCDavid Platt responds to the evil horror at Newtown:

When we consider all that Scripture teaches about God and evil, we are led inextricably to the gospel: the good news that God has taken the very worst thing that has ever happened in the history of the world (the death of His Son) and He has turned it into the very best thing that has ever happened in the history of the world (the salvation of sinners). Evil is tragically real, God is supremely great, God is absolutely good, and the gospel is shockingly glorious.

Such truths are not intended to rest in the theological realm; they are intended to transform our everyday lives, particularly in the midst of tragedy like we have seen in Newtown. In our contemplations and conversations in the coming days, let’s be careful at every point not to minimize the tragic nature of evil, and let’s be faithful in every opportunity to magnify the glorious character of God—both His greatness and His goodness. And in it all, let’s be intentional to affirm the central tenets of the gospel: that God, in His sovereign grace, has sent His Son into a world of sin to save us from ourselves, and through faith in His life, death, and resurrection, we can know that one day soon, God is going to wipe away every tear from our eyes, and sin and suffering will be no more (Revelation 21). No matter what happens in this world, we are confident that there is coming a day when we will forever worship God in His greatness, we will forever enjoy God in His goodness, and we will never experience evil again.

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