| “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” |
| —Micah 6:8 |
A movement has swept through our nation in the last few decades that has brought with it an amazing distortion of Scripture. No, I’m not talking about the so-called “prosperity gospel” preachers. Instead, I am talking about a far more insidious and even dangerous philosophy.
This philosophy is often referred to as “social justice.” On the surface, it seems to have a number of noble ideals. But, what it really desires is to turn society upside down and to redistribute wealth—not to people truly in need, but to an entirely different set of uber-liberal, socialist-leaning plutocrats. A key element of this effort, is a distortion of the use of the word “equality” and its replcement with the word “equity.”
The word “equality” when used in its broadest historical context means: “providing equal access and equal opportunity to resources, education, and employment.” The key term here is the word “opportunity,” Therefore, “equality” drives equal and unfettered opportunity for individuals to begin the pursuit of whatever they are driven to pursue. It is an opportunity to begin on an even playing field. It has no influence on the results of their pursuits.
In contrast, the word “equity” when used in its broadest historical context means: “taking all necessary steps to ensure that the result of individuals’ efforts, no matter how defferent those level of efforts might be, will produce exactly the same results.” So, “equity” intends to guarantee equal results, equal outcomes, no matter what efforts, learned and practiced skills, knowledge, and determination an individual might possess, as he or she strives toward the outcome of a particular situation.
In my own life, for example, I was given “equality” in my desire to become an athlete. No one prevented me from trying out for the Junior High School basketball team. I was allowed to attend the tryout. I was allowed to put on the appropriate clothing to participate in the tryout. I was presumed, by my very presence, that I had the necessary level of desire to become a member of the basketball team.
However, as the tryout progressed, it was obvious that I did not have the physical attributes necessary to become a useful member of the basketball team. I was grossly overweight. I did not have a sufficient level of skill to dribble, pass, or shoot the basketball. Therefore, when the list was posted naming those who would move on to the next day of tryouts, my name was absent. Nevertheless, I experienced “equality” in the tryout process. I was given an equal opportunity to succeed. But, my outcome was not assured.
If the Junior High School basketball tryout had been conducted based on “equity” rather than on “equality,” I would have been guaranteed a place on the basketball team that, very likely, would have partly determined a losing season, because my place on the team would have prevented some better-equipped individual from playing.
Just as our current culture has distorted the word “equality” and replaced it with the word “equity,” so similar distortions having taken place in the interpretation and application of God’s written Word in the matter of “social justice.” Like all such distortions of Scripture, it appears worthy on the very surface. But, dig beneath the patina and look very carefully at the lives and philosophies of those who publicly espouse this theory so vocally, and drag large numbers of well-meaning followers into this battle cry, and you will find individuals who are just as corrupt and just as insincere and just as dangerous as they believe the current holders of power to be.
You see, God is, indeed, a God of mercy, love, and grace. His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the very embodiment of love. Every quality of God resides in Jesus because He is God. The social justice crowd picks and chooses quite carefully which qualities of God they want to latch onto and make their own. They even use phrases like, “If I’m going to make an error, I want to err on the side of love.”
It sounds nice, but it isn’t biblical. God is, indeed, the creator of mercy, grace, and love. Jesus told us to show these qualities to people less fortunate than we are. But, Jesus did not empower the government to force its citizens to take their hard-earned wealth and turn it over to governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations that would help the poor, after making certain their CEOs receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual compensation.
I am not at all against helping the poor and the genuinely needy. In fact, I make certain very determined efforts to do so as a part of my own personal Christian stewardship. But, I do not believe that the government, nor uncontrolled Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), should be the instrument of this help.
Instead, I sincerely believe that it is the responsibility of the Church—the Body of Christ—to pool the resources of its people to help the poor, either directly, or through church-sanctioned parachurch organizations, like the various city missions. I believe that God’s people should give voluntarily, and out of a sense of gratitude to God, to help the poor. I do not believe that our resources should be seized by the government to do so. And, I especially do not believe that the government should help any non-profit in the private sector by taking money from its citizens and redistribute that money to those Non-Governmental Organizations.
Rather, if non-church-related individuals want to give generously to those non-profits, that is well and good. But no one, no one, should be forced to help another. To do so takes away all the philosophical underpinnings of gratitude to God and the expression of His mercy, grace, and love that should be the foundation of our willingness to help those in need.
It is also very, very important to realize that God is not only a God of mercy, grace, and love. He is also a God of justice. God rightly and righteously demands punishment for those who have disobeyed His divine will. That’s why He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins.
Jesus’ death on the cross erased the just penalty levied against us. His birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension assures our victory over death. Furthermore, His ascension to the throne at the right hand of God the Father gives us a advocate to the God who loves us. The Holy Spirit has come to dwell within all who believe and to provide us with the help we need to move toward holiness, through the process we call sanctification.
Part of our love gift back to God is our obedience to His command to help the poor and those in genuine need. We should be able to do this without being forced through some governmental system that provides, at best, a mediocre help for the poor—that often keeps them enslaved in poverty—and a great reward for a whole new group of elite overlords.
So, when we read this following admonition from the Prophet Micah, I urge us to do so with new light. Out of love, out of respect, out of gratitude for God we should obey this urging, as found in Micah 6:8:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Yes! God has most certainly shown us what is good. Now, as we begin a new day, let us respond out of love—not obligation, or at the force of the government spear—to help those in genuine need. If we would do this, we would all be much better off in this tempestuous world.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, Marcg 27, 2017
