God 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 God?
– Micah 6:8
It is central to the Christian faith that God desires a world in which justice is done. However, the past hundred years have revealed the scale of injustice in the world to be greater than anyone had previously imagined. Global forces that are deeply unfair determine the destiny of the world’s poorest people and cause damage to the planet’s environment. War and suffering follow. This has led to a planet on which, every eight seconds, a child in the developing world dies from diarrhea because his or her community has dirty water. And in our own country, each day three gay teenagers commit suicide because of being rejected and bullied.
What do you think God sees when God looks at our world?
Striving for justice, particularly for the world’s poorest people, is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The good news he came to announce was that suffering and oppression could be brought to an end. The challenge Christians face is to have a personal way of life that does not add to the world’s problems. This means adopting a simple lifestyle in which the world’s resources are not wasted, buying goods that have been fairly traded (like Cafe Justo coffee), and changing habits that damage the environment. This requires our active participation, not sitting back and hoping for justice. How do you participate in God’s justice in this world? God calls us to act justly. Let’s get moving!