Great Quote on Justice

In the May/June issue of Relevant magazine, Stephan Baumann, President of World Relief, wrote a great article entitled "Justice 2.0."  Here is an excerpt from that article that provides a very good definition of justice from a Biblical perspective:

Two words are used for justice in the Old Testament.  The first, mishpat, means “rendering judgment” or “giving people what they are due” and is sometimes referred to as “rectifying justice.”  The second word, tsedeqah, means “the right thing” or, especially, “right relationships” and is referred to as “primary justice.” These words are often paired together in Scripture as “justice and righteousness” and, in some rare instances, one means the other.  The Book of Isaiah even uses the word justice to mean “the sum total of what the Lord has deemed right” - or, in essence, the very will of God. . . . Taken together, mishpat and tsedaqah present a relational definition of justice, an important dimension that has been overlooked for too long.  In its fullness, justice is about right relationships - relationships that work.  Injustice is about relationships that don't.  Justice for what some call the “Quartet of the Vulnerable” - the orphan, the widow, the immigrant and the poor - is especially important to God, due to its prevalence in Scripture.  Injustice occurs when these people are left out, oppressed or exploited. . . . The Old Testament vision of justice carries through to the New and converges in the life and message of Jesus.  Jesus not only teaches justice, but he becomes justice.  Through the Cross, the very possibility of justice is made available to all, and the incarnation is both a mandate and an example to us. . . . Justice is best incarnated by the people closest to those who suffer, not only geographically, but culturally too.  When we live out justice in our relationships, we give witness to the person of Jesus and effect change. When we empower others to become the hands and feet of Christ in their own communities, we create heroes who, in turn, bring justice to a suffering world.  For a Cambodian girl sold into slavery and, in her mind, rejected from God, justice comes in the form of two followers of Christ.  For a woman who cannot feed her child, justice comes in the form of a community banker offering a micro loan or an agronomist teaching techniques to increase her crop yield. For a refugee, justice with a hospitable heart and an open home. . . . God to his people, and His people to creation.  These relationships, when stitched together justly, weave a tapestry of hope that fundamentally changes society for the better.

We hope and pray that Providence and many other orphan care providers that are loving orphans with excellence are creating such heroes who are co-laboring with Christ to humbly bring justice and shalom to a hurting, suffering world.