Friday, February 24, 2017

Social Justice

The phrase strikes fear to my heart, because where do you begin? Social justice is standing up for the weak when they cannot stand up for themselves. But how do we address a world with so many problems? Turn one way and you see the refugees of Allepo. Look another way and trafficking victims demand release and justice. And yet there is more, from discrimination to treating humans as commodities, the unfair treatment demands confrontation.

It all begins with the value God places on humans in Genesis chapter one. He spends time creating the perfect world for his people. These people are to be his friends and companions. And simply because of their creation in the image of God, they have value.

At creation God breathes into this being the breath of life and he becomes a living soul. A soul with value, with dignity, not because of what he can do but because of who he is. Each human being still retains this value placed on them by the Creator.

This is social justice, to step in and fight for justice for all humans based on the value and dignity that God bestows on life. The value God places on the unborn, on the elderly. The value He sees in those with special needs, those displaced immigrants. On the trafficked and undervalued. We are to see in each of these people the value God puts on them.

When we recognize that intrinsic value the horror comes people are put down and their rights violated. Inside our heart is the tug to make a difference. I don’t claim to know all the answers, but I invite you to wrestle with this topic with me. Come on Sabbath morning to Journey with Jesus as we tackle the difficult topic of social justice.

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