God Intends Children To Flourish In A Just Society

By Wendy Hinrichs Sanders, PhD student, Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies,  and Research Assistant Angela Castiglione, MA Cross Cultural Studies

 All children and families live in society and are dependent on institutions for healthcare, shelter, access to social services, safe drinking water, information and safety.  The church must collaborate with these institutions for the common good, and if they fail, the church must speak and act with and on behalf of the vulnerable. 

God intends children to flourish in a just society.

To understand God’s heart for children, we must first understand God’s love and justice, and then understand God’s call and our response to be a just society.  If justice is the trait of a society living in a reciprocal relationship with God, then perhaps integrity is an accompanying trait to be spiritually transformed within individuals who are the people of God.

God Offers Love and Justice

The people of Israel experienced the justice of God through His words and His acts.  Later on in the history of Israel, Jesus serves as the ultimate, incarnate role model of justice.  God’s justness is described in the law, the prophets and the writings. 

God created goodness in a framework of justice. God is the Lord of all creation (Ps. 89:14; Is. 30:18; Gen. 18:25).  God created the world and it was good.  Scripture cries of the love of God for all people (Ps. 112; 1 Jn. 3:16-17).  God created adequate resources for all because God cares deeply about the well-being of the people He created in His own image (Gen. 1:26-31; Ps. 146).  God hates any injustice for it results in harm within His creation.[1]

God especially loves and cares for those in need (Ps. 9:12, 17-18; 10:12; 12:5; 34: 18; Is. 41:17).[2]  God’s justice for children at risk reverberates (Ex. 22:22; Dt. 10:18; 16:11; 16:14; 24:17-21; 26:12, 13; 27:19; Ps. 68:5; Jas. 1:27).  Concepts of justice with righteousness, mercy and salvation are interwoven, creating an image of the dimensions of the justice of God.[3]  Moreover, God’s justice will be a light to all the nations (Is. 51:5).

Justice occurs within a relational society.  Justice has a Hebrew sense of a social duty or conformity to the social obligations which bind a God-called community together.[4]  The Greek sense of the word is often linked to the concepts of mercy and salvation (Is. 51:4-6; Hos. 6:6-8).[5]  Furthermore, God calls his people to be a light to the nations (Ex. 19:6; I Sam. 8:5; Is. 51:4), to be His helpmates to form a just, global society.

God modeled justice through His deeds.  God released the Israelites from gross injustice (Ex. 6:6-8; Dt. 6:20-25; 26:1-11).  He gave them just commands (Ex. 22) and a just code for living (Dt. 10:12-19).  God rejected injustice as the prophets cried out against the Israelites’ false worship, gluttony, self-centeredness, and favoritism (Is. 1:16-17; 58; Am. 4:1-3; 5).  However, God’s prophets proclaimed the hope of God’s merciful justice for the remnant who turned from rebellion and injustice (Is. 54:21-24).  This hope is extended to all the nations (Ps. 33:5).

Jesus is God’s love and justice embodied.  Born into poverty (Lk. 2:22), Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed (Lk. 4:18), but also to warn those who feel rich in spirit and in this world’s goods (Lk. 6:20-26).  Justice is central to Jesus’ servant ministry (Is. 42:1-4; Mt. 12:18-21).  Jesus wove compassion with healing and teaching (cf. Mt. 12:13-21).  He connected discipleship with concern for social justice (Lk. 6:27-36) and made it clear that He will measure His followers by compassion (Mt. 25:31-46).  Jesus inaugurated God’s Kingdom, calling us to live by the Holy Spirit to receive a taste of the fullness of eternal life with God.

God Calls His People to Be Just

            Justice must be our response to God’s love.  The human response to God’s love is a love which breeds justice (Jn. 15:12; I Jn 4:19; Rom. 12:1).  The people of God are called to care for others (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 19:9-10; 23:22; 25:1ff; Dt. 10:14-22, 28-29; 14:28-29; 15:1-2, 7-8; 23:25; 24:19; Ruth: 2:1-3).  Jesus calls people to be merciful and compassionate (Mt. 5:7-14), to live in this world as salt and light to prevent moral decay (Mt. 5:13-14).  He calls us to be a light to the world by bringing immorality and injustice to the attention of the world (Mt. 3:8).  Jesus calls us to strive for reconciliation (Mt. 3:23-24), to maintain covenantal family relationships (Mt. 3: 31-32), to be true to our promises (Mt. 3:33-37), to love our enemies (Mt. 3:43-48), to give with integrity (Mt. 6:2-4) and to ground our service in prayer (Mt. 5:5-15).

The people of God are to seek justice for children in need.  We are to maintain the rights of the afflicted and the destitute, seek justice for the orphan and oppressed, end wickedness, let the oppressed go free, share our bread, bring the homeless into our homes, clothe those who are cold, and rescue weak and needy children (Is. 1:17-18; 58;  Ps. 82:3; Jas. 1:27).

The people of God are to abhor injustice.  God’s people are commanded against evil, against enabling unjust decisions and against depriving the needy of justice.  We are not to oppress the poor by our self-indulgence (Is. 10:1-3; Am. 4:1; 5:12; 6:4-7).  God’s people are not to engage in slave trade or war, not to reject God’s laws or to cause the righteous to fall (Am. 1-3).  Jesus calls His people to turn away from anger, to avoid sexual temptation, to refrain from retaliation and self-aggrandizing worship (Mt. 5: 16-18, 21-22, 27-30, 38-42).  Jesus taught against the evils of wealth calling the people to focus their hearts on God instead of worldly riches (Mt. 6:19-21).

            Judgment will occur.  On earth, we must strive for this world’s judicial system to emulate God’s laws and justice (Rom. 8-9).  Also, we must honor God who will ultimately judge what we do with our lives and with our resources (Is. 10:1-3; Jer 17:1; Hab. 2:9; Mt. 7:1-6; 25:41-46).

God Calls Governments and Society to Be Just

 God governed the people of Israel, called Moses to lead them and gave judges to help settle disputes, but the people succumbed to the practices of the cultures around them and desired to have a king instead (Dt. 1:10-18, 16:18-20;  Jdgs. 4:5; I Sam. 7:15-17, 8:1-22).  Governments are appointed by God (Rom. 12:1-6). Leaders are called to be just (I Kgs. 3: 6-14, 10:9, 16-28; Is. 1:21-23, 10:1-2; Jer. 22:3;  Prov. 31:8-9;) and to walk with God (2 Kgs. 23:1-3;  Jer. 22:15-16), but the people in society must also follow God’s ways (I Sam 12:12-14).

 We must be mindful that nation structures can liberate or oppress society and that powerful nations may force other nations to fit within their power structures.  God’s law, however, must prevail:  Injustice is the failure to meet God’s just guidance or the putting of one’s personal gain over the needs of the community.[6]

Instead, relational love and justice are the standard for society which Paul emphasizes in Romans.  Christians are to submit to authorities while doing what is good:  Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:2-4, 4-7, 8).  Christians are to discern injustice(Mt. 7:13-14, 15-23, 24-27), to speak against injustice (Acts 5:29; Lam. 2:18-19; Rom 13:8) and to maintain personal integrity (Ps. 7:8, 15:1-2, 25:21, 26:1, 101:2;  Is. 1:10-17; Jer. 7:1-11;  Am. 5:21-24; Mt. 5:8, 6:22;  Tit. 2:7; Jas. 1:7-8, 4:8).

God Offers the Hope of a Heavenly Justice

            God’s ultimate, full kingdom will come and justice will prevail:  Right relationships among people, and between God and people, require God’s justice.  “The night is almost gone and the day is near.  Therefore, let us lay aside the needs of darkness and put on the armor of light… Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13:11b, 12, 14a).

While doing some work in Nicaragua, I met Roberto Barandes, a district superintendent for the Wesleyan church who shared this story with me. 

One night, Roberto awoke in the wee hours of the morning.  He knelt to speak with God.  He felt closer to God than ever before: The guidance he received was clearer and richer than ever before.  With boldness, he prayed, “God, I feel so close to you, could you possibly give me a hug?”  Roberto felt no response.  He prayed again.  “God, I feel so close to you, is it asking too much to touch your feet?”  God responded:  He gave Roberto the image of a Nicaraguan child’s face.  God spoke, “If you touch the feet of this Nicaraguan child, you touch my feet.  If you hug this Nicaraguan child, you will hug me.”[7]

God’s heart for children is clear:  May we strive to walk in God’s ways, to live out this relational justice drawn from God’s love.  Then may we work with our society and governments to discern and speak against injustice so children may flourish in a just society.