A Justice Wake-Up Call

The apathy and stagnancy that so often grips my heart disgusts me. How many days do I spend seeking the hedonistic and short-lived self-fulfillment this world promises in the hope of salvation? Comparable to God, all else falls short. My addiction to technology, and the current of my self-seeking mornings to my self-seeking nights sickens me at this moment.

I know this time in my life is different, I am aware how the rhythms, challenges, and demands of this season are strikingly out of place when looking at the rest of the world. And yet I refuse to conform to the culture of my peers- that I live for weekends, that my greatest pleasure occurs on a Friday evening. I am tired like the rest and crave sleep, but I don't want to keep seeking my own comfort and pleasure. I want to live for something more, SomeOne more.

God has given us a commission. We are His purveyors of justice and speakers of the Good News in His world. What would it look like if we lived this out? I want to entertain this thought in my life. I want my heart to be so desperately captured by Jesus that I am bent by His love, by my response to Him to live a life that seeks His kingdom above all else. Does this not include His justice? We pray in the Our Father, the prayer Jesus Himself taught us to pray, for "Your [God's] kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven."

I could go on about how the Church has, in the past century, begun to separate justice from evangelism. I think there is strong biblical basis for them being intended to go hand-in-hand. Social justice demands the Gospel, and the Gospel without social justice is weakened.

God, may our hands, feet, tongue, and lives bring Your kingdom to Earth in ALL ways. Help us be DOERS of the Word, not just HEARERS. May it be so.