Real Justice
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 094
Justice is a word that is being thrown around a lot right now. People would agree that it means something good, but most aren’t really sure how it works.
Jesus is the ultimate and only true lawgiver. Only Jesus, only God, can decide what is right and what is wrong. Man does not have the ability in his fallen state to decide what is right and wrong. At one time, we had slavery, and many people thought it was right. We have had oppression of women and children--not just in this country, but all over the world. We have seen that man is sinful, and man does wrong things that he says is right.
Jesus tells us what is right in Matthew 25. Leading up to this passage, He talks about separating the sheep and the goats, the true followers from those who are followers in word only. Then He goes into the story about the least of these. He says, “As much as you’ve done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you’ve done it unto Me.” He defines, in this context, that the least of these were those who were hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison. Jesus gives categories to “the least of these” and defines them because in that culture, those in that group were not being well taken care of. He was challenging their faith to be focused on taking care. These people were not an interruption of their faith, but an opportunity to their faith.
What Jesus is talking about here is not a program (although good). He is saying that as we encounter these people in our life, we should take time for them. We need to not become mercenaries where we just give money to things, but missionaries where we give our hearts.
Jesus talks about ministering to the least of these. We can say that these are the most vulnerable among us. In our culture today, it is my firm conviction that unborn children are the least of these.
Justice is only justice if it’s justice for all. There is no such thing as partial justice. The message today should be justice for all. That is why I have a hard time with Black Lives Matter because in reality, it isn’t ALL; it’s SOME black lives matter. If ALL black lives mattered, it would include the unborn, the elderly, and black conservatives and Christians. Unless all lives matter, then some lives, eventually, will not matter.
Jesus said, “as much—to the degree that you do it to the least of these, you’ve done it unto Me.” He’s not talking about the sin of omission. He’s not saying that they took His clothes, put Him in jail, made Him thirsty. He’s not saying that we are part of the problem. He is saying that we are part of the solution.
Often we think that we aren’t prejudiced or have anything against any people group. But that is not the standard that Jesus is using. He is not saying you are part of the problem. He is saying that you are not being part of the solution. He is not saying that what you do has to be part of the long-term solution. What Jesus is saying is you don’t always have to teach someone to fish; just give him a fish. That’s not to suggest that we don’t do more than that. The truth is, just in doing that, we are honoring God because those people were made in the image of God. Those things are the things that sensitize us to human tragedy.
Every human is deserving of care, no matter the circumstances (their choices or others affecting their life) that led them to be where they are. When we were full of sin, God visited us. What did we do to earn God’s visit?
Black lives do matter because they matter to Jesus. Either ALL black lives matter or the equation will end up being that NONE matter. You can’t segregate a certain group. You can’t segregate one source of the population from another source of the population because of the color of their skin. You can’t segregate based on age, location (like their mother’s womb), or based on the circumstances of their conception--rich or poor, wanted or unwanted. You can’t segregate people like that because they are all people made in the image of God.
Justice comes from God. The least of these has to be the seed in which we operate in this human rights realm.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
