More than ever in today’s world, we are facing social dilemmas where people are accusing others of great offense, of inequality, of oppression, and of social injustice. We're constantly bombarded of news of yet another scandal or another tragedy or simply more and more examples of how we, as human beings, have failed to live out our calling as people created in God’s Image and likeness. What should be our response to all this social injustice? Is there even such a thing within the understanding of Orthodox Christianity? In this short series, we will take a look at all of this and discuss it together.
Welcome to answers from and apostolic faith.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
What should be the Orthodox Christian response to social injustice? How are we, as Christians, expected to react when faced with the atrocities and the injustices that are often manifested around us in this broken world of ours? Firstly, let's take the time to address an underlying component to this conversation: Do we even believe in such a thing as social justice? Well, if what is meant by this is the ideology of encouraging a society formed of persons that hold to a standard of goodness and righteousness that is founded in God Himself, then yes, of course, we believe in this. And Scripture gives many examples of this.
Take for instance how the book of Deuteronomy is filled with passages where the Lord teaches His people to care for and to be compassionate towards the slave, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. The Lord Himself is always telling them how He Himself cares to administer His justice towards these people. For instance:
'' 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. 18 He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.'' (Deuteronomy 10:17-18)
Again, the prophet Malachi speaks to the understanding of justice when he prophesies to the corrupt people and speaks of this messenger that is to come into the world. He says the following:
'' 5 ''And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away [a stranger]─Because they do not fear Me,'' says the Lord of hosts.'' (Malachi 3:5)
And then in the New Testament, we see the Apostle James who summarizes it all for us in an extremely powerful statement. He says:
'' 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.'' (James 1:27)
As a final example, we can speak of how the Lord Jesus Himself gives a parable that demonstrates how important the poor are in the eyes of God. Jesus speaks this specific parable in Luke, chapter 12. Let's read it together:
'' 16 [And] then He spoke a parable to them, saying: ''The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18 [And] so he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, ''Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.'' 20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 ''So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward [s] God.'' '' (Luke 12:16-21)
From all of these passages and many more like them, we can see that the Lord, who is compassionate and loving to all of His creation, demands that we all show love and compassion for the less fortunate, the outcast, the stranger, and the oppressed.
Now, while we have seen that there is such a thing as social justice within Scripture, it would be foolish of us to continue this conversation without also clarifying that there seems to be a current societal understanding of justice which is simply unchristian and lacks wisdom and objectivity.
According to today's standard, justice seems to have taken a very legal and vengeful understanding. It is often presented in a way where returning evil for evil is somehow acceptable and even necessary. And the victors in today's social justice arena are always those that make the case that their demands must be met, because they are more severely offended and victimized than others. And while real and sinful offense should always demand our attention as Christians, there seems to be a premise that to even suggest questioning of any sort is to further offend the victim. We are no longer allowed to investigate if the claim to offense or the claim to victimhood is even valid.
Furthermore, there's a double standard that exists today that cannot be ignored. There is a claim that states freedom of speech is essential, but in reality, the only speech that is
tolerated is one that fits the suggested narrative of those that are loudest in their protest. Again, we're told that diversity is welcomed and even encouraged, but it will not be tolerated if the proposed diversity is expressed in beliefs that challenge this same group's values.
A final example of a broken sense of justice is when people feel obliged to side with one group or another simply because everyone wants to know who is with them and who is against them. To suggest that you prefer not to be labelled as group A or B is somehow threatening for people. People, more than ever, are being told your silence is deafening or you’re either with us or you're not. And so this leads to incredible amounts of division where a person is not even allowed the freedom to contemplate, to reflect, or to even reject the options that are presented, as if they are the only possible expressions of truth.
And so, social justice, in light of these behaviours, has become a movement to silence, to cancel or to permanently remove the opposing group while arguing that this is the only means by which we can defend our values and the groups of people that are often marginalized in society. And so, we are forced to ask: Is this the way, as Orthodox Christians, we should see justice? Is this the way that the Lord has revealed to us when dealing with evil? Is the solution to demand that all opposition be removed, even harmfully if needed, in order to somehow ensure a utopic reality we hope to create around us... is this really the solution?
One of the major downfalls of the current social justice movement that we observe in today's society is it often calls for change in the system. It speaks to an external change where people will be forced to follow a given set of rules, or else, suffer consequences. However, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ was never intended to incite external changes as if the system was the subject of His incarnation. Rather internal transformation and repentance has always been the purpose of the Lord’s coming down to us.
In the very beginning of the Gospels, we hear the cry of John the Baptist who comes and who prepares the way for the Lord Jesus Christ by declaring:
'' 2 (...) ''Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'' '' (Matthew 3:2)
And then the Lord Jesus Himself preaches the same message to all in the beginning of His own ministry. This call to repentance is always directed inwardly; a transformation of the self. It's for this reason that the Lord is often found reprimanding the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders. Their desire to ask for external expressions of righteousness are futile, as long as they, themselves, on the inside, have not been transformed. Listen to the boldness of the Lord's declaration:
'' 13 ''But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in [it].
14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. [And] therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15 Woe to you, scribes (...) Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.'' '' (Matthew 23:13-15)
'' 23 ''Woe to you, scribes (...) Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee[s], first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.'' '' (Matthew 23:23-28)
My beloved, we must pay close attention to the words of Christ and listen to the entirety of His message to those He has come to call to repentance. He's telling them very clearly: you cannot be in right standing with God if you only pick and choose what you like from His divine standard for humanity. You outwardly appear to stand with the truth, but on the inside, you are so far away from the calling of repentance.
Let me pause here for a moment. My beloved, we cannot possibly claim to know the hearts of anyone. Only God is fit to judge a person’s internal convictions and intentions. So far be it from us to sit here and to make blanket statements about anyone that participates in today's public arena for social justice. However, the Gospel also clearly teaches us that we will be able to distinguish the sheep from the wolves by looking at their fruits:
'' 15 ''Beware of false prophets, [He says,] who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits...'' '' (Matthew 7:15-16)
And it's evident from the current movements that the fruit of many who have named themselves social justice warriors is chaos, division, hatred, intolerance. The spirit of phariseeism is very much alive in today’s world. Even in the Church, no one is exempt from calling of true internal transformation and repentance. The Christian and the non-Christian, the layperson and the clergy member, all of us are called to repent and to hold ourselves accountable to God’s
standard of mercy and justice. There is very much a need for true and sincere personal repentance; internal transformation.
The concern for so many of us is that, while we believe in the importance of justice, that we somehow mistake this current worldly expression of justice as if it were true and real. We must force ourselves to take a step back and ask: Is this the justice that we are called to defend and to express as Christians? And it is evident, from what we can observe, that today’s definition and today's expression of justice does not fit the standard that is revealed to us by God.
As we end this part of our conversation on social justice, I invite you to reflect on the words of St. Cyril of Alexandria who says the following:
''Jesus says ''O Pharisees, you demand the tithes of herbs and the smallest coins while you neglect the commandments, concerning which the violation is greater.'' And what kind of commandments are these? Justice, that is, to [plodge] uprightly and blamelessly; mercy, that is, genuineness toward God. For justice and mercy and faith toward God are better than the tithe [of the] firstfruits. Therefore, the God of all things says through the prophet ''And now, Israel, what does the Lord require from you but to do justice and to love and [to] seek mercy and to be prepared to follow the Lord your God.'' For the genuine faith of those being saved is seen in their exceeding readiness to follow.'' (St. Cyril of Alexandria, Fragment 258)
In their exceeding readiness to follow... So, are we ready to follow, follow the Lord in His ways and His definitions of justice and mercy or are we preoccupied with our own definitions in attempting to lead rather than to follow? You see, everyone seems to be utilizing the word justice. The world and the Church both use it and preach it. But it is evident that it's not founded at all on the same principles nor is it expressed in the same way in the world and in the Church. As Christians, our expression of justice must be founded on the person of Jesus Christ and must be expressed in the same manner as He himself taught us to live. In our next discussion, we will discuss further what this Christian expression ought to look like.
Thank you for watching this video. Don't forget to watch our previous ones by visiting and subscribing to our channel. If you find this content beneficial, share it with your friends.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.