When Has Justice Been Served?

My heart hurts for this generation, but not for the reasons that would seem obvious.

In these distressing times of injustice, the true core beliefs of people come out.  It is the reaction I am most concerned with because it demonstrates that seeds of unbelief preached by another gospel, which is no gospel at all, have infiltrated the hearts and minds of many youth, young adults and even adults and pastors that I have known discipled and partnered with for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The false gospel is known as Critical Race Theory (or CRT) and is part of a larger subset of belief known as Critical Theory (CT).  Many believers have been espousing facets of this theory throughout the current crisis brought on by the injustice done in Minnesota...and they may not even know they are doing it.

However, in order to properly compare the reaction against the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must identify specifically the point of contention, the Biblical solution and then demonstrate how CRT, not only strays from the Biblical teaching, but actually preaches another gospel that could destroy the faith of a professing believer in Christ.


The Point of Contention:  Justice

The wrongful death of George Floyd by a police officer has been rightly condemned by everyone I have seen on social media or talked to personally about it.  In the days following the incident that led to George's death, cries were heard from people everywhere that justice needed to be done.

Everyone agreed that a grave injustice occurred.  A man who should not have been treated the way that he was by an officer upholding the law had died and deserved justice.


The Biblical Definition of Justice

In the Bible we are told over and over again that justice is to be equally applied to all.

Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.  --Lev. 19:15

Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.  When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.  --Ex. 23:2-3

Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.  --Ex. 23:6

It is important to note that the Bible warns against favoritism against the rich or the poor.  All are to be treated equally under the law.  It does not matter the socio-economic status, the nationality, the gender or the political significance of the person involved.

From the Christian point of view, injustice exists and will continue to exist because of fallen humanity.  The justice for all was meted out on the cross, because as Christians we understand that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  God's perfect justice was completed on the cross that covered your sin, my sin and the sins of all who would call on His name as Lord and Savior.

Yet, until Jesus' return, injustices will still happen in this world.


The Proper Response for a Believer Toward Injustice

When Jesus taught His disciples that they should pray and not give up, He gave the following parable:

In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men.  And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

For some time he refused.  But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'

Listen to what the unjust judge says.  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?  Will He keep putting them off?  I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.      --Luke 18:2-8

Through this parable, Jesus tells us, not only how to pray, but how to pursue justice, even among the unjust.

First, He both begins and end the parable with lifting these grievances of injustice before the Lord (Luke 18:1, 7-8).

Second, He states that the widow continually petitioned the judge for justice, even to the point that the judge was worn out by her petitions (Luke 18:3-5).


Applying Biblical Justice to George Floyd

In the days following George Floyd's death, the outcry among all people has been one of condemnation for the act and justice for the crime.  A mere 3 days following the incident, the police officer was arrested and charged with murder and the accompanying officers who did nothing during the mistreatment of George Floyd have been fired from the police force, possibly pending charges.

Some may feel that a focus on police brutality or training is needed and I believe that is appropriate in protesting in a way that begins a conversation to ensure further injustices like the one with George Floyd's death doesn't happen.

By and large, from a Christian perspective, justice has been served, or at least is being served.  Four police officers have been punished in such a way to show that, even as police officers, they are not above the law, but rather equals under the law.


Riots, White Privilege & the False Gospel of CRT

However, we know that the unrest that began in Minnesota has spread to countless other cities across the nation.  Over the last week, night after night, looters have destroyed & defaced property, killed at least 3 people & injured many others, both police and civilians...supposedly, all in the name of justice.

Which leads to an interesting question:  According to those who believe in Critical Race Theory, when has justice been served?

The answer is never, because a grievance culture perpetuated by CRT never forgives.  Don't believe me?  Where the origin of this specific injustice with George Floyd has taken place, you will hear people speaking about systemic racism dating back to the founding of this country and its tolerance of the practice of slavery and the Jim Crow laws of the south in the 1960s as proof.  To be sure, the history of the United States has some very dark moments where severe injustices have occurred for long periods of time.  However, over time, these injustices have been corrected, wars were fought and laws have been passed to prevent such abuses from happening again.

In Ezekiel 18 God makes it very clear that He does not hold the sins of the previous generations against the current one.  So guilting this generation into apologizing for views they have never held or wrongs they have never done or assuming it is somehow built into their DNA because of their history, heritage, race, socio-economic status or even language is the very injustice God condemns in the Bible.  As believers, we are not to entertain such false guilt.

Worse still, many who agree with CRT are openly promoting or agreeing with violence as a means to gain justice.  This perverts justice as it allows those perceived as oppressed special immunity from crimes committed, such as assault, looting, arson & murder because they were seeking justice.  However, the crimes that have been committed have far exceeded the initial injustice.  Yet, when another similar injustice occurs again in the future, inevitably a similar response will happen and the justification of the widespread destruction of property and disregard of life will not be the proportionality of the crime committed (which would still be wrong and not true justice), but the harkening back to all the injustices inflicted upon the group as a whole.

There has been no penance granted from previous riots to cover previous injustices atoned for.  The next grievance is just added to all the previous ones before, as many lists on social media testify.  Rather injustice is just a means for which unrighteous violence can justifiably take place for those enslaved to this worldview.

Consider the words found in Proverbs 1:10-19

My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.  
If they say, "Come along with us; 
let's lie in wait for someone's blood, 
let's waylay some harmless soul; 
let's swallow them alive, like the grave, 
and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 
we will get all sorts of valuable things 
and fill our houses with plunder; 
throw in your lot with us, 
and we will share a common purse"--
my son, do not go along with them, 
do not set foot on their paths; 
for their feet rush into sin, 
they are swift to shed blood.  
How useless to spread a net in full view of all the birds!  
These men lie in wait for their own blood; 
they waylay only themselves!  
Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; 
it takes away the lives of those who get it.

The irony is that those inner city communities that are burning are the very ones where the perceived injustices are taking place.  They are truly lying in wait for their own blood, waylaying their own communities and taking away the lives & livelihoods of those within their midst.

As believers, we are told to avoid such people and groups, not partner with them or give into their point of view or walk in their ways.

CRT doesn't see people as individuals, but only associates them with different groups who are either the oppressed or the oppressor based upon characteristics such as skin color, gender, sexual orientation, etc....  A great, brief explanation of CRT can be found here. 

It is from CRT that we get the terms social justice and white privilege, as they are based in group identity, not individual actions (click on the terms to see its definition and incompatibility with the gospel).  It must be noted that it is only the association with the groups that have led to the spread of violence across the cities.  Because it was one cop who did something wrong (with three others watching), all police officers are now vilified, not just in one precinct in Minnesota, but in many major cities across the U.S.

But what do the police officers in L.A., Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago or New York have to do with the injustice at the hands of one officer?  How is it just to punish them or foist upon them the attitude of one police officer who abused his authority and position?  For that matter, why must all the other police officers in Minneapolis be judged as guilty of the same crime of the one already arrested?

Why were businesses, churches, monuments, fire departments and police precincts defaced, looted, robbed and burned when those owners, employees and public servants had nothing to do with the original injustice?  How is it just, in order to get someone's attention, to do this to those who had absolutely nothing to do with the crime? 

Why must I, a white male, have to listen to the charges of a hidden racism in me that doesn't exist?  Why must an entire race accept the atrocities of the past as if they were ours to atone for, when the Word of God says He doesn't hold the sins of the previous generation against the current one?

Even if we were to confess and try to take these past sins upon ourselves, will we be forgiven?  Not from what I have seen.  All there seems to be is an endless penance that demeans instead of restores.  It turns the oppressed into the new oppressor without true justice in a search for an equality of outcome instead of recognizing the equality that comes from being individuals made in the image of God and applying His justice equally under the law.

There is no salvation for those who are captured by the Critical Race Theory.  There is no hope for restoration because one can never repay enough for the outrage of injustice.  This outrage only grows over time as each new grievance is added to a list that is never washed away.

The Only True Gospel and Why It Is Good News to Those Who Seek Justice

This is so different and foreign than the good news proclaimed through Jesus Christ:

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the Law; rather, through the Law we become conscious of sin. 

But now a righteousness from God, apart from the Law, as been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood.  He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  --Romans 3:20-26

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.  For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.  --1 Peter 2:24-25

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  --Psalm 103:10-12

The gospel recognizes injustice in this world against one another as ultimately against God Himself.  God in His grace and mercy sent Jesus to die on the cross and pay the penalty for our sin and every injustice was carried by Him to the grave.  Through His death, we have forgiveness of our sins.  Through His resurrection, we have hope for life eternal with Him that we didn't earn but was freely forgiven so we may be a part of that new life.

With Jesus, and only Jesus, is the slate of grievances against God and against others ultimately wiped away, never to return to be held against us again.  Until we grab hold of the forgiveness Jesus offers us and asks us to extend to others, as His followers, we will neither know true justice or true peace.