Am I My Brother's Keeper?

We have been taught in our generation to seek justice. If there is some way in which someone has wronged you, you are to defend yourself until the cows come home. I would argue that the Christian gospel is not one of social or personal justice, but injustice. Whatever could I mean? Was it just that one man who had done no sin should die for the sins of the world? Absolutely not. Because the God of the Bible required justice for wrongdoing, and act of injustice against this perfect man would define a word in a much greater form than we ever could.

Grace.

I am choosing to define grace as injustice to get through our stubborn hearts that none of us deserved what we got, and Jesus (the perfect divine incarnate) certainly did not deserve this injustice. This mercy and grace is unjust, according to cultural standards. And yet, as John Donne said in one of his famous sonnets, "I crucify him daily, being now glorified". Such injustice is meant to spark change. Such mercy and grace is to renew our hearts and spark joy and melancholy most supernatural. How great is our God!

So why the gospel presentation at the beginning?

I wanted you to see that we have a roundabout view of injustice. Its all turned on its head. We seek justice when none of us deserve justice. We look out for the individual self, rather than acknowledging that Christ suffered through the worst injustice in order to show us grace and give us mercy.

Now when it comes to looking out for your brother, are you acting similarly? Do you see the injustices against you, or like Christ are you looking after him? The gospel should inspire you to look out for your brother.

I am tired of the gospel being presented as a need for social justice. Because it isn't. But it is a pursuit of love. God so loved the world that he died a perfect death for those who would believe in his name, as the only one who could save them. Loving your brother is then a requirement of the Christian gospel because if Christ could love you so much, you are to love him.

I am ashamed to say that in the midst of sin and because we know Christ has paid for the sins of the elect, we think that sin should be paid for in our world, people must find justice. Yes, there must be order and not chaos in society. But no Christian should ever expect justice in a sinful world. Yes, we must fight. But fighting for every injustice or wrong done against you simply makes Christians appear legalistic (which they should not be anyway), it disregards the grace and forgiveness shown by Christ at the cross, and assumes that we live in a world that could perhaps be perfect.

Which it never will until Christ returns, and judges and restores.

Seeking justice rather than pursuing evangelism

How is this social justice presentation greater than the gospel of injustice? The one where Christ died that cruel death, nailed with punishment for which he would suffer?

You know, Jonah, one of the prophets, was called by God to go to the Ninevites to preach judgement and repentance and forgiveness. After his whole ordeal with the large fish, Jonah reveals in chapter four that he really just didn't want them to be saved. In fact, we see that Jonah, though being saved by God, was not willing to show that same grace to them.

Am I my brother's keeper?

How many times have I thought I deserved something, and was never willing to share the same with those around me? Like I deserved it myself at all? As my character Emma would say "I am so angry with myself!"

God is not unjust. We are. A sinful world is the consequence of the actions we have done. Injustice should be called out, but we also must see that we deserve it. But, we must not be the offenders as Christians. The mercy shown to us by our God should be shown to others as well. We are our brother's keeper. Which leads me to yet another consideration.

Accountability is another property of Christian justice

Recently, I have been reading Ezekiel, and it calls for a "Watchman for Israel". This was Ezekiel as Prophet to Israel and this was his job description:

"If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul." (Ezekiel 3:18-19)

Notice how Ezekiel was responsible for the souls of Israel. These were not foreign nations of any kind. These were his own people. He was responsible for shepherding them, just as a pastor would. It talks more about this in Ezekiel 34. In fact, Hebrews 13:17 calls for such as well:

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Hebrews 13:17)

This one specifically calls for us as a congregation, as a body of the church to obey our leaders, largely our pastors. But they will have to make an account for how well they served us and loved us. They are to share the gospel with us. They are accountable for us.

But you know what? It is not only the pastors or the leaders of our church who are accountable for their sheep, but every Christian will be held accountable by God, for holding others accountable. If we do not as members of the body approach others within the members of the body, how are we as a body to grow? How are we meant to change, if the change does not come from those in submission to the leaders?

I was recently talking to a professor at my college about the spiritual life on our campus. Recently, I have been concerned that students have grown weary of God's word. It feels that people are not drawing near to God as we ought to do. I am an offender, and so I know I am fairly hypocritical. We were discussing how the leaders of our college can implement programs or encourage us to continue in the faith, or to grow deeper with God. But the change must happen from within the student body.

And revolutions never succeeded because people sat around waiting for change.

We must be willing to hold each other accountable. Proverbs 27:17 says

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)

The Bible values this process - holds it in great regard. For example, it talks about how the man who helps someone wandering the wrong way will be saved:

"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)

or it even sets out a practice for how accountability (particularly in reference to excommunication) should be run:

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." (Matthew 18:15-17)

It is not justice to let our Christian brothers and sisters stray in their faith. Accountability is all apart of Christian justice. We so easily look down upon others in judgment, particularly other Christians. We are self-righteous concerning our own actions.

We are quick to seek justice for ourselves, particularly when other have wronged us. If a Christians sins against them, we are quick to judgement rather than accountability. We are quick to anger and disunity, rather than loving confrontation and peacekeeping.

Get yourself a "keeper"

There is someone at college who I have grown in friendship with. The one thing I love about her is that though she is opinionated in many ways, she has been blessed with wisdom and will hold me accountable. I have asked her to do so with me. I know she will - and I know she will hold me according to God's standards.

I have realized throughout my life that this is where I have been lacking. I have sought accountability out in my parents, but not in friends or church family. You may remember a poem I published a while ago called "Testament of Tears" which talked about my struggle with people telling me where I have succeeded by rarely constructively criticizing me. It's weird to want this. But I do. Because I know I fail and mess up, but I need people to sometimes point it out to me.

I suppose, if you are a Christian, I am encouraging you to find yourself a "keeper". Find that person who will not ask the question that Cain does when his brother Abel dies. Completely out of context, I would argue that allowing our brother's soul to die rather than leading him to words of life in scripture, watching him wander rather than guiding him on the straight and narrow, allowing him to sin and not confronting him in love is like Cain. Soon enough, God will judge us for our unloving behavior.

How unjust is it to look upon the person you failed, see him be condemned as you enter the gates to the presence of our Lord? God appeased in judgment of that one sinner while you are reunited with your Father, after being lazy in building others up and evangelizing to the people whom were set to be condemned just as you were.

Don't ask it: "Am I my brother's keeper?. State it: "I am my brother's keeper". Perhaps injustice won't run so rampant if we actually took the time to do this.

Conclusion

Justice means evangelism. It also means accountability. And yet, the gospel we center around is unjust in an of itself.

Go figure.

But remember, the injustice of the gospel lies in the fact that a perfect man died so we might be saved. His grace and mercy overflowed as his blood bubbled from the wounds we inflicted. That is injustice. Christians are far to eager to win justice for themselves. We should fight. But the heart of the gospel is not that we seek perfection on this earth, but that we tells others about a better life to come.

It would be unjust for you to accept this grace and mercy and never show it to others, to keep it hidden. Like a lamp under a box, rather than a city on a hill. Instead, shine it to others, guide those who can already see. Ultimately, true justice and love and mercy and grace will be seen as we allow our light to guide others to God.

The injustice of man will meet the justice of God in the greatest war ever fought.

And he has already won.