God and Injustice

We talk a lot about justice in our world today. Our culture seems obsessed with it - racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, civil justice. As soon as something bad happens, we start our rallying cries and start making our signs: "Justice for _______!" Whatever the cause of the day is. 

But underneath our cries for justice are pleas, really, for vengeance. There's this constant undertone of the idea that "someone has to pay." Bad stuff is not allowed to just happen in the world. We have to hold someone accountable. There's no such thing as an accident any more; someone must make restitution for the wrongs of the world. 

The problem is that we're often so intent on making sure someone faces the music that we get lost in the noise. It doesn't take long before our quest for justice no longer even pretends; it's all-out vengeance we're after, and we've honed in on our target. We've identified the responsible party, rightly or wrongly, and we won't give up until they get what's coming to them. 

No wonder our criminal justice system is so messed up. Someone has to pay. Here's this guy. Why can't he pay? And now, we have an unknown number of completely innocent folks wasting their lives away for crimes they didn't commit. (Thankfully, we are now in a period where we are starting to rectify these injustices that we once pursued in the name of justice.) 

Of course, it's not just criminality we're talking about. There are folks walking around with scarlet letters, reputations they didn't earn, nicknames they didn't merit, whispers they can't un-hear. For what? 

For the offense of being perceived as responsible in some way, shape, or form for something "bad." 

JUSTICE! 

But it's not justice. In fact, it's the opposite of justice. In fact, this kind of injustice might be the worst kind of injustice because it's not even grounded in our true desire for accountability; it's rooted in our anger and lust for vengeance. We don't care who pays as long as it's somebody. 

This is detestable to God. Proverbs uses that exact word - detestable. Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent - both are detestable to the Lord.

Most of us get the first part of that - we hate it when the guilty go free. We hate when the technicalities let someone off the hook. We hate the responsible party gets to just walk away and leave the trauma trailing behind them. But we're not so good at the second part, though we're finally working on it. 

We have to let justice be justice, and that means sometimes, we don't get answers. Sometimes, we don't get restitution. Sometimes, we don't get accountability. Sometimes, this world is just plain broken and there's nothing we can do about it. 

But we can stop settling for placing the burden on just anyone's shoulders. Because that isn't justice, either. Condemning the innocent? Disgusting. 

And does it really even satisfy that thing in your heart that you think it does? 

(Spoiler alert: no.)