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We Want Justice

Saving Darfur

Right now, there's a little sign reading "SaveDarfur.org" in the back window of my car. But it's falling down. The original sticky spot has lost its sticky, and so the sign is just resting on my left speaker instead of standing at attention. Very shoddy activism indeed. Thousands have been killed, with millions removed from their homes, and I can't even find a stupid piece of tape.

It all started earlier last year when I read What is the What by Dave Eggers and The Devil Came on Horseback by Brian Steidle in short succession. Then it was a documentary called God Grew Tired of Us (which is so, so good, by the way — here's the trailer*). And I was consumed. I had joined the ranks of those thoroughly perplexed by the Darfur genocide, indignant from our very tendons and bones, desperate to speak out and take part in the speaking out and completely unsure as to how to go about helping.

I think the social justice thing in general can be difficult to navigate. We want to do good things for other people, but sometimes we don't always know what to do or where to begin. Add in the complications of trends to follow — or not follow — and the whole issue of motivation, and we just might find ourselves stalled on the tracks.

A Trend of Justice

Would it be fair to say that social justice achieved trend status sometime in the last couple of years? Bono and the (RED) campaign — and the ONE campaign? And would it be fair to say that the justice trend appears to be waning slightly? After all, other things have dominated our collective consciousness as of late: Spears the elder — and now the younger; whether or not Mike Huckabee is funny; toy recalls.

Now, see, I'm getting all cynical. And I need to not do that, because I like Bono, and also because I really do think the move to make social justice a priority is one of the best things that have ever happened, ever. It was a pendulum swing away from rampant consumerism (let's just hope the pendulum doesn't swing back), and it was an important day in the life of the American church.

I just wonder where we, the church, will go from here. I want it to be somewhere good, and I don't think that will happen without intentionality — without decisive, thoughtful action even after the winds of trend have stopped blowing.

The Being of Vegan

One of the complications of a justice trend is that it makes the identity of helping people a little confusing. Do I really want to help, do I really care, or do I just want to identify myself as one who helps and one who cares? Or, after years of division or cynicism, am I simply desperate to associate with one group rather than another? When I serve soup, am I serving soup, or am I acting as a soup server?

Not too long ago, I met this pretty cool guy who identified himself as a vegan, to the exclusion of just about every other kind of identity, as far as I could tell. He talked about shopping for vegan shoes and asked my vegan friends vegan questions, like, "When you accidentally eat a non-vegan cookie, can you taste the egg? I can."

I know I'm making him sound silly, but I liked this guy. Sure, maybe he's into veganism as much for self-defining purposes as animal-saving ones; but he's in college, and I think that's just part of college — growing into a new identity. Plus, he's committed, God bless him — whatever his reasons, he lives the vegan lifestyle to the hilt, and I respect that.

So even though the justice trend makes it possible for us to support causes more out of coolness than real conviction, I'm not sure that's the end of the world. From a crassly pragmatic point of view, as long as action accompanies talk and posturing, at least the job gets done. Paul wrote to the Philippians, "What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice" (Philippians 1:18 NIV). Besides, who among us can serve as the motivation police?

Still, justice from a heart full of compassion is obviously much, much better than purely trendy justice. But here's the thing: Sometimes questioning our motives can bog us down and keep us from acting. When are our motives ever truly consistent with one another anyway?

When we envision and try to enact life-changing justice, obviously it shouldn't be all about us and our bracelets. But I don't think we can suspend our selves from the equation either. Let's be honest: "It's not about me. I'm just here on behalf of the Lord" is pretty much never true — and, really, should it be? If we're going to do something "on behalf of the Lord," shouldn't we meet it, join it, embody it? When we take on God's plan for justice, we can't divorce ourselves from the work.

Marching Orders

Social justice is good, right? It's good to help people might be one of the most obvious sentences ever. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, vaccination clinics — these, I think, are nearly universally accepted as good.

I think helping people is so universally good because it symbolizes something completely basic to every human: The world hurts us, and we need help. Helping people demonstrates compassion, the healing and undoing of badness. Jesus taught that there are two Great Commandments, and that loving our neighbor is second (and related) to loving God; and the whole Good Samaritan thing teaches us that loving our neighbor looks a lot like helping them (Luke 10:25–37).

And that's just so key. It's the essence of everything, including the story God is telling us. Very early in his account, right after a genealogy and the temptation story, Luke shows Jesus going to the synagogue at Nazareth, unrolling the scroll of Isaiah and reading:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (4:18–19)

Then He said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" (v. 21).

That's it, man. That's what humanity needs, and that's integral to salvation: the reversal of death and destruction. And that's why social justice is so valuable, because it proclaims a new day; our acts of compassion demonstrate and welcome God's power to heal and save.

C O F F E E  S H O P

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What are some ways you've found to help those near and far?

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So maybe it's difficult sometimes. Maybe we don't always know what to do, and maybe we're not sure how to interact with the work that's being done. But it matters that we try. Social justice — and the compassion that drives it — reflects and enables the work of God. And even if we encounter difficulties finding our place in that justice, we're assured that good work is going on, and that we're invited to participate.