As we stand before the flag with our hands over our hearts, we make two bold proclamations to this Republic we call The United States of America. First, we cherish liberty. Freedom is our rallying call as we live in a society without fear from oppressive restrictions placed on the people by authoritarian rule. Secondly, justice is guaranteed to everyone without limiting its scope to the privileged. We stand and recite this lofty declaration, but too often our actions fail to reach the height of our words.
Liberty and Justice are two words rooted in the Biblical narrative, but maybe not in the way you think. Liberty is connected to slavery (e.g. Ex. 21:2), but is neither associated with the Exodus of Israel from Egypt nor to the Exile into Babylon (see NIVDNTT 1:715-16). We often use “liberation” in a political sense, while the Bible does not. By the New Testament, “liberation” takes even less of a political meaning, as it talks about the freedoms of Christians. We’ve been liberated from sin and death, while given the independence to live freely in Christ (Jn. 10:10; Gal. 5:13).
Justice is a stronger word, both in the Old and New Testaments, and its connection to righteousness cannot be overlooked. The Psalmist declares that God’s righteousness and justice is foundational to his throne (i.e. kingdom [Ps. 89:14]), meaning that God will always treat his people fairly as he administers his justice. As the Psalmist continues, God’s righteous justice is driven by his faithfulness to the covenant he made to Israel, which is less to a set of rules and more to a relationship he established.
In the New Testament the words for righteousness and justice come from the same word (i.e. diatheke). One may assume that the road to God’s righteousness is paved by treating everyone fairly and equally without concern for power, position and political cover. Such a theme hits hard and often in Scripture as God utters strong words against the powerful abusing their position against the poor and the weak. For instance, Amos’ oracles against the nations include sins of brutal warfare, dehumanizing people by trading/treating them as if they were cattle, violating treaties, desecrating sacred burial places, breaking God’s covenant, trampling the poor and denying justice to the oppressed (Amos 1-2). The heart of God is the freedom we have to ensure that everyone is treated with his fairness. In other words, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Mt. 22:34-30; Mk. 12:28-34; Lk. 10: 25-37; Jas. 2:8).
If a nation, such as America, is going to claim its Christian roots or identity, then it must continue to struggle with “justice,” not for some but for all. Justice has not always been handled fairly or biblically in our land, because groups of people and individuals have been oppressed and/or marginalized in the process.
As an agent of God, the government’s role is to administer justice (Rom. 13:1-5). That said, the church must be the moral conscience to the government in assuring justice is reached, especially when people’s rights have been trampled (Prov. 31:8-9). It’s risky, and often an unpopular move, to stand and speak where people refuse to look. It’s easy to turn a blind eye when the unrighteous and injustice act doesn’t involve you. But where rights are violated and abuse is prevalent, then it falls to the church to hold the government and society accountable.
As we stand as both, Americans and Christians, to declare “liberty and justice for all,” let’s make sure that justice ends with an exclamation mark, not a question mark.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e. only God is glorified!)