Unka Glen

cousined asked: In a recent post you talked about justice and mercy. How can I perfectly blend them and apply them in every day life? Thank you my Unka.

Unka Glen answered: Well that’s the thing, justice and mercy don’t much fit into everyday life. otherwise, it might be a more popular pastime. The thing about the Biblical concept of justice is, someone is benefitting while the poor are suffering. The ones who are benefitting will generally fight to keep on benefitting. 

But in the spirit of this question, let’s think of an example where the church is the one benefitting, so that there’s a built in accountability to do better. And to keep it close to home, let’s start with your local church. Take whatever denomination you belong to, let’s say it’s Baptist. 

I’ll bet in your town there is a Baptist church in the rich part of town with a million dollar budget, perhaps even a multimillion dollar budget. And I’ll bet that in your same town, there’s a Baptist church in the poor part of town where the pastor has to work a day job because the church can’t afford to pay him a salary.

And I’ll bet the pastor over the million dollar budget is white, and that the pastor working the day job isn’t. This is wrong. All the way wrong. Who knows how it got this way, and really, who cares? We’re not here to fix the blame, we’re here to fix the problem. And now you’re wondering if maybe the Bible ever mentioned anything about this financial equality among churches.

Well there’s this: “Our desire is…that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: ‘The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.’” (2 Corinthians 8:13-15) 

Oops.

So what’s the solution? Well, that’s where you come in. I mean, do you have both churches take their offerings, and then just throw them together in a pile, and then split it down the middle? Do you do something more meaningful, merging pastoral staff and having pulpit exchanges? Do you basically “tax” all churches making over a certain amount and create an office for distributing it to poorer churches? 

All these ideas sound simple, but they can get real messy and complicated in real life. But if it’s your fight, you ought to be the one to devise the solution. Have other churches or denominations found solutions? Can you borrow some ideas? Likewise it should be up to you to decide how you want to raise awareness. Being a Christian, and fighting for justice in the Biblical sense, means being a boat-rocker. Just make sure you know which way you want to rock it.

And that’s just one example. There are millions more. I’ll bet that there’s some injustice that’s always bugged you. Ask the Lord if that’s something from Him, and if so, what can you do to make a difference.