The Bible is filled with examples and teachings where a Christian is required through a movement of the heart to compassionately give of one’s resources and time to help another in need. The story of the Good Samaritan is one such example in the Book of Luke (Luke 10: 25-37). In our contemporary time, many refer to this service as “justice” because the Christian through his or her actions is able to justify some sort of inequity experienced by victims of hate, economic disparity or disease. There is no denying that people experience inequity in life and Christians are called to address those inequities in any way they can. However, there is a missing ingredient that many within current discourse seem to lose sight of. That missing ingredient is that God requires all people, whether rich or poor, strong or weak, victor or victim, to give something of themselves to God and others. God requires all to confess their sins and clean their hearts of impurity. In essence God wants us to make a move toward Him and not be a passive receiver form those in “privileged” positions but to make an outward action of faith. This point is best summarized in Acts 3:6 where Peter and John challenged the man lame from birth to “pick up his mat and walk.” The lame man was carried to the temple to sit there and collect alms. But Peter and John looked at him intently and told him they they had no silver or gold but would give him what they had, a command to walk. The lame man, if he were just to receive alms, would have been a passive receiver and his condition would continue. But the disciples of Christ worked to get to the root of the issue, faith and healing. And that meant challenging the victim to make a step of faith, believing that God could heal and challenging him further to not be a victim but to step forward and find healing. The man responded and was healed. As Christians, we are called to help the poor and marginalized by giving time, money and other resources; furthermore, we are also called to proclaim the Good News and challenge the poor to get out of their current circumstances, walk the path to healing and be angels and ministers to others who need help. God does not call the poor to be perpetual victims. This is made clear in Acts 3:6.
Biblical Justice
