I am tired of Christians talking about justice. I am sick of hearing church leaders debate the role of the Church in seeking justice. I really don’t want to read one more post about how doing justice is a matter of understanding the right things.
This week, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the site where Jesus was crucified and buried, closed its doors in protest of unjust taxation by the local municipality. Thankfully, the Israeli Prime Minister is intervening in the dispute. But this case is just one reflection of the ways that Palestinians are being slowly squeezed out of Israel and the occupied territories. If we listen closely, we can hear the voices of Palestinian Christians, gasping at the Church worldwide, exclaiming “We can’t breathe!”. And most of us are turning the other way.
God is still speaking, still beckoning us to seek the Lord and live. But sometimes it looks as though we, as North American Christians, are spending so much time writing, talking, and debating about justice issues that we do not have time to actually follow Jesus in seeking justice.
Seeking understanding is good, but it’s not enough. God doesn’t care about our theology nearly as much as we do. Our calling is not to prove that we are right, but that God is righteous.
It’s time for us to turn and return to God. It’s time for us to listen. It’s time to advocate for the needs of those who are suffering unjustly, even (and especially) when it means that we must sacrifice something.
Palestinian Christians need that, as do others experiencing injustice in our communities and around the world. They need us to listen to them. They need our prayers. They need us to care about their well-being, and to advocate for it with our governments.
It’s time for us to stop talking about justice, and to do justice. It’s time to respond to God’s call to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. It’s time to seek the Lord and live.