Karen Rees
How valuable is justice? Few people in the United States give much thought to this question. But for many in the world, it”s a far different story.
In the United States, justice is simply there, a part of the community. It looks like the local police officer or mayor or building inspector. We expect officials to do their jobs properly and treat us fairly. We expect the police to protect us to the best of their ability. Where I live, in Hong Kong, Britain”s 150-year colonial rule has left a similar legacy of justice. People expect to receive justice, just as they expect to find pebbles on the beach.
A Rare Commodity
Many countries in this region aren”t so fortunate. For them, receiving justice is more like finding diamonds on the beach. Consider these recent stories from the South China Morning Post, our main English language newspaper.
One year after the supposed drowning death of his 17-year-old daughter, a mainland Chinese father was still trying to find out how she really died. Officials refused to conduct an autopsy. Because of certain injuries on her body, local residents believe the girl was raped, killed, and then thrown into the river, and that corrupt local officials are protecting the killers. The officials have barred the father from talking to the media and are hinting that his son”s college entrance exam results could be harmed if he sues the local government.
Myanmar”s military rulers showed more concern about voting on a new constitution to further strengthen their 46-year hold on power than the plight of more than 2 million victims of Cyclone Nargis. They also strictly limited the amount of relief permitted into the country. This left hundreds of thousands of people without the necessities of life and vulnerable to disease.
Mainland Chinese officials ruled the death of a 24-year-old hotel chef to be suicide. The hotel is notorious for a string of suspicious deaths over the last 10 years. It”s well known drugs are sold there by the hotel owners, who happen to include officials from the police, electricity bureau, and judiciary department. The locals believe the chef was killed because he threatened to disclose the drug deals.
In the southwest tribal region of Pakistan, five young women were shot and then buried in a ditch while still alive. Their crime? Wanting to choose their own husbands. Some Pakistani lawmakers protested. Others said it was an internal matter for the province.
In Mainland China, young men are being kidnapped and sold as slave labor to brick factories. Since officials are doing little to find their children, a group of parents banded together to travel to the brick kilns in search of their sons. Boys who managed to escape said that the officials were involved in the sales or were being paid to look the other way by the kiln owners.
In the Sichuan earthquake, government-built schools that were only a few years old collapsed, killing most students in them, while nearby buildings remained standing. The government refused to make a thorough investigation. Parents suspect the cause is lax building regulations resulting from corruption. A lawyer representing the parents was arrested and imprisoned.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe purchased a multimillion-dollar mansion in Hong Kong and reportedly spent $250,000 to celebrate his 85th birthday while the people of his nation starve and his government asks neighboring countries for financial help to rebuild the economy.
Firsthand Reports
Let”s move from news reports to stories coming from some of those we”ve worked with.
Maribel was abducted from school by communist rebels in the Phillipines and forced to serve her teen years as a New People”s Army soldier. Unlike many of her fellow teenage soldiers who died in the jungle, she eventually managed to escape and return home.
Boris and Blaise, two Christian brothers from a minority tribe, fled their Congo-Brazzaville village when government soldiers attacked. The village was destroyed, their father killed, and their mother abducted. The brothers ended up as refugees in Hong Kong. They have no news of their mother. Blaise suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and his fingers are permanently twisted from torture.
Indonesian household servants working here are more afraid of the Hong Kong police than the Filipinas are. Although there is corruption in the Philippines, Indonesia has a lot more. It takes time for the Indonesians here to realize the Hong Kong police, unlike their own, are basically honest.
These stories all have one thing in common. Injustice. Another common element is that the people who failed to get justice felt that those in power didn”t care about them.
A God of Justice
When justice is missing, concern for others is missing. Scripture supports this conclusion. God is both a God of justice and a God of love. Psalm 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”
This clear and strong connection between love and justice creates problems for the popular idea that, because God is loving and forgiving, he will allow everyone to go to Heaven.
The Bible does not teach this. Many verses, while describing God as loving, also describe him as a God of justice who will judge the nations and punish wrongdoers.
God made his commitment to justice clear when he set out the laws for the Israelites. He repeatedly told rulers and citizens alike to deal fairly with each other. “Don”t accept bribes; don”t show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; don”t pervert justice.” When the Israelites failed to obey, God eventually brought judgment on them.
The New Testament contains similar teachings. Jesus frequently warned of a judgment to come. Second Corinthians 5 says Christ will judge us according to our behavior. In James, Christians are warned against showing favoritism. First Peter 3 tells us authorities are to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right. Justice requires punishment of the guilty and protection of the innocent. On what basis can we discard verses about God”s justice while keeping verses that describe God as loving and forgiving?
Love Leads to Justice
Here is a second and related problem. If God is truly a loving God, how can he not let everyone go to Heaven?
Imagine you and your neighbor have an argument. Your furious neighbor burns your house down, and your family barely escapes. Your neighbor is arrested, tried, and found guilty, but is clearly unrepentant as he stands before the judge who is about to pronounce sentence.
The judge says, “Neighbor, I know you”re guilty and haven”t shown remorse. But, because I”m a loving judge, I”m setting you free. Go home and live happily ever after.”
Later you stand in the ashes of your house and look at your guilty, unrepentant, and free neighbor grinning at you from his yard. Do you feel the judge”s love? Of course not. Love would have resulted in justice.
God is an impartial judge, loving the guilty and innocent equally. But the different behavior of the guilty and innocent requires different responses. Perpetrators choose to act the way they do. Their innocent victims are given no choice. This world is filled with innocent victims who will never get justice until they stand before God on Judgment Day. Taking the unbiblical position that God will let everyone go to Heaven denies them their last hope for justice. It also turns God into an unfair judge.
A third problem relates to the place Jesus occupies in God”s plan for justice and mercy. Since before creation our just God, knowing sin can”t be ignored and sinners must be punished, set up a plan that gives us a second chance. He sent his Son to earth to take our punishment and give us the hope of eternal life.
If God has now changed his plan to let everyone into Heaven””even unrepentant mass murderers and proud people who scorn Jesus” sacrifice””he allowed his Son to suffer and die needlessly. What kind of loving God is that? And how can he justify the change to Jesus?
Mercy and Justice
What about God”s forgiveness? Doesn”t mercy triumph over justice?
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, assembled in South Africa at the end of apartheid, provides a parable about this.
During the apartheid years, human rights violations were committed by both sides (those who ruled””the whites””and those who were oppressed). When apartheid ended, the government set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Those guilty of human rights abuses between 1960 and 1994 had the hope of receiving amnesty if they met certain conditions. The conditions included making a full and public confession and doing so within a certain time limit. Of those who went through the process, some received amnesty, some did not.
The deal God has given us is much better. Amnesty is guaranteed if we meet his truth and reconciliation requirements. We have until we die to admit we are sinners, repent, accept Jesus as Lord and Savior through baptism, and then remain faithful to him. If we do this, we will receive his forgiveness instead of his justice.
But we do have a deadline: Judgment Day. If we fail to meet God”s requirements by Judgment Day, we will receive justice rather than forgiveness. It”s our choice.
The next time someone tells you that God””because he is loving””will let everyone into Heaven, ask this question. Would that person like judges to practice that same kind of forgiveness today by setting every criminal free? If not, why not? It could lead to an interesting discussion. It also might help the person see that love doesn”t exist when there”s no justice. Justice and love are two sides of the same God.
Karen Rees and her husband, Benjamin, have been doing multicultural mission work in Hong Kong since 1975.
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