There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community. 

— Proverbs 6:16-19

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. 

— Matthew 5:43-48

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

— Romans 12:17-21

Ordering a Just Society

I have argued that God affirms three rudimentary systems of human justice. These may be labeled: institutional justice, libertarian justice, and social justice. Let me review these briefly for clarity’s sake:

Institutional justice:

A set of policies and social systems that produce a structure of authority, delivering people from anarchy or “everyone doing what is right in his own eyes.” This would include police, magistrates, laws, prisons, legal procedures, and so on.

Libertarian justice:

Right liberty for all individuals in accordance with natural rights. This requires that the individual is treated as a discrete and personal image-bearer and is not sacrificed to a more powerful person or to the interests of the collective.

Social justice:

This requires that the procedures of institutional justice and libertarian justice are not corrupted as a mechanism of favoritism and are ordered in reasonable ways to allow for societal flourishing among a virtuous population. To quote the social principle from the collection of manna in Exodus, “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little” (Exodus 16:18; 1 Corinthians 8:15). The system will be both impartial (leading to just inequality) while being equitable (minimizing unjust inequality or dehumanizing want). 

In the first, we pursue right authority. In the second, we pursue right liberty. In the third, we pursue a meaningfully impartial prosperity. The proper ordering of this authority, liberty, and impartial prosperity will lead a virtuous people to maximal and broadly distributed flourishing. 

In our present social tumult, there is great disagreement as to precisely what is wrong, in what way, and how it should be remedied. Most everyone believes that there is a breakdown in all three forms of justice, as well as in virtue of the people. Many different ideas contribute to our shared discussion: racial disparity, institutional racism, substantial liberty, White supremacy, cultural pathology, generational trauma, and so on. Amidst great disagreement and apparent misunderstanding, what tools does Jesus give to us to bridge the persistent divide?

What are we as believers called on to do? What are we forbidden from doing? What are the tools of our warfare?

Jesus Emphasizes the Means

Scripture doesn’t explicitly tell us what we ought to do in response to the problems of our day. It is, however, explicit about the means by which we can seek to right them. 

Historical forms of radicalism generally uphold two tenants. First, whatever system exists needs to be torn down and be replaced with a fundamentally new system. The old system is too infected with oppression and pathologies to be healed. Second, the ends justify the means. Or, in words often attributed to Stalin, “in order to make an omelet, you’re going to have to break a few eggs.”¹In order to completely tear down and build up a new system, one cannot be squeamishly limited by moral scruples. Yet, to use a phrase from William James, social transformations have the “moral equivalence of war.” That is, the social change is so important, that it requires the same efforts as we would muster during wartime in order to bring about lasting change. To James, this meant unification of the entire nation around a particular program. To historic radicals, it meant that those standing in your way amounted to something like an enemy in war. If they would not surrender, they had to be forcibly removed. Whatever means had to be used to remove them were justified by the great end we were seeking. This is the heart of radicalism: there must be a completely new system, and we are justified in doing whatever we must together. This philosophy can be seen on display in the French revolution, fascist revolutions, national communism and socialism, and many coops to replace regimes in developing countries. 

The Christian must realize that Jesus Christ wholly and completely rejects such logic. One way Jesus never encourages us to try to imitate him is in his wrath (righteous and proportionate vengeance). In Romans 12, quoted above, the apostle makes explicit that, not least in the very city of the great oppressors (Rome), Christians must have the opposite of a revolutionary mindset. Very explicitly, the apostle echoes the teaching of Jesus when he says, “do not pay back anyone evil for evil… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Here the apostle explicitly says that 1) An unjust act cannot be justified by an appeal to retribution, and 2) Since our job is to overcome evil, we are to do so by doing good, not evil. Therefore, the apostle entirely rejects, in line with the teaching of Jesus himself, the radical logic that the basic dictates of loving morality are suspended in the presence of any form of evil or injustice. The precept that we can ‘do something because someone did something to us’ is the logic of Hell. This logic is irredeemable because it cannot be brought in line with Christ, and it is idolatrous because it seeks to take the place of God in an office that he has not offered us. In fact, the logic of this passage argues that if we are interested in wrath, we can only pursue its increase through gracious generosity. The apostle says that if a Christian gives his enemy what he needs, and his enemy does not respond to that grace, then the positive gift of food or drink will become like burning hot coals of wrath being poured upon their enemy’s head. Some have argued that pouring “burning hot coals upon his head” is a reference to giving someone else the resource of fire. That is not what the passage means. It means that God is the one who executes wrath. We are the ones who offer grace, even to our enemies. We seek to overcome evil with good. However, if in the end, our enemies consistently reject all the good that we do to them, their rejection of grace heaps up increased wrath that will be executed upon them by God himself when he judges the world. 

Jesus’ teaching on this is more intense. We are called to pray for those who persecute us. To give whatever people ask of us.² To go two miles with a man who forces us to go with him one.³ In the end, this willingness to persistently hang in there with those who abuse us is called a perfection of God the Father.⁴ We are denied the right to act like God with righteous wrath. But we are directly instructed to be as much like God the Father as possible in our patient perseverance with those who mistreat us as enemies.

Just as you cannot claim to follow Christ if you are disinterested in his ends of justice, you cannot claim to follow Christ if you are disinterested in his means of peace. It is only when we look more closely at how Jesus is accomplishing his vision for the kingdom that we can see why it must be this way.

Without Truth, There Is Only Power

Many have observed that without a shared commitment to the truth, all we are left with is power. If the truth cannot coerce us by persuading our conscience, then all that is left are various forms of power working cynically for their own interests. Only a well-formed human conscience can guide the human soul toward the truth, no matter what will happen to us. Even if my neighbor cannot persuade me that I must give him justice, then my own conscience will force me like an indestructible army to do what is right. But if I reject the authority of the truth, then we must come to blows, insincere words, or conniving knavery. 

What is true politically is even more true spiritually. God has chosen not to save human beings by the force of coercive power. Even the power of the Holy Spirit is primarily a persuading power. His primary work is to “convict” the hearts of man. That is, He makes a claim upon every person’s conscience: that Jesus is the truth as well as the way and the life. You might follow Jesus as the way and the life because of what you want for yourself, but he calls you to follow him because he is the truth—because giving yourself to him is good, right and real. That recognition is the only way the Spirit can make sinners both righteous and good through the work of Christ. 

Without this basic realization, we cannot be peacemakers in the realm of politics/society, nor can we be reconciled to God or be reconcilers as his church. In society, politics, personal relationships, or faith—if all parties bow to the truth, then one person with the truth on their side has the force of an army. The least among us may become the most powerful in a single moment, with a single word. Without a shared, conscientious, and virtuous commitment to the truth, all that is left is power and coercion. Peace, righteousness, and love are banished.

This is why preaching, especially in the form of earnest persuasion and reasoning, made up the heart of Jesus’ public teachings. Therefore, any policy of pursuing justice that exalts or analyzes power without a foundation in moral conscience and truth is not compatible with the precepts or character of Christ or his faithful church. Any precept that denies there is truth, or that truth is the most relevant foundation for virtuous peacemaking has also missed the mark of Christ and is unusable in its present form. 

No Avoidant Peacemaker

Those seeking a deeper justice often fear that God’s demands on us to be peacemakers will block their ability to advocate for justice. We need not fear this. This is not the case with Jesus at all. On every page of his ministry, he speaks freely to those more powerful than himself, more connected, wealthier, or in higher position. In every case he states the plain, unadorned truth of God. Often, this specifically condemned some injustice and called people to repentance (e.g., Luke 11:42).

So although the heart of Jesus’ reform was to make peace between man and God, he did not do it by avoiding that which had driven them apart: human sin. When human sin took the form of social injustice, Jesus confronted it plainly. No Christian need fear that they will be shut up from seeking justice if they pursue the path of Christ.

We should both fear and long for something much more dangerous and discouraging than being silenced. Jesus Christ does not make us silent. He makes us sacrifices. Jesus himself refused force in the last instance and entirely rejected the path of political revolution in a land hungry for a revolutionary. In Christ, justice is not bought with the blood of other men, but with our own. Salvation is purchased only with the blood of Christ, but it is displayed and advanced by the blood of his people. God often chooses to allow his people to display Christ by suffering like him in order to persuade his hardheaded enemies. It will either win his enemies over to repentant, transforming faith, or be mountains of coals upon their heads in the final judgment. This suffering as sacrifice is the greatest honor a Christian can experience (Acts 5:41; 1 Thessalonians 1:3-10). From the first days of the church, martyrdom has been the greatest honor in the church. The word “martyr” means witness, labeling someone who persisted in seeking to display Christ’s message to their very death. 

Compelling Godliness

What are the most common reasons we disbelieve people who seek to persuade us? Self-interest. Financial interest. Name recognition. It’s like we have a nose for it. We can just kind of smell when people are advocating for their own fleshly or personal interests. We know if people are just trying to get something, or if they are really after the truth, no matter where it would take them. We can tell when people are concerned with what will happen to them rather than with making God’s truth known to his enemies.

In the end, the martyr is the only believable preacher, and therefore, the only legitimate revolutionary. Yet this is rarely a Christian’s most devout pursuit. How can one really pursue Christ without pursuing the heart of a martyr? Without being willing to die for the liberation of an enemy’s conscience and the subsequent salvation of his soul? Only the preacher willing to pay with his own blood to win over his enemies can muster the primordial spiritual power to overcome the flesh, sin, and Hell swarming in the heart of man and his societies.

To live in a way people find “compelling” is to live in a way so truthful, that the conscience of man will not let our enemies refuse its persuasive power. Before we can be ready to die for the good, we must be ready to kill the evil within us with Christ’s help. The old Christians called this the “mortification of sin in believers.” In order to truly live, every human being must both die and kill. Those dominated by the flesh and sin will kill their earthly enemies and nurture indwelling sin. The one seeking to be formed in the image of Christ will die to this world and kill indwelling sin with whatever spiritual brutality is required to succeed (see chapter 10 in Substance: Becoming oaks of righteousness in a world of vapor). This must include all the sins of our social lives, including every way in which we advocate for ourselves and others or fail to do so. 

Three thousand years ago, King Solomon outlined how the flesh, unsubmitted to the Spirit, would produce seven things utterly detestable to God (Proverbs 6:16-19):

1. Haughty eyes (pride)

2. A lying tongue (disregard for the truth)

3. Hands that shed innocent blood (violence that is not justified by divine law)

4. Hearts that devise wicked schemes (being concerned only with working things to one’s own advantage)

5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil (enthusiasm for the evil actions of the crowd instigated by drama)

6. A false witness that pours out lies (telling lies about one’s neighbor)

7. A man who stirs up dissension among brothers (creating division rather than peace)

These are all connected to basic individual human morality in the social sphere. Even if the things we want are good, God considers it detestable for us to pursue them by these means. As believers, we cannot lay aside humility even when facing our oppressors or enemies, nor can we lay it aside when showing empathy for the oppressed. We cannot tell lies even if they are useful and convenient. We cannot speak with any disregard for the truth. This includes describing our enemies, their behaviors or policies, and the injustices they perpetrated against us or others. We can’t turn to violence, especially the shedding of blood, but also the destruction of property. Giving our hands over to violence, no matter how good an end we seek, is a categorical sin that God declares that he detests and hates.⁵

We cannot allow any wickedness to guide our internal planning. Neither a seething pain nor our longing for revenge justifies our strategizing according to means that Christ has made unavailable to his peacemaking justice seekers, or perhaps more importantly, his own worshipers. Injustice perpetrated in the name of justice-making is injustice all the same. Grievance does not make anything moral that was not already just on its own merits.

We should not run after the crowd if Christ calls what it is doing evil. The mob cannot not shield us from our accountability to God. We should not act rashly when we are unsure that what we’re doing is right. People may want justice now, but those who rush in when being called by the passionate and the angry tend to find themselves rushing into evil as much as those who promote their path with lust, greed, and pride.

Sixth, God gives no quarter to the person who portrays another falsely. He put this in his own Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” That is, you shall not lie about them to their detriment. You will not paint an exaggerated caricature of someone with whom you disagree; only portraits are appropriate for image-bearers. You can say nothing that you know, or should know, distorts the picture of your neighbor. Regardless of our personal convictions about our society’s ills and the path to solving them, we must all take this command to heart and examine our practices. Refuse to say anything misleading, disproportionate, inhuman, or ignorant about your enemies.

Seventh, God hates and detests a man who stirs up dissension among those who should be united. God’s greater goal is reconciliation, and anyone who unnecessarily increases dissension by any amount is not seeking God’s greater goal. It is true that in the long run, there can be no peace without justice. But it is also true, perhaps just as true, that in the longer run justice can only be achieved by peacemakers.

Embracing Martyrdom

Racial justice is not the only embodiment of God’s truth that will cost us dearly. The way of Christ walks through every truth, every sin, and every injustice cherished in the deep places of every heart’s indwelling sin. You may be affirmed as you fight for racial justice but silenced and canceled when you promote sexual integrity. Do not think that the path of Christ will put you at peace with the way of the world at any time or in any movement. There is much good in the American status quo and much evil. Whether you give emphasis to what should be retained or to what should be changed, you will be accepted by some and vilified by others. And if you are approved of by the world in one moment, you may be summarily dismissed and marginalized in the next. Christians cannot hunt and peck, pick and choose their way through the character of Christ. 

In many ways, none of us can perfectly predict how we might be on “the right side of history,” if such a thing even exists.⁶ As Gandalf said in praising Bilbo for not killing Gollum, “Do not be quick to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.” We must not think we know the providences of God or that we can guide ourselves into a good future by means of present wickedness. Yet, Jesus does not guide us to the opposite path of avoidance, in which we keep our hands clean and our feet unbruised. 

Pastoral Direction

I understand in these times the desire to act out of fear and anger. I understand that many of us live in the confusion of wanting to do the good but not really knowing what it is—at least on a societal level. I understand the fear that, in doing nothing, we might displease God and miss the callings of our generation. I understand the fear of using religion as an excuse to stay in safety or to authorize brutality in the status quo, or in revolution. I understand our fear that we might overlook the trauma of others or the real transformation towards a better world for which we all long.

But do not be afraid. You probably will never have the answers we all wish would be self-evident. It may well be that there is no such thing as the right path to justice, for very few of us are seeking to be people remade in true virtue. How can a society that will not admit the universal pervasiveness of indwelling sin produce a widely just economy and politics? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that we are salt, a preservative from rotting, and a spice that brings out what flavor is there in the food itself. It may just be our job to preserve what we can and to bring out what flavor can be mustered.

Remember, in all Jesus’ parables about servants, none were ever punished because they were not smart enough. He was never displeased with a man who didn’t know what to do. He never cast out a woman because she was not as wise as the master. He only judged those who refused to be about the master’s business or those who abused the other servants.

Start with pursuing the character of Christ beyond being a “good American” or “nice Midwesterner” or “woke activist” and pursue him to the place of martyrdom. Let’s pursue him to the place where we know that nothing in this world is ours to keep, and that all our life has been given us in order to love his sheep and to persuade his enemies. Let’s raise our hand of violence against indwelling sin and lay out a confrontational hospitality to those enemies who perpetrate evil. If we do, I have no doubt that we can be the good and faithful servants Jesus has made us to be. And if we do not, if we stop short of the full taking up of his cross and walking every step of that way, we will neither find life, nor make peace, nor institute what justice can be achieved in these days.

No Single Answer

Within these constraints, the Christian is free and responsible as a steward of his life. She must act according to conscience and the light she has and do some good that is available to her under the means of Christ and toward what he calls the good. Virtuous and conscientious believers may come to completely different conclusions about what acts best lead to justice and flourishing, and which will display the Glory of Christ and facilitate evangelistic proclamation. 

Christians will differ on their view of what change is needed, as well as their resources, gifts and position, and the amount of time their life stage and opportunities allow for wider social action. The Providential God is well able to use his believers who even do opposing actions for the good of those that require justice. He can work many different things for good, done in the Spirit of Christ. 

Last, if these believers hang together in worship, fellowship, and deliberation, they can spur one another on and persuade each other more perfectly in understanding how to act in Christ’s name in our times. This is why I believe multiethnic churches, as well as inter-church relationships and partnerships, are integral to increased racial justice. 

It is not prudent or wise for me to tell you what you must do in Christ’s name in this moment. I can tell you Christ’s boundaries, his goals, and his means, but you must choose your own sub-ends and particular tactics yourself. You are a steward, and you must make your own choice, hopefully in fellowship with other believers. 

It is my plea in this essay to encourage believers to pursue the piety, wisdom, and virtue necessary to inform and sustain action that does good and does not just feel good. To find ways to work for unity as well as justice. And to make Christ known as the only one that can break down our dividing walls of hostility.

Footnotes

1. While it’s doubtful that Stalin coined these words, this sentiment has historically found bold advocates among Communist and Socialist leaders. Mao Zedong chillingly applied this idea to his own nation of China:

   “If we were to add up all the landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, bad elements and rightists, their number would reach thirty million… Of our total population of six hundred million people, these thirty million are only one out of twenty. So what is there to be afraid of? … We have so many people. We can afford to lose a few. What difference does it make?” – Mao Zedong

2. Matthew 5:39-48
3. Matthew 5:41, John 11:18
4. Christians have debated whether there are any limits to this precept in principle. Should I cope with any abuse for any amount of time in seeking to love my enemy? This question is important, though beyond the scope of this essay. In short, there are some places where Jesus offers principled limitations on some particular forms of abuse that make exiting a situation of constant contact acceptable. Adultery and abandonment in marriage. He tells his disciples to get swords for personal self-defense in Luke 22, and so on. So there appear to be limitations to the extent to which we should “not resist an evil person.” However, we should not cast aside Jesus’ hyperbole here. He is overstating what we are prone to under believe and neglect in practice. The world is full of evil, and to make peace, we need to constantly respond to it in sacrificial love that literally “goes the extra mile” and gives the thief more than what he wants to steal. Don’t dismiss a hyperbole unless you feel its full weight, otherwise you’ll dismiss God’s command and truth.
5. Scripture offers exceptions to this in cases of self-defense, judicial execution after reasonable due process for crimes deserving it, just war, etc. Right policing would also fall under just use of violence or force.
6. Explanation: I am not saying by this that we should not live in such a way as to make our great grandchildren proud of us. I am saying that it is an abominable doctrine to promote what God calls objectively sinful in the present hoping that in the future enough good will result to make our actions worth it. Many “revolutionary” ideologies have justified terrible and sinful actions in the present in order to get to the good they hope their movement will produce. Not only does this never work out in reality, it is an offense to God and an objectively immoral practice on its own terms. This is the behavior of an anti-Christ. It is the opposite of the path Christ calls his people to take.