Choosing Justice
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” – Matthew 6:24a
When a person oppressed by the evil of racism proclaims “Black Lives Matter,” you have two choices—you can validate their pain or you can condemn them for speaking it.
When a person wounded by rampant homophobia declares that “Love Wins,” you have two choices—you can unapologetically affirm them or you can legitimize discrimination against them.
When a person fearful of deportation says “No Human Being is Illegal,” you have two choices—you can make more room at the country’s hypothetical table or you can hoard safety and resources based on a birth certificate.
You cannot serve the paths of justice and injustice simultaneously. You cannot strive to emulate the Agape love of a self-sacrificing Christ, yet center legislation and country over the well-being of the people who inhabit it.
In an attempt to be non-confrontational or apolitical, churchgoers can mistake passivity about “tough issues” as sticking to the church’s business. However, in that passivity still lives a choice—a choice to ignore the cries of the oppressed and therefore empowering their oppressors to continue that oppression.
The gospel makes it clear that this Christian journey requires decisions about our allegiances.
Justice or injustice. What do you choose?
Prayer
God, your justice rolls down like waters. I won’t swim against the current. Amen.
About the AuthorMarchaé Grair is the Director of Public Relations and Outreach for the Unitarian Universalist Association and a member of South Euclid United Church of Christ, South Euclid, Ohio.