Doing Justice and Loving Mercy

I am feeling restless when I think of the plight of our society and the mission God has laid on our hearts as Reformed churches in Australia.   At times I have laid awake at night -- and my thoughts wander and ponder.   I cannot stop thinking of what our Lord reminded believers through the prophet Micah:   "And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)    

A dozen years ago this month I gathered with hundreds of Reformed men, women, and young people in Edmonton (Canada) to envision what God would have us be and do as Christian Reformed Churches in Canada.   This 2002 conference discussed a myriad of suggestions.   At the end of the conference, in the final plenary talk,  Reginald Bibby, a respected churchman and church historian, pleaded with us to discard our mounds of ideas and simply adopt ten words as our mission to Canada:   "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."   I am still haunted by his plea.

This year marks a week of years since we arrived in Australia to partner with the CRC in Australia to advance the missional vision to be a church reforming to reach the lost for Christ.     My passion to see this be a reality among us has not diminished, but only strengthened as the years have passed.    As churches we are committed to reach our society with the gospel through the "Fourfold Task" (4FT) of Pray, Grow, Train, and Align.  (For more information on 4FT, click here.)   But there are eight words outlined in the 4FT that call to remembrance Bibby's plea.

Over the past seven years we have implemented a number of prayer initiatives and have called one another to pray for spiritual revival in our land.   We have done much work in helping each other increase the health of our churches.   And we have seen some growth -- in church health, in numbers, and particularly in the number of new churches being planted.   We have raised the bar in leadership development and training.    BILD, Task3, and the Advance Together Conferences are just three ways where we are seeing the focus on training being sharpened.   And there are more initiatives being planned down the pipeline.   All the various platforms in the CRCA are seeking to align themselves to the CRCA missional vision and the 4FT.    But there are still the eight words that cause me some restlessness.

These words:   "...to penetrate structures of society with the gospel."   What does that mean for me, for you, for our churches, for our denomination?   What does that mean universally, locally, nationally, globally?   As we increase the impact of the gospel in Australia and beyond, what does that look like in terms of social justice, mercy, and peace?

We are not simply talking about relief efforts.   As a denomination we have been active in providing relief for the poor and disadvantaged both locally, nationally, and globally.   In the church my wife Jeannie and I attend, Bray Park Community Church (QLD), we partner with neighbourhood associations and weekly provide relief to many families that come to the Community Cupboard.    When the floods hit Queensland several years ago, people and financial resources were provided to churches who were assisting the many homeless and devastated families.    Through World Development and Relief, as well as SWIM, ministries of mercy are extended beyond the Australian borders.   And I know we could do more, much more, in terms of providing relief.

When we note the wording of the second task in the 4FT we realise that this is not referring to simply providing relief for the disadvantaged.    This is also not referring to bringing about transformation in a person's life.   Transformation happens when you move a person beyond simply receiving hand-outs and moving them to a point of self-sufficiency.   What the 4FT is speaking to is reform.   This is referring to penetrating the structures of society that promote injustice, exploit the poor and marginalized, and advance national instability and unrest.    In the words of Tim Keller:   "Social reform moves beyond relieving physical needs and seeks to change social conditions and structures that create those needs.   It does not just patch up the wounded, but goes after the ones that have done the wounding."(Ministries of Mercy, page 180)   The 4FT is referring to the reformation of the world around us -- impacting the structures of our society.  It is getting to core issues.

This is where a conversation needs to happen in the CRCA.  And this will take courage.   Jim Martin writes:   "If we are to engage violent injustice, courage will be required of us.   Courage to learn  what needs to be learned, to explore new frontiers of ministry, and especially to engage where we hear the Spirit of God calling us to engage, even -- and perhaps supremely -- when we feel that what we are being asked to do is not within our power." (The Just Church, page xxiv)

Yes, it will take courage to learn what needs to be learned.   For this reason over the past six months I have been searching Scriptures and reading pivotal books on the issue of social justice and mercy.   And I am still reading.   And learning.   I began by reading Tim Keller's book, Ministries of Mercy.   Keller wrote this book while working on his doctor of ministry while in his first congregation.   It is full of research and Biblical references and helpful suggestions for churches who want to engage in ministries of mercy.   A great follow up to this book is Keller's book which he wrote two decades later, Generous Justice -- How God's Grace Makes Us Just.   I found both books by Keller very helpful -- helpful in establishing Biblical foundations for justice and mercy as well as giving practical ways this can happen in and through the church.   To "do justice", writes Keller, "means to go to places where the fabric of shalom has broken down, where the weaker members of societies are falling through the fabric, and to repair it.... Reweaving shalom means to sacrificially thread, lace, and press your time, goods, power, and resources in the lives and needs of others." (Generous Justice, page 177).    This is vintage Keller.   And both books will get you thinking, and learning.

Tim Keller also put me onto an older book by Harvie M. Conn, Evangelism:  Doing Justice and Preaching Grace.  Keller admits that Conn's little treatise whetted his curiosity to explore the issues of justice and mercy further.    Sometimes Christians argue over what is more important:  Word or deed ministries?    How does the gospel relate to issues of social justice?    Sometimes the pendulum swings all the way to one extreme and all one is left with is a "social gospel" -- the gospel is reduced to (and at times limited to) helping the poor and disadvantaged in society.   What does it mean for the whole church to bring the whole gospel to the whole world?   If you have ever wrestled with these issues, Keller is right.   Conn's book will inspire you.

Earlier I quoted from Jim Martin's book, The Just Church -- Becoming a risk-taking, justice-seeking, disciple-making congregation.    This is a must-have book for every pastor and church library.   The book is really a road map to guide a church into the stuff of Micah 6:8:  doing justice and loving  mercy.   Jim Martin serves on the board of International Justice Mission (IJM).   But this book was not written from some ivory tower.   Martin writes from his experience as a pastor of a local church and moving that congregation to take risks, seek justice, and walk the path of discipleship.   As Martin writes:   "Through the pursuit of justice we find our way to deep intimacy with a God who loves us and calls us into his work not only for the good of others, but for our own good as well.   The work of justice, therefore, is as much about discipleship as it is about mission." (xxiii)  Not only does Martin lay down a thorough Biblical foundation for becoming a just church, but he also gives a practical three-step process that many churches have followed on their journey into justice ministries:   encounter, explore, and engage.    This book is current, it is very readable, and packed full of practical ideas.

Another book that I highly recommend is another IJM publication: Gary Haugen's book, The Locust Effect.   Dave Groenenboom has written extensively about this book in his blogs and in the recent issue of Catalyst.   To read this book will take courage; it will challenge you, convict you, even change you.   

I mentioned above that a conversation needs to happen in the CRCA -- and I mean what I wrote.   Over the next 18 months I hope to have conversations with as many leaders and pastors in the CRCA as possible.   I want to hear from you.   What do think it means for us as Christ followers, as local churches, and as a denomination to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God?   What does this mean for us universally, locally, nationally, and globally?  

To get you thinking, what might it mean for us as a denomination to penetrate the structures of our nation, Australia, with the gospel?   Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote so many years ago:   "The church must be reminded that it is not the master or servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.   It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never the tool.   If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."    So what does the Lord require of me, of you, of us as Australian churches?