Someone asked me recently what justice would look like for the kids at the Home of Hope.
Our task, I believe, is to give our kids the opportunity to become the women and men Jesus sees when He holds each of them in His hands. We can only work toward true justice, which means setting things right, restoring things to God’s original intention.
Jesus asks us to “seek” justice. Judging, achieving ultimate justice, is God’s job, and won’t happen on this side of eternity.
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Yeah, but…what about, you know, “real justice” for the bad guys?
You knew that question was coming, right?
Our culture tries to separate the concepts of justice and forgiveness. It doesn’t work.
Justice without forgiveness looks like revenge for me or punishment for you. But justice in scripture is a community concept – justice for us.
God’s justice in scripture is paired with forgiveness and hope. Both are forms of the sacrificial love required for reconciliation, the heart of His plan at the cross.
None of this makes sense in a culture that defines everything in terms of power. Forgiveness seems like weakness, punishment feels like strength. But Jesus never told us to seek power. He willingly surrendered all the power in the universe to become a servant. He told us to love our enemies and pray for those who harm us.
I’m not naïve. Reconciliation is a two-way process. Forgiveness cannot be forced upon another person. An ordered society must deal with criminal behavior. But society’s “criminal justice” system, even in its most perfect form, can never deliver what can only be provided by God – true justice.
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When I think of the atrocities our kids and have endured (and some of their mothers still endure) I want frontier justice. I want some combination of Rambo and John Wayne to clean up the town.
Jesus knew that violence in any form only captures and hardens hearts. He knew any “justice” based on revenge and punishment could never bring peace. He knew forgiving, sacrificial love was the only way.
“Blessed are the peacemakers.”
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This is one of many reasons we love and partner with Project Rescue. They don’t rescue people with force and violence. They work through the difficult, painstaking process of building loving, no-strings-attached relationships. They’re peacemakers in some very tough places.