Justice!

Deep sea fishing on vacation

A couple months ago, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful vacation to North Carolina. We love vacation, and so we spent several months saving up money for food and spending. Near the beginning of the week, we had $300 stolen from us. Obviously, it upset us a lot. I got very angry since there was nothing we could do about it. And so we sit and fumed, wishing for justice in ways I'm now ashamed of. "I hope he uses it to buy alcohol and then hits a tree while drunk driving." "I hope he spends it on boat trip and his boat sinks!" We wanted justice.

There's a popular game my students are very into called Gaga Ball. It has nothing to do with Lady Gaga, thankfully. It's just a tiny, walled-in version of dodgeball. After playing it a few times, I retired from the game forever. Why? Because I can't stand the amount of cheating that goes on. In such a quick, small, self-judged game, many students are prone to cheating and carrying on with such blatant disregard for the rules of the game. It becomes way too frustrating for me to endure and anger quickly builds inside of me. I want justice.

Am I alone in this strong desire for justice? I don't think so. But am I right? I don't think so. There are two problems with this, which become two truths we can remember to escape this slavery to a desire for justice.

First, a deep desire for justice is shackling because it wants justice for everyone else's evil and not my own. I haven't stolen $300 from tourists and I try my best to not cheat at Gaga Ball, but I am just as guilty of evil in this world. If I am guilty, I deserve justice. But when I get angry at the wrongdoing of others, I cry out for justice on them and not myself. This is a desire for selective justice, and not a true desire for justice. This can cripple our joy as it increases our pride. If we want justice, then let us desire true, universal justice. But we don't. We want grace for ourselves and justice for others.

Second, we can only be freed from this desire for justice through the work of Christ as Savior and Christ as Judge. When we are frustrated by the wrongdoer in our life and calling out for justice for everyone but ourselves, we must remember that all evil is judged in one of two places: at the cross or at the end. While we struggle in our desire for true and universal justice, we can take heart that God is just. This means that every sin, every sinner, is judged in God's wrath poured out on the cross if they are in Christ, or at the end in the final judgement. Never will evil go unjudged.

So what does this mean for us? First, it means we do not have to live under the crippling anger and frustration and feeling of being trampled by this world. Every evil will be judged, but it is not our place to be the judge, jury, or executioner. Be relieved of this role. Listen to Hebrews take the weight of that responsibility and anxiety off your back.

"For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." -Hebrews 10:30-31

Second, it means we can finally love our enemies with a real and gracious love. Like the famous quote, "Resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die," we don't have to hold on to anger and bitterness because justice is not immediately handed down on the wrongdoer. Instead, we can be freed of that and love those who persecute you.

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out." -Proverbs 24:19-20

Is the Fault in Our Stars?

This post intentionally comes a little bit after The Fault in Our Stars hype. Now that we have some time to digest the book and movie without the emotional craze it caused, there are a couple points I'd like to make on it.

The first thing I must say is that while they stayed mostly true to the book when making the movie, I was disappointed by the change in the ending. The book's plot resolves with the ending to An Imperial Affliction. The movie's plot resolves with a eulogy for Hazel by her dead boyfriend, Gus.

This change in resolution means a change in the plot and main conflict. The book's main conflict is the search for meaning and significance even after death. This makes for a great plot.

On the other hand, the movie's resolution means the main conflict is the love story thwarted by death. This cheapens the plot in my opinion and is indicative of what sells in the movie theater.

The second thing I must say relates to the attractive title. John Green borrowed this phrase from Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which Cassius says to Brutus, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." If Green's book represents our culture, then our culture says, "Fate has caused our problems, not us." Shakespeare's line on the other hand claims that problems in our lives are not due to crossed fates, but are because we are fallen beings.

So which is the truth? If we experience problems in our lives, is the fault in our stars? Is our fate to blame? Is the Sovereign at fault? Or are we the problem? If this world is not a "wish-granting factory," are humans to blame?

"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)

So according to Scripture, if this world is broken and nothing goes our way, we are to blame. Collectively and individually, humans are impure and fallen. We must be careful not to blame our problems on the stars, fate, God. This world is broken because humans are underlings, sinners, fallen. But this is encouraging, because fate cannot be redeemed. Humans can be redeemed. So we know that this broken world is only temporary.