Why Promote Justice?

Jesus carried forward the prophets’ justice theme in his ministry on earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus twice refers to justice. In Matthew 5:6, he says, “Happy are those who hunger and thirst for what is right.” And in verse 10: “Happy are those who are persecuted in the cause of doing right.”

In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, he described the will of his father for God’s perfect kingdom on earth to be the same as the God’s kingdom in heaven. In heaven, there is no injustice. In the new earth about which Jesus often spoke, there will also be no injustice.

Those who say that we must wait rather than work for justice regularly claim that Jesus did not right social wrongs nor explicitly command his followers, then and now, to do so. But in fact Jesus attacked the whole social structure of his day as unjust. He made a point of associating with the unclean, unloved and discriminated people of his day. He consistently upbraided the moral police of his day — the Pharaisees — for their hypocrisy and false piety. He attacked the social structure of his day it for all its exclusions and religious legalism. And he did so in the context of embracing the shalom (right relationships) vision of the Old Testament.

World Vision is about doing justice. If justice prevailed in the world, there would be far less suffering, and humanitarian relief would not be necessary. Politically, justice is neither liberal nor conservative; neither Democratic nor Republican. Justice is doing what is right for people — rich or poor, black or white, Israeli or Palestinian, Serb or Kosovar — in the eyes of God. All people have common worth and dignity because they are creatures of the same God who loves them equally.

Seeking justice amid conflict often requires bringing people together — a main thrust of World Vision’s peacebuilding work for more than a decade. In Bosnia, World Vision has brought people from various ethnic groups together to rebuild homes, schools, and medical facilities. In Kosovo, our staff works with Muslim, Catholic, and Orthodox religious leaders to help bring trust and restore right relationships between people through aid and rehabilitation programs. In southern Sudan, World Vision’s ministry contributed to public reconciliation between two warring tribes, the Dinka and Nuer. And in Israel’s West Bank, World Vision perseveres to bring aid to the suffering and to build trust and understanding between Palestinian and Israeli.

World Vision promotes justice because the God whom we love and serve loves justice. The Old Testament prophet Micah perhaps put it best when he said: “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).