Social Justice ≠ God’s Justice

If we are going to pray, “God’s will be done,” doesn’t it make sense to look at what God’s will is as expressed in the Bible?

He made one part of His will clear in His last command to His disciples: “Go—disciple and teach nations” (see Matt. 28:19-20). We could rephrase the command to disciple nations in this manner: “Go and release the Jesus in you into every nation.”

One could simply ask, “What would Jesus do and say about the problems we face in the world today?” However—if you would indulge me—let me give you a heavy-duty version of the same question: “How do we see the incarnated Savior manifested through us in society?”

Here are some synonyms for incarnation: integration, inclusion, incorporation, manifestation, and systemization. In other words, how do we see the kingdom of God come into every aspect of society? What would it look like if God’s wisdom and righteousness were incorporated into our laws, government, educational systems, as well as into our workplaces, homes, and everything we do?

If God’s Word is systemic in how it applies to our needs for biblical justice—how we feed the poor and take care of single mothers, for example—letting it direct us in how we deal with each of these areas releases the incarnation of that Word, Jesus Christ, into every situation.

Social justice is not necessarily the same as biblical justice. Social justice may change as a society moves away from following God’s Word. Biblical justice never changes in its principles in areas such as abortion and human trafficking and slavery.

Nations will be discipled when the incarnation of Christ is manifested at every level of society. To put it more simply, God wants His Word and presence felt in everything we think, plan, and do. Then everything is done “before the face of God” the way He has instructed us to do it. We are to be part of seeing His kingdom manifest now while still understanding that there is a greater future kingdom to come one day when Jesus returns.

After I had the revelation that the kingdom of God was important in my time and that I had a role in seeing it implemented, I started studying my Bible with new excitement every day, trying to better understand God’s kingdom principles. One very important verse came alive for me:

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).

“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached” echoed in my spirit as I read this. For my whole adult life, I had thought that we would preach the gospel of salvation to all the world, and when everyone had heard, Jesus would return, but this is not what Scripture says. It says we should be preaching the good news of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, it is not so much about answered altar calls as it is about inducting people into a new government—God’s kingdom on earth. This gives me a much bigger responsibility for the world than I had previously understood.

Combining these two biblical passages together—Matthew 24:14 with the Disciple’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13—challenges us toward whole new levels as believers. And when you add Matthew 28:18-20—the Great Commission that commands us to disciple nations—into the mix, you can’t help but experience an incredible paradigm shift. For me, it completely redefined how I saw my role as a believer on the earth. We are not only to create converts; we are to manifest God’s will on earth “as it is in heaven.”

This led me to a new series of questions: “If this is true, then how do we preach the gospel of the kingdom? What does it really mean to disciple or teach the nations of the earth? If we are called to disciple the world—and to love it as God loves it—how do we do that on a practical level?”

In the past I believed that when the gospel of salvation was preached in my city, it would change the fabric of society as well. I believed there is a correlation between the number of believers in a city and the godliness of government and culture in that city. For example, in a city with a large number of believers, poverty and corruption should be the exception and not the rule.

But as God was teaching me this, I began to wonder about my own city. I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex area of Texas. I know for a fact that Dallas/Fort Worth has a reputation as a densely Christian city. So does Colorado Springs, where our ministry was located before we moved back to our home area in Dallas. However, both areas have poor sections, and their city governments struggle with the same moral issues as most other U.S. cities of their size. Though largely Christian, these areas are still not discipled and taught of the Lord.

Why is this? What is wrong?

It would seem that the number of Christians who live in an area should change the spiritual climate of that area, but I didn’t have to look far before I saw that simply wasn’t the case. Why is that? I think the answer lies in two main areas: 1) perhaps we as believers have not seen kingdom living and building as our role; or 2) if we have, we don’t know how to practically use biblical principles to change our cities into places where the will of God flows freely.