ChosenRebel's Blog

What does it mean to do justice?

Answer: More than any of us know, and certainly more than I will be able to tackle in a brief blog post. But I do want to spend a little time discussing what is perhaps an often misunderstood and neglected part of “doing justice,” specifically, how we speak to one another. How we speak to one another is an aspect of doing justice. Do we speak to one another as men and women who recognize that our friends and enemies are both made in the image and likeness of God?

I think that is a justice issue.

Do we treat them with respect? Do we refrain from judgment? Do we listen? Do we allow them the benefit of the doubt? Do we act like we KNOW their motives or do we assume the worst possible spin? Do we resort to name-calling and insult? Do we allow them to explain their own words? Do we raise our voice because we KNOW that we are right and they MUST be wrong? Do we think ourselves righteous and them evil, and assume the worst motives to them and the best motives to us? Do we allow for a third or fourth way to see a perspective or do we argue as if we are right and they are wrong, and ANYTHING they say that doesn’t agree with us evidence that they are lying or worse, evil in heart? Do we ever question our own motives?

All of these are issues of justice and without a basic respect for others that gives the other the same rights and privileges that we assume for ourselves, justice will be thwarted.

There is one verse, the understanding of which, might be of great help for us navigate justice with how we speak to one another.

Ephesians 4:29

“Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear it.”

Notice: 

1. Nothing unwholesome should creep out of our hearts, over our lips, into the air and ultimately, into another’s ear. The Greek word translated as “unwholesome” in the New American Standard Bible is a word that is often used to describe the rank smell and un-usefulness of rotting fish, or the carcass of a dead animal laying in the hot sun.
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2. Only good words should come out of our mouth (or, online, from our fingertips on the computer keyboard). Good words are further defined in three ways.
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   • “for edification”  i.e. our words should build up the people who hear it. They should strengthen people for the battles of life the men and women who hear them are facing.
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   • “according to the need of the moment”  Our words should be tailored to a specific situation, a specific moment in time. We should be asking, before we open our mouths, “What will encourage or strengthen this person in front of me (or the people who read these words).”
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   • “that it may give grace to those who hear it” Our words have the ability to act as a conduit of the grace of God into the lives of the people we speak to. 

The more I have meditated on this one verse over the years, the more I am convinced that our words, a Christian’s words, have the potential to be almost “sacramental.” That is, our words have the potential to bring the grace of God’s presence into every conversation we have. 

My failures in always speaking good words are too many and embarrassing to recount. We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2) and I certainly am no better than any one else. That’s why I/we need a Savior. We need a Savior but we also need to follow the Savior’s way and the apostle Paul’s admonition to make every word we say count for the good of those who hear them, to strengthen them for a sometimes brutal and unjust world. It is the beginning, maybe the most important part of the beginning, of doing justice in the world.