Justice Blindness
By: Sharon Hughes
“But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.” -Amos 5:24
How easy it is to think of ourselves on the side of justice and to see injustice simply as a blatant act of “the other”. We turn on the news and see the headlines about the injustices “out there”…the killing, the stealing, the racism, the dirty politics, the greed. If we have not been involved in those things, then certainly we are good, right? Justice must be rolling down in our lives, right?
Dr. King, in his book “Strength to Love” says “we must recognize that Jesus was nailed to the cross not simply by sin but also by blindness.” Maybe we can qualify that blindness as a justice blindness. Those that yelled “Crucify Him” may have felt it was a just cause but in reality committed the most tragic injustice. Dr. King goes on to say that, “Saul was not an evil-intentioned man when he persecuted Christians. He was a sincere, conscientious devotee of Israel’s faith. He thought he was right. He persecuted Christians not because he was devoid of integrity but because he was devoid of enlightenment.”
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how my blindness to justice has contributed to the racial injustice of this world. Lately, I have had the privilege to sit down and speak candidly with mothers who have black sons. As a white woman, and follower of Jesus, I’ve needed to get off of social media and look into someone’s eyes so I can truly listen and learn. I’ve asked these mothers about their hopes, their fears, their dreams and what true justice might look like.
Last month, I spoke with Margaret Green, a strong woman of faith, who has two grown sons. She spoke about needing to have a constant dialogue with her sons about being black in America because it simply pervades everything. She said, “You know I think it’s so interesting to know that my fear and anxiety today is really on par when he was 5 or 15 and 25. At any time in any situation he can be hurt, harmed, maimed, killed simply because of the color of his skin. The hope is, will he almost be lucky?”
As we continued talking I asked her what true justice might look like and the first thing she mentioned made me pause…She said, “total recognition that racism, overt and covert, exists.” Her call for justice to roll down was first and foremost a call to stop and see racial injustice and where it has been denied. In addition she has held onto scripture (Exodus 14:14) that God will fight and make a way on her behalf.
It was a sobering realization that she has had to fear for the very lives of her precious sons most days, over the past twenty years. As I left that interview, and others just like it, I felt equally alarmed that I had little clue what this daily collective experience was like. God has used these conversations to lay bare where my justice blindness exists.
What would it look like if our pursuit of justice involved an assumption that we haven’t gotten it right? That because of sin and brokenness we embody a justice blindness. Thankfully, Jesus in his abundant grace and severe mercy addresses this on the cross by saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24). Those words are for us, yet, He didn’t give up on us. He extended true justice to all people so that our eyes may be opened to the injustice around us.
One of my favorite verses in all of the Bible is from 2 Corinthians 3:16,
“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Sisters, let us turn to the Lord, who by His spirit allows us to see what we could not see before. And from a place of humility may true justice roll down in our hearts, our homes and our communities.
