Justice is Never Done

I tire of doing good.

I mean, I don’t get tired of the idea of doing good. My heart still breaks for injustice down the street and around the world. Every day I grow more aware of how my identity and circumstances leave me more privileged than the vast majority of our planet.

I tire of actually acting on this heartbreak and leveraging that privilege on behalf of those without.

I get a lot of mileage from being a foster parent. I honestly believe I could “quit” the fight for justice today and most of those I interact with wouldn’t blink an eye.

We have adopted a child from foster care. I’ve got my badge to prove to the world that I’ve done my part. In any conversation about making a difference, I could simply flash my adoptive-dad ID card and I would immediately gain entrance into the imaginary club of the elite few perceived as having made a real difference in people's lives and in our community.

One of the hardest tensions in the Christian faith is reconciling the idea that Jesus brought ultimate justice to our world, but the world around us remains resoundingly unjust.

Justice was ultimately done on the cross, but in a not-yet-finished kind of way.

The justice Jesus brought empowers and enables followers of Jesus to be peacemakers and kingdom warriors. We are expected to live out the principles of the upside-down kingdom in such a way that we bring life, peace, healing, and justice right where we live, work, and play.

Our efforts will always be insufficient. We grow tired working for small wins: fighting to set the captives free, to father the fatherless, to care for foreigners, and to love the poor. Yet the next day there will be more captives, more orphans, more widows, more refugees, more suffering, more war, more death, and more destruction.

But there’s a plan in place. The clock is ticking. And while we can’t see the countdown, we know a time is coming where every pain, every tear, and every injustice will be gone for all of eternity.

Compared to the rest of my life, eternity seems like forever...

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ~Paul, a follower of Jesus, in his letter to the church in Galatia

So let's never tire in doing good. If I ever seem defeated, please remind me that the battle isn’t over. The end will be far better than my small mind could ever comprehend. And in the meantime, will you join me?