Justice makes u feel equal - Grace makes u feel special

There has been much made of the Ferguson Mo incident as it relates to the current state of race relations in the US. The dominant theme of protest is injustice done to blacks by the law enforcement community, which is seen as collateral damage from a bigoted society. There is a significant perspective in the American church that Christians have failed to do their part in society to enhance the justice afforded the African American community. This criticism generally stems from the assumptions about the connection of social justice and the Gospel.

I have long been critical myself about the view of Christians in the US I call "the social gospel". I must make the distinction between the role of Christians to carry out their faith in a fallen world, to be salt and light, and the idea that the central theme of the Gospel and the main concern of Jesus is justice.

Justice is grounded in man's need for equilibrium - get what u deserve or equal distribution of wealth, etc. Despite the problem that fairness has multiple norms, such as equity, equality, and need, and is therefore impossible to get society to agree on what is fair, justice is man's need, not God's plan of redemption.

For instance, in Matt 20 Jesus explains what the Kingdom is like. He describes workers who labor all day but get the same reward as those who work only a few hours. Social justice advocates ask, doesn't this mean that justice is equality and central to the Kingdom? No, Jesus says that the Kingdom operates at the discretion of the King, that He does what he wants and that His desire is to bless kingdom dwellers as He pleases (Grace, substantiated in much of the New Testament). Those individuals that demand justice (btw, justice is the equity norm of fairness), can't face the Grace of the Master and leave. "The first shall be last and the last first" is not in any form a statement of justice as the prevailing norm of the Kingdom.

Pointing others to justice is NOT pointing others to Christ. Treating others fairly may make them feel equal, but treating others with the Grace that flows through us makes them feel SPECIAL - a more excellent way.
      
certainly worth pondering and is explained in more depth in