Thoughts from a Musician's Heart
LOVE MERCY, DO JUSTICE by Lucas Alemán
Facebook feeds and Twitter streams have become a social war zone with articles, op-eds, think pieces, and news updates as the ammunition fired between various ideologies . We like the idea of social justice, of being on"the right side of history”. The question to ask is : Whose "justice" is right?
As Christians we must make a very clear profession:
"Evil men do not understand justice , but those who seek the Lord understand it completely." (Proverbs 28:5)
The Bible does not say that we who seek Jesus understand justice because we are the smartest, or holiest, or most educated people. As with all things related to the gospel, it is "not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us" ( 2 Corinthians 3:5). Rather, we understand justice only because of our faith in the one who is just, because we seek the one who defines and loves justice, and the one who calls us to justice.
Justice belongs to God (Isaiah 30:18), and so when we seek and find God, we seek and find justice. By seeking Christ, our perspective of justice changes from our own personal perspective to God's perspective.
Besides playing beautiful music by great composers, being a musician in a Symphony Orchestra also means you will encounter situations that are unfair, and you can find yourself in a working environment that has nothing to do with God's view of justice. To navigate through those times, I would suggest three criteria for when to follow mercy or justice :
Know your personality and resist excesses that accord with your bent (lenient or demanding).
The more personal and private the offense, the more mercy to show; the more communal and public the offense, the more justice to show.
Be sure in either case that your motive is love for the most people involved.
Mercy and justice are not at odds here, but beautifully joined together.
Because he is just, God will be merciful to you, in his perfect timing.
His Grace to you, in Christ, is Justice.
