More on Justice

We are spending a few weeks at Coram Deo thinking about the topic of justice. Specifically: what responsibility does a Christian or a church have before God to perform acts of justice?

We said Sunday that biblical justice must be Christ-centered; in other words, doing good for good's sake is different than doing good for God's sake. Another way to say the same thing is to say that doing justice must be rooted in the gospel. Tim Keller says:

All problems, personal or social, come from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way, to 'get in line with the truth of the gospel' (Gal. 2:14). All pathologies in the church [and the city]... come from a failure to use the gospel in a radical way. We believe that if the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church [or city], that church [or city] will look very unique.

I was reminded of that Keller quote during a session with Scott Thomas, director of the Acts 29 church planting network. Thomas went on to say that having a love for the city means 1) longing for the planting of churches within the city, and 2) committing to stay in the city, where the influence resides. The city, not the suburbs, is the nucleus of education, money, power, politics, culture, music, art, and athletics. Culture is shaped in the city and exported to the suburbs and rural areas.

Which means that if we are to be for Nebraska, we must be for Omaha, and specifically the heart of Omaha, which is downtown. That is why we meet where we meet and do what we do!