The Requirements

When my friend Angie, who preached my installation, teaches Confirmation she always asks the kids if there is anything they must do in order to be faithful.

Usually, they respond, "No". The go on -- we should all try to be nice, good people. "But, there are no requirements."

"What if I told you there were requirements?" she asks. They usually sit there stunned. That's when she whips out Micah 6:8 -- What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Most church -going adults I have met seem just as befuddled by the contents of Micah 6:8 as the youth do. Sure, we all condone humility and value kindness, but when it comes to justice, in another story entirely. How many times have I heard critiques of social-justice oriented themes as being "too political" or "not spiritual enough"? How many times? Many, many times.

But we're fooling ourselves if we think God doesn't care about social justice. The books of the Prophets found in scripture continually call attention to the way nations treated the most vulnerable members of their societies. Jesus was perpetually concerned with the marginalized of society. The Epistles call communities into right relation with one another. True, many of the Epistles address small scale relationships. But the principles that govern being in right relationship in interpersonal relationships apply to systems as well.

Social justice isn't an afterthought for God. So it shouldn't be an afterthought for us either. Social justice is part and parcel of what faithful living and kin-dom building is all about.