We all want justice… And when justice is slighted, there is typically an outrage, as many have likely already seen today concerning the recent jurisdiction of the ex-Stanford swimmer who had sexually assaulted an unconscious, co-ed collegiate.
Today, we found out that this ex-Standford swimmer has officially been sentenced 6 months in prison. Many thought the offender deserved more time than that, such as anywhere from 6-14 years behind bars. Instead, the court ruled that 6 months was sufficient, and as a result, public opinion raged that the offender certainly did not receive his fair share of justice, and therefore, neither did the victim. The ex-Stanford swimmer appeared to get unheard of mercy, which meant the victim seemed to get even more injustice as a result.
Many cry out for this young girl’s justice, and rightly so. We all deserve justice as humans, and when justice is slighted, the tuning fork of our moral awareness signals that something is out of key.
Because the judge’s indictment seemed unjust, people would not consider him to be loving… per se. Rather, if he made a just indictment, people would be more willing to say he acted in love.
In other words, love and justice go together, hand in hand. You simply can’t have one without the other. As a judge, you can’t truly love someone and not give them justice. You can’t be loving and unjust at the same time, because you’re injustice to them would prove that you weren’t looking out for their ultimate well-being. To love someone is give someone what is best for them, and justice is best for all people. Indeed, if we lived in an unjust reality, an unjust society at the expense of a completely loving one… it wouldn’t be that lovely of a place after all, can you agree?
Unfortunately, however, I think many people have a view of God like a 1) loving-unjust judge or 2) a just-unloving judge. Many religious and non-religious people prefer the idea of a loving God, but when you mention a just God, people shy away or become defensive. Problem is, you can’t really have a loving God without also having a truly just God. If your God is completely loving, he will also have to be completely just as well. If your God isn’t that just, then he just isn’t that loving.
Certainly, it is preferable to have a God who loves you unconditionally and accepts you fully and approves of you maximally. And in terms of our sin, it’s more palatable to believe that because God is completely merciful and loving, that he’ll just sweep our sins under the rug of the cosmos, and we’ll just forget about them. That type of loving God sounds nice and neat, and maybe even logical at first thought.
But put yourself in the shoes of the young girl today who was raped and was slighted of a just decree towards her offender. Maybe the judge was merciful and loving to the ex-Stanford swimmer for almost ‘sweeping his sins under the rug;’ but was the judge loving to the victim who deserved justice? It would seem not. Likewise, with God, is a God who sweeps people’s sin under the rug of the cosmos loving to those who are victimized by sin? Would such a ‘loving’ God be loving to this young, victimized girl and her situation? Absolutely not!
Let’s follow the logic: If God swept the sin of the ex-Stanford swimmer under the rug, the swimmer might say that that God is loving. But the young lady who was victimized by the swimmer’s sin would not say that that God is loving because she would receive injustice as a result. Conversely, however, if God does give justice to the victimized young girl, that means he wouldn’t sweep the swimmer’s sin under the rug, but instead would judge him for it… Would God be considered loving then if he… judges him for his sin?
Yes. Because true love is just that: just.
Besides, the swimmer getting justice is the best thing that he could have received anyways. The best thing he could have received was not a shortened jail time. Otherwise, his view of sexuality, respect, and justice might become cheapened. What he needs most is an acute awareness of right and wrong, the rightness of sexuality, and the true meanings of love and justice. That’s what will make him a better citizen. To give him justice is to love him… and to also love the victimized.
As such, what you need is a God who is both completely just and completely loving. Absolute love must be absolutely just—otherwise, that love is just a faux love.
What I love about Christianity is that it projects a God who is utterly holy, just, and loving–all at the same time. It states that humanity is fallen and sinful because we have rebelled against God’s authority, and the punishment for sin is death (Rom. 3:23). And God–by his very nature of love and justice–can’t just sweep sin under the rug; otherwise, he would fail to uphold his own standards of justice and love. If he swept sin under the rug, he would simply fail to be himself. Rather, in order to stay true to himself, he must be loving and just by adequately judging sin. As such, in an incredible demonstration of love and justice, he chose to pay the price of our judgement for us. He died for our sin, absorbing the just wrath of God in our place, so that we might be dealt a loving justice instead: forgiveness. The debt, the jail time, the judgment we deserved was paid in full by Jesus. By doing so, God honored his very nature of being completely just and being maximally loving at the same time. Sin must be paid for; it can’t be swept under the rug. In love, he paid for it with his own life, so we wouldn’t have to.
Christianity says God is full of truth and grace. The Truth is that your good deeds can’t undo your bad ones; you need forgiveness. But Grace states that you get forgiveness, and much more. You won’t be judged on your sinful works, but the righteous works of Christ through faith.
And it is precisely in receiving that kind of radical salvation by grace that makes any recipient of it a lover of the highest degrees of both justice and love.
