Injustice – Taking Away the Ability/Opportunity To Be The Person God Created You To Be

Yesterday, I was preparing for a meeting about a mission trip to Nicaragua with my church.  As I was thinking about this mission trip, I began thinking about our outcomes.  What were out outcomes?  What were we trying to accomplish?  What did success look like at the end of our trip?

As I thought about this, I began to think about justice and injustice.  Our group has been looking at the definitions of justice and how God interacts with justice.  But why are we trying to do a trip that is focused on things like compassion and justice?  What is the outcome of these type of things?

Not that there is just one outcome of justice and compassion and love and mercy and things like that – but still, what are we trying to accomplish?  What are the outcomes?

As my train of thought went down these tracks, I stumbled onto a thought about justice/injustice that has been sticking with me.  Maybe the outcome of all of these things is for people to simply be the people that God created us to be?

God created us to have community with Him and others.  He created us in His very own image – to think for ourselves and choose things for ourselves.  He created us to be unique and special and calls us to do unique and special things.  Justice is putting people in the right positions to more fully be the people that God created them to be.

Conversely, injustice is when people/systems take away the ability and opportunity for people to be the people that God created them to be.  Injustice happens when things limit a person’s ability to connect with God and connect with others.  Injustice happens when people are not given opportunities to be unique and special and to do the unique and special things God has called them to do.  Injustice happens when choices, decisions, and free will are taken away.

So what were we trying to do with our mission trip?  What was our outcome?

We simply want to fight injustices and put people in better positions to more fully be the people that God wants them to be…