Joseph Kony, Scandelous Grace and Social Justice

Have you see this video?


Chances are, some of your facebook friends have posted about it. In fact, I've had over 30 friends share the video in my news feed. There are over 10 million views on YouTube alone. It has gone viral. Why?

My generation is a generation obsessed with social justice.
There is a very real desire for justice to reign. Both among Christian students and non-believing students social justice is very popular. Groups like Invisible Children and Amnesty International and International Justice Mission reach young people of all walks of life.

But why are so many millennials (people 18-30) drawn to social justice? Honestly I don't really know. I have a few guesses because I know the things they value - honesty, being up front, perserverance in the face of trouble, and risk taking. (Laura wrote a great article about them and the things they value. She's the resident expert!)

Why does it matter? Why does it matter that my generation is obsessed with social justice?

Because my God is obsessed with social justice.

My Lord loves the outcast. He loves the down-trodden and the weak. He loves to comfort those who are suffering. He wants all to be free from slavery and bondage. He is both just and the justifier. He is the good judge who administers justice.

"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it and take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless" Psalm 10:14

"Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause" Jeremiah 50:34a 

"My comfort in suffering is this, Your promise preserves my life" Psalm 119:50 

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of the widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisioners with singing;" Psalm 68:5-6 

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:28-30

The Lord always has been, and always will be, about social justice. His abundant mercy and grace are offered to us even when we don't deserve it. The fact of the matter is that we're not so different from Joseph Kony.

In fact in God's eyes I'm basically the same.

We're both sinners separated from God.

God, the good judge, demands truth. He doesn't let guilt go unpunished. He demands justice.

I think we delight in justice because we were made in the image of a God who delights in justice. But funny enough, we don't ask for justice for ourselves.

We don't beg for speeding tickets when we get pulled over (actually wait... my friend Nate did that one time) or demand that we get punished for every lie we tell.

We want justice in every area but our own lives. What we really deserve from God is death. An eternal separation from him because we haven't lived up to his standards.

Every single person that has ever walked the face of the earth deserves to go to hell.

You, me and Joseph Kony are all in the same boat.

But God.

God loves social justice. He loves the outcast, the failure. He loves you, me and Kony all the same.

He loved us all the way to Calvary. All the way to his own death.

He administered the justice you, me, and Kony deserve on himself because he's a good judge. He punished himself for our mistakes.

So often we glaze over this. This scandelous grace that we don't deserve. The Lord loves Joseph Kony the same way he loves you and I. The offer is the same whether you've told one little white lie or murdered thousands.

Jesus died on a cross so that you can be forgiven of your sins and have an eternity with God.

You, me and Kony all have this option.

Please please take it.

And please please please pray that Joseph Kony does also.

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