In this final article of the series I want to address a question I brought up near the beginning: Why am I, a worship leader, so concerned about this issue?

If I’ve been right in my preceding arguments, the answer is clear. I care about my society. I care about the world I live in and the world I leave to my son. I work as a leader in a church because I want people to see God and his righteous ways. Sometimes that means taking an unpopular stand.

According to Scripture, what is justice? Or what is judgment? (They are often interchangeable.)

Judgment always involves stopping and punishing a wrong-doer. That is the common feature when Scripture speaks of it. If no one stole from another or harmed another, there would be no need for society to provide judgment or justice. The need arises because men initiate force. Someone must judge between conflicting parties to prevent a feud.

In this series we’ve looked at “social justice”—what it is, why it’s wrong, and why it matters.

In view of what I’ve said, we are in a better place to understand Scripture on concepts such as oppression, judgment/justice, and government.