Our culture is in a state of constrained chaos. Violent protesters take to the streets and hurl insults and Molotov cocktails at cops. Politicians openly call for their supporters to disrupt the lives of those with whom they disagree. An angry mob of mindless miscreants overlooks the sexcapades of their own leaders while sanctimoniously calling for the head of Brett Kavanaugh to be put on a political platter. No authority. No decency. No due process. In each of these scenarios, the rope of injustice seems to pull the noose more tightly around Lady Liberty's neck.
But just when it looks like things are spiraling out of control, I need to stop feverishly checking my phone for the latest breaking news, and turn to the reliable pages of Scripture, the ancient Book that assures me God is still in control. Yes, our culture's chaos is real, but it is constrained. God doesn't take smoke breaks. He doesn't call in sick. He doesn't nod off like Justice Ginsburg. No, God is the One Who constrains the chaos so it never goes further than He wants.
Deuteronomy 34:4 declares this about God: "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He." So, how do we reconcile the justice of God with the smothering injustice we find in our world? After all, injustice is borderless, and is found in every culture on the planet (and yes, that includes Switzerland for those who view that country through rose-colored glasses). Every society has fallen people, and fallen people have fallen perspectives, and fallen perspectives lead those fallen people to push their fallen prerogatives.
This is another thread in the Gordian knot of theology: explaining the presence of evil in light of a righteous God. Some have suggested that God wants to end injustice but isn't capable of doing so. Others believe that God is powerful enough to bring an end to injustice and sin, but that He isn't compassionate enough to step in and make it happen. So, either He's got no juice or He's got no love.
I suggest a different path, one which preserves both the pain of living in a fallen world and the hope of having a personal God care enough to do something about it. I believe that God allowed sin to come into this world so people could know Him as a Redeemer, not just as a Creator. Sin became the doorway through which we can enter into a deeper relationship with Him.
In this perspective, injustice is a prerequisite for justice. You might even say God is like a divine recycling artist, using chaos to bring peace, sin to bring repentance, and inequity to bring justice. Injustice, then, is part of God's orchestrated plan, not something that requires Him to jump on Google and search for a solution.
I will admit that when I see cops being abused, civil servants being run out of restaurants, or dignified men being condemned in the court of human opinion without evidence, it does help to know God will correct those injustices one day … even if I don't live to see how He does it. Like the Apostle Paul described the fate of those who continue to sin in Rom.2:5-6, "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds." I don't know about you, but I'd rather face the Savior than the scales of my sin. I'd rather receive mercy from a just God than to ignore mercy and receive nothing but the justice of God.
As a pastor, I believe and teach that God is sovereign, involved and loving. When injustice rears its ugly head, it's tempting to focus on the chaos before me rather than the Calm behind it. But then I remember that if it weren't for injustice, the sinless Christ never would have been killed by the angry mob. If it weren't for injustice, the future atrocities found in the Book of Revelation would never come to pass. And if it weren't for injustice, I would have less reason to trust Him in difficult times. Injustice isn't pleasant, but it is necessary. That's true in our culture and it's true in our lives. Remember, injustice will shout loudly, but will never have the last word.