Fixing Flawed Systems

Hmmm, I thought I just did explain what I mean by social justice, or at least the gist of it. Social, political and economic systems often have flaws that allow those with wealth and power to gain more wealth and power (or at least keep what they have), often at the expense of those without wealth and power. I see this as a justice issue, thinking of justice as “conformity to moral rightness in action or attitude.” (That definition was taken from www.dictionary.com, the American Heritage dictionary definition 2b.) I believe that as Christians, we should be working to conform those systems to line up with God’s pictures in Scripture of how His people should live. He clearly says over and over that caring for the poor is important (and in Deuteronomy 15:4 He goes as far as to tell His people “There should be no poor among you”). If those flawed systems contribute to keeping people poor, then I believe Christians should be working to change those systems. Like I said earlier, I don’t know what the answers are. I think Scripture offers us some principles and examples we should take into consideration, but working those things out in today’s world is complicated. I earnestly believe, however, that it is extremely important for Christians to be trying to figure out how to do that—for the sake of our own relationship to God, as well as for the sake of our witness in the world.

I hate to be repetitive, but I do want to ask the same questions again: Do you believe there are flaws in our economic, social and political systems that make it difficult, if not impossible, for poor people to get out of poverty? Do you think changing those systems (social justice, as I explained above), is something Christians should be wrestling with?