Justice is every citizen’s concern and duty.

“If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to dwell there, that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently.” Deuteronomy 13.12-14

In this series on the Law of God and public policy we have seen the many ways God’s Law was designed to promote love for God and neighbors within the communities of ancient Israel. We have sought to identify principles of justice, in a wide range of areas, that remain valid for our own day, and could be of use in helping Christians to work for a more just society. We are not under any illusion that host nations, such as the increasingly secular United States, will readily welcome the idea of Biblical Law once again becoming a source for American public policy. We must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in our approach to shaping public policy, showing the folly of seeking to live outside the bounds of God’s Law as well as the benefits that can accrue to our nation if we bring our practice more into conformity with what God requires. We shall have to work wisely and well, with a view to the long haul, and in all the different loci where public policy is forged. But we must also believe that the effort will be worth it, to preserve our freedom to love and serve God and to encourage the practice of neighbor-love throughout the land.

In ancient Hebrew communities justice was the concern and duty of every citizen. The Law of God establishes a kind of “due process” for righting wrongs and restoring justice, and that process begins with each member of the community taking responsibility, first, for obeying the Law of God and, second, for seeking the welfare of the community by working to ensure justice when the Law of God was being violated.

Note how our text carefully begins to outline the role of citizens in practicing vigilance: “If you hear…” Reports of injustice can come from many sources, in many situations, and at many levels of severity. As in the case of church discipline, the first line of defense against injustice is at the level of those who hear – or observe – some injustice being practiced. “[T]hen you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently.” People are not to take action to restore justice until it has been clearly shown that injustice has been committed. Inquiries can be informal – “Friend, may I ask you a question? I’m concerned about something I have observed…” – or formal, requiring investigators, lawyers, and so forth. But no one is to be found guilty of some act of injustice without being afforded due process of Law.

Each citizen has a concern for justice, because only by justice can neighbor-love obtain in a community and all its members have maximum opportunity to flourish. And each citizen has a duty to work for justice, first, by his own obedience to God’s Law and, second, by acting for justice at whatever level injustice comes to his attention, but always according to the process of justice which we will be unpacking in this final installment of our series on the Law of God and public policy.

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