Morality, Justice and Righteousness

Morality, Justice and Righteousness

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Amos 5:24

But let justice run down like water,

And righteousness like a mighty stream.

God spoke these words through the prophet Amos when the northern kingdom, Israel, was at the height of prosperity and at a low spiritually.  Greed and exploitation were the ruling values in the business world.  Worship of pagan gods was the center of religious life.  God refused the offering that the Israelites brought with unrepentant arrogance to the temple.   He would rather have His people practice justice and righteous rather than have them involved in meaningless religious rituals and lives devoid of devotion to their Creator.

We often ask why is there so little morality, so little justice, so little righteousness in our world today.   Part of the answer lies in the fact that so little morality, so little justice, so little righteousness are in the Church.  Justice and righteousness are foundational to a vibrant society.  True justice and righteousness are found only the Lord.

As God spoke to His people in the days of Amos, so He is speaking to His people, the Church, today.  We speak out against the persecution of the Church.  We despair as those in authority deride Christian values.  We stand in fear as our right to worship is eroding away. We decry the lack of prayer in the public arena and skip worship services to do our shopping.  Empty pews grace our churches.  Few Christians attend Bible studies.  Prayer meetings have been cancelled because of lack of attendance.  Sunday sports have become a priority for both children and adults.   

We often use church attendance and our offering as a means of buying position and authority in the congregation.  As our lives become more and more devoid of devotion to our Creator, church becomes more and more a meaningless religious ritual. We gossip about other church members.  We desire to bend pastors to our will rather than allowing them to follow the Holy Spirit.  Our relationship with others is a manifestation of our relationship with the Lord.   

God is crying out to us, “Come back.  Put away injustice and unrighteousness.  Be a template of victory in the midst of adversity.  No matter what circumstances come against you, remember that I have given you justice.  No matter how unrighteous the world system is, I am always righteous and through the blood of Jesus Christ, I have imputed righteousness to you.  

May we cry out of repentant, submissive hearts, “The world has treated me unjustly, but God has given me His justice.  Therefore, I can let His justice flow down like water over others. The world has treated me unrighteously, but God has given me His righteousness.  Therefore, I can let His righteousness flow like a mighty stream over others.”

Read another article on the same topic:

“No!” “A Better Economy Won’t Fix It!” By Mike Pyatt (on page 1 of the website)

http://www.usrpn.org/articles/category/wyoming/