“Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit! From your presence let my vindication come! Let your eyes behold the right!” -Psalm 17:1–2
There are periods in history where injustice seems to prevail at ever turn; and for some, injustice seems to rule their entire lives. But meeting injustice with injustice (i.e., fight fire with fire!) will only weaken the cause of justice. Pastor James reminds us,
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” -James 1:16–20
That’s not to say there is no place for resisting injustice. After all, Edmund Burke was right when he said all that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing. But as followers of Christ, we have God as our advocate, so our resistance to injustice must be done in a way that both honors justice and simultaneously relies on God’s presence to bring our vindication.