The Newsies is one of the best movies ever, just saying. It was a true favorite of mine growing up, and I was reminded of that the other day as I came across one of its iconic songs, ‘Seize the Day.’ The movie is based on the true-to-life events in which the courage of New York’s newsboys in 1899 led them to stand up and eventually change an entire media empire. The lyrics in the song sing ‘Now is the time to seize the day. Answer the call and don’t delay. Wrongs will be righted, if we’re united. Let us seize the day.’

Quite poignant if you ask me. The thought of standing for something with such passion.

We all love stories of justice. It is the theme of most of the greatest stories and films of all time, because there is something about it for which we yearn to see fulfilled, even if only in fiction.

As it turns out, God loves stories of justice, too.

As it turns out, God is the God of justice.

The Bible is filled with wonderful examples of this ideal. From the very beginning, we have the story of Moses standing against the injustice of slavery in Egypt, to the very end, with the apostle Paul and the early church standing against the oppression of Rome.

They stood in different ways, but they all stood against injustice. We too should all stand.

I came across this picture (below) not long ago, and it sincerely moved me. It is a picture of WWII POW Horace Greasly defiantly confronting one of the top leaders of the Third Reich and very evil man, Heinrich Himmler during an inspection of the camp in which he was confined. The story of Greasly is a good one, unlike so many others who stood up to such a man in this time. Greasly escaped from the camp and secretly snuck back in more than 200 times, making for an incredible tale. But there is something I see in this picture that shows how such a story would be possible–the sheer boldness of one man to stand in the face of injustice.

The presence of such absolute conviction shown in this picture is inspiring, thought provoking, and moving.

Justice has been stirring in my soul lately. Then our calendar came upon a day that coincided so perfectly with those thoughts, as the day we commemorate the man with the dream, who was a great fighter for the truths and cornerstones of justice. It would be difficult to mention any fight for justice without the mention of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of my favorite quotes of his is this: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Another gripping picture exemplifying such fortification of spirit is this one, below. It depicts the iconic scenario of the individual known only to the world as Tank Man, the unknown rebel who stood in front of a column of Chinese tanks in an act of defiance following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. 

Think of what conviction it must take to stand, as David stood before Goliath, in such a place of smallness before something so enormous, yet the belief inside of you is so big that it, at the same time, it belittles the thing that was once large. The story of David and Goliath was 6,000 years ago. This picture was 25 years ago. The battle is not one that is limited to time or generation–the fight for justice, the fight for right, is a timeless one.

How long has it been since you stood for the right? What happens when you are faced with the choice? What do you do when evil stares you in the face? Do you stand your ground, or do you look away? Do you crumble or cry? Or do you plant your feet in the ground and refuse to be moved.

What are you standing for? We should all be standing for something. We should all be focused on standing for something. Not someone, but something. Not people, but ideals. We are without a doubt, 100% supposed to love and support all people. It is our #1 rule and guideline given us by our Lord in the Great Commission. We are also, without a doubt, 100% supposed to fight injustice as an act of love for our God.

God is a God of justice. Psalms 33:5 says “the Lord loves righteousness and justice,” and Psalm 106:3 says “Blessed are those who maintain justice.” Proverbs 31:8-9 reads “But you must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.” Isaiah 1:17 also admonishes “Seek justice. Encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” And my favorite, Micah 6:8 says “This is what God asks of you, only this. That you act justly, that you love tenderly, that you walk humbly with your God.”

Our God is a God of justice.

Our Savior is a savior of justice.

If we truly, truly follow Jesus, then we follow an example of someone who always stood up against evil and unrighteousness. Yet He was never violent, never rude, never inappropriate. He was able to stand against evil in such a way that he never even validated it, or gave it importance, as one oftentimes can do with an incorrect response. But He always stood.

His stance came out in different forms. In the wilderness, it was words of precision. He gave no answer to the devil’s question, save only the specific, calculated words of Scripture. In the high priest’s court, it was silence, save only the important words of identity at exactly the right time, ‘I am.’ In the money-changer court, it was indignation, accompanied with strong accusations against injustice behavior. Neither speech or silence were predictable–what was predictable was that Jesus always had the perfectly right response. He knew the exact right times to speak and the exact times to not. He was accused of many things but knew exactly how to answer.

There is not a blanket rule, but there is a blanket Holy Spirit, and He teaches us the right response in every circumstance. Oh, the prayer for right responses. Because right responses will lead us to right words and action–words and actions that perfectly reflect the heart of an often mis-represented God.

No matter the form of Jesus’ response, the singular thing was that He never, never gave evil a place. Never gave evil a day. Always took the higher road. Always took the harder road. Always stood. Stood for right. Stood for righteousness. In a perfectly right way.

If backing down is what is easy, then it may be time to stand up.

If backing down is what is hard, then it may be time to sit silent.

The right response.

I am tired of trendy Christianity. Christianity never started out of a trendy place, and to find it in its truest state, it will not be trendy either. True Christianity is outwardly and worldly uncomfortable. It is different. It is selfless. It looks nothing like the world. In fact, James 4:4 says “friendship with the world is enmity with God.” Not friendship with the people–but friendship with the mold.

Slowly but surely it feels that the pressure the world is putting on us as Christians to be silent is just about to be the last straw that pushes out our cry to be heard. We are feeling more and more the pressure of the world to fit in…maybe that is our sign to stand out.

It could be standing in the face of an entertainment industry that is constantly putting more and more filth of a continually degrading moral nature in front of our children, and saying it is their right to do so.

It is not justice to stand for the right of being immoral. That is a complete misplacement of such a fundamental ideal. Justice is not a place to give right to immorality. It is the place that is to protect morality. It is to protect the idea that having morals and standing for them is not the four-letter word our politically correct society has made it out to be.

Justice is simple as well. It could be sitting beside someone at a lunch table who is alone, or who is being made fun of. It could just be that if you do not go help them, you do not at that moment love justice. 

Maybe you are tired, burnt, worn, or complacent. Maybe you are cynical, cruel or callous. Maybe you are scared, weak, or cowardly. Maybe you are even hurt within yourself too much to notice the needs of others. Maybe you are waiting for someone to notice your own. Maybe you are.

But the more you step out to answer the injustice of others, the more you will heal your own soul.

If you have within your power to act, act. If you have within your power to help, help. If you have within your ability to speak, speak. If you have within your ability to give, give. If you have breath, pray. If you have heart…

Act! Stand! Fight for what is right! We are not the children of a passive God! We are the children of a mighty, pro-active, ever-fighting-on-your-behalf God. The one and only God! Everything else is less! Including the comfort level of standing still. Standing still while we see others hurting, while we see rights being taken from us and others which we are owed.

From the bullying of schoolyards to the bullying of free speech. Let us stand down no more! Find the right–not the easy–response and do it!

Do you want to be the people who chance the world?

Start with fighting the smallest injustices in your everyday life, which means to fight for the dignity of those with less ability to fight it than you.

Start with your lunch table.

There are many in the world crying for it, there are many demanding it. Many are willing to sacrifice great amounts or go to great lengths. It is time for the Christians to not be outdone!! Justice is a quality of our God, and it should characterize us and the mission of the gospel more than any other–especially more than any other political group or persuasion.

These pictures I detailed so inspired me–oh the boldness of those who believe so strongly in the right that they will stand so strongly against the wrong. It reminds me of the founding father’s of our country who put everything they had on the chopping block–including their own heads–to win the chance for freedom of religion. By signing their names to the document that changed the world and all of our lives, they ran the risk of their own deaths by treason. But what strength. What belief in justice.

I do not know if the men in all these stories and pictures are Christians. I am inspired though that Christians should have this same strength.

I believe that this is the minimum God asks of those who reflect His heart.

Fight injustice.

Fight the injustices that you can fight.

If everyone does their part, if everyone does a little, we can make a difference.

My prayer for all of us today is that we would all respond to injustice the way Jesus does. That we would all stand up against wrong the way Jesus does. That we would all love justice the way Jesus does.

The right response.

Find it.

Do it.

Love justice,

and let your story be a bold one.

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” -Benjamin Franklin

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” -Elie Wiesel, Romanian citizen deported by Nazis 

“Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right…Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.” -Mahatma Gandhi