What is happening in Nigeria and why should we as disciples of Christ care?
It has been over a month since a group of 300 girls and young women were kidnapped in Nigeria. To date, many are still unaccounted for and few have escaped captivity. As tragic as this all has been in and of itself, my personal interest was piqued when one of the captors announced to the world his intent to traffick the victims and that “Allah” commanded him to do this. No doubt this statement will create more discussions and commentary about the religion of Islam (for me that will be saved for another blog post for another time).
For now, this blog input focuses on justice…Holy Justice.
Many do not think the Bible speaks to situations like the one unfolding in Nigeria, but a quick look at the whole of Scripture shows otherwise. Justice for the oppressed and freedom from slavery are two themes throughout God’s story of redemption that He takes very, very seriously. What follows is God’s response to heinous acts of tyranny and exploitation.
Starting from Genesis, the beginning of the story, God did not create man to rule over other men. Instead He has created all human beings equally, and both male and female bear His image. Along these same lines, all of us are broken by the chief tyrant of all humanity: sin. It has marred and tore at all of us, and because we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, none of us have the right or prerogative to rule over others because we are to all recognize that God is the ultimate ruler of man.
Continuing on with the story, one of the most pronounced statements of God’s view of slavery occurs in the liberation of Israel from Egypt. Not only does God ransom His people from bitter bondage, but even the laws that He gives them afterwards (even in the treatment of their own future servants) are always grounded in the awareness of “you were once slaves in Egypt”. Israel and all who follow the true God of the universe are called to stand against the exploitation of others because freedom from slavery of all kinds is at the heart of the Lord.
There are a few prime examples of this in the specific commandments of God’s laws, in ideas within Israel’s Psalms, and in the indictments of the Hebrew prophets, all of these are found in the Old Testament.
God’s Laws-After Israel was freed from slavery, God gave them commandments and statutes to keep them from exploiting each other for wealth and greed (or any other way). In Deut. 14 and 15, it discusses a concept know as “Jubilee” where debts were to be forgiven and slaves of economic debt were given the chance to be released. There are countless other laws within this code that commands masters, if they are to own slaves, to treat their slaves fairly, as brother Jews. God may have tolerated certain forms of slavery within the Old Testament past, His ideal and goal for which His people were to strive was the freedom and betterment of their neighbor in all situations.
Israel’s Psalms-These verses in the “spiritual songs” of Israel’s worship talked about how God is the provider. As followers of God, we are called to bear His image of “Provider” to those we see in our world who are victims, and also to pray for their persecutors. We cannot claim to worship the true God who bears the aforementioned title without also following in His example.
Finally, we have the last part of the Old Testament: the Prophets. Although I could cite many other examples, but I call your attention to the entire book of Amos! It is worth considering this fact: God inspired one prophet to have an entire text dedicated to how His people were to treat those who were needy and oppressed!
Moving from the Old Testament to the New, Jesus had a great deal to say about “the least of these”. Although there has been some debate about who “the least of these” are, it is not a stretch to imagine they would include any who suffer from injustice, slavery, oppression. The point is sharp in Matt. 25:31-46. He is represented in the least of these, and anything done or not done to help alleviate their suffering is as if we were treating our Lord in a similar manner.
This is “Holy Justice”. It is not to ask that punishment be dealt to the guilty, but that restoration and freedom would come to the captives. God calls all people to live in relationship with Him, which means complete forgiveness of sin, freed of its tyranny in all forms. It is our duty to proclaim and live that message out in our lives, showing people in our communities and our world what it means to live New Life in Jesus our Lord, our King.
The implication is clear: It is the will of God for those who claim to love Him to show this love by their actions not simply their words.
What does this have to do with the kidnapped girls in Nigeria. Sexual slavery and trafficking is one of the worst forms of human degradation because it robs a person of their God-given dignity, and uses sinful acts of evil to scar them. We as Christians are called to fight injustice wherever we see it, not to turn aside, but to stand alongside these victims to speak up on their behalf, to remind an uncaring world that the same God who created and redeemed us is identical to the One who created and redeemed them as well.
Get involved somehow. Whether it is raising awareness, talking about it in your churches, calling your local government representatives, filing petitions, ANYTHING you can think about, do it!
Anything less than this is cowardice, and Jesus Christ did not purchase our salvation for us to be cowardly.