Our last look at justice considers how we, as individuals, are to live justly. Our example is Job. Look at two passages in which he describes how he handled his wealth and influence, both of which he had in large measure, Job 29:7-17 and Job 31. The self-descriptions arise because Job is trying to figure out why he is being afflicted as he is. We, the readers, know the score. Job is not being punished, he is being tested. His righteousness is being put through fire so that it will be shown to be genuine. At the beginning of the narrative, God describes him as upright and throughout his ordeal he is proven to be so.
I turn to Job not so much to understand why Job was going through what he was going through, but to highlight what it means to live justly. The picure is convicting. When he came to “the gate of the city” to sit among the elders to render judgment, he was respected by all in attendance (Job 29:7-17). He used his influence to bring relief to the vulnerable and defend those who were being treated as prey. He describes himself as one who, “put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban” (Job 29:14). The Hebrew terms translated righteousness and justice indicate that as a man this was who he was and what he did. His just actions were an expression of his inner righteousness. We shouldn’t consider this self-aggrandizing language. Remember, God said that “there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).
Job’s ethical portrait continues in chapter 31. He describes how he avoided sexual immorality, treated his servants with the respect due a fellow human being, did not withhold his material goods from those in need, did not use his influence to his own good and the detriment of others, nor did he trust in material wealth, participate in idolatry, or rejoice over the fall of one who hated him. And those who lodged with him, including the sojourner, were well fed. He did not fear nor play to the opinions of others. Lastly, he did not abuse the land that had brought him and others such blessing.
If all lived as Job lived, would we have social justice? We would. And as God praised Job for his uprightness so he would look upon such a society and consider it just. Perhaps it is too much to hope for this side of glory, but we Christians should be seeking God for the grace to live as Job lived. We, of all people, should understand that all that we have comes from our Father's hand who requires of us love for God and neighbor. If, like Job, we grow in the true righteousness and holiness we have been redeemed to possess (Ephesians 4:24), our personal choices and treatment of others will more and more reflect lives justly lived.
