Distributive Justice
Let’s examine what Jesus said: “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good – except God alone. You know the commandments: . . .’ ‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’ Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’” (Mark 10:17-21)
So, is this an example of “distributive justice?” NO! Let me explain. Wikipedia defines “distributive justice” as follows: “Distributive justice concerns what some consider to be socially just with respect to the allocation of goods in a society. Thus, a community in which incidental inequalities in the outcome do not arise would be considered a society guided by the principles of distributive justice.” Jesus told the rich young ruler to go and sell his possessions and give to the poor. Why would this not be an example of distributive justice?
First, the story of the rich young ruler was not primarily about money. Jesus was asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The rich young ruler expected to inherit eternal life if he only met certain qualifications. Jesus not only heard the questions but also knew the heart and mind of the one asking it. Therefore, the answer was tailor-made to the one asking it. In this particular case, the young man needed to know that eternal life would cost him something. It would cost him everything. Eternal life is only available to us because it cost Jesus everything. No one inherits eternal life based upon meeting certain qualifications. Eternal life is the free gift of God through the redemption paid by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. We receive it when we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. Confessing Him as Lord means giving up all that we have and all that we are to Him.
Second, distributive justice, as defined above, is about controlling society in such a way that the allocation of goods is distributed fairly or evenly throughout the society. This kind of societal control can only exist in a totalitarian or socialistic type of government. It cannot exist in a free society governed by the principles of free enterprise and democracy or a representative republic. Jesus never promoted the idea of a fairly controlled society. In fact, the Bible as a whole proclaims the principle of freedom as granted by God through acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior who frees us from the bondage of sin. We stand condemned already by our sin until we accept the free gift of eternal life in Jesus. We are not given eternal life. We are given the opportunity to have eternal life. We are given access to it but we must choose to have it by choosing Jesus. We are also free to continue to live in bondage if that is what we choose.
The founding fathers of the USA articulated this Biblical principle of freedom in The Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” We are not created to have the right to equal stuff. However, we are created to have the right to equal opportunity. We have the opportunity to succeed or the opportunity to fail. Notice that Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler to go sell everything he had and give it to the government for equal and fair distribution. Jesus wants us to be free to act justly of our own accord. He does not want us to be forced into some utopian idea of a perfect society where everyone is given equal allotment of goods.
To say that Jesus proclaimed a message of distributive justice is certainly putting words into His mouth that He did not say.
Alan L. Thomas <><
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