the blog
Restorative Justice
by rachel
April 29, 2010 | Life | 16 responses
“Restorative justice restores the oppressed as well as the oppressor.” -Shane Claiborne
I just got back from the Sustainable Faith Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. This weekend was one of the most transforming times in my life. I am still unpacking most of what I heard and experienced at the conference, but I wanted to share with you about our trip to Immokalee.
On the first day, a small group of us headed to Immokalee, a town of migrant workers who live far below the poverty line. These migrant workers work 12 hour days and live on almost nothing. The reasons for their oppression are endless. Overpriced rent. Underpaid work. No benefits. No human rights. The competitive produce market in the United States. The list goes on.
We went to Immokalee to hear the story of the migrant worker, to give a voice to the voiceless. We met with Shane Claiborne and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and were educated on what they are currently doing to fight for justice and humane treatment in Florida and around the United States. The CIW’s main effort is the Campaign for Fair Food.
“In 2001, the CIW launched the Campaign for Fair Food with the first-ever farmworker boycott of a major fast-food company. The national boycott of Taco Bell called on the fast-food giant to take responsibility for human rights abuses in the fields where its produce is grown and picked.” (Read more about the CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food here.)
After 4 years of CIW’s boycotting, Taco Bell finally agreed to the demands and became the first of many companies to support the human rights of migrant workers. This agreement not only included a pay increase for the farm workers, it also included a zero-tolerance policy on all slave-labor practices. Redemptive justice had begun. The CIW still has a long way to go, and the migrant workers have only recently begun feeling the effects of the Campaign for Fair Food, but justice is taking place.
When you walk into the CIW, there is a sign above the door with the CIW logo and the Taco Bell logo that reads, “Working together for justice.”
So spread the word about the Campaign for Fair Food and buy a burrito from Taco Bell.
Photo: www.interfaithact.org
It's ridiculous that this kind of thing takes place in America. That abuse is the kind of thing the minimum wage was designed to correct — not simply to enable 18 y/os to afford video games. Despite the fact that it's the right thing to do, until minimum wage laws and OSHA laws are widely enforced in fields like these where they are needed most, or until more companies take a responsible stand to only purchase from specific, law-abiding companies, it might not be in anyone's best interest to pay their workers a living wage. They would simply be undercut and the owner and the worker would be out of business.
I get your point, but I learned something this week. Wesley list some social changes in England he thought might help the poor. He despaired over whether they would be effective because he realized that without sweeping moral changes in English society, the governmental changes would be useless.
This country protects our workers more than just about any country in the history of the world. However, as we have added more laws, our moral center has started disintegrating. Because of this, we find people looking for loopholes instead of obeying the intent of the law.
What has all this got to do with the mission of the Church of the Nazarene? Social work or social Justice ( as it is now termed) is not a bad thing, but rather a good thing. But doing good verses doing good in the Name of Jesus with a message of Salvation are two different things. Tell me where Jesus comes into play in this social justice event? The start of the Nazarene Church was to preach the gospel to the poor through the Mission in L.A. Jesus said the poor would always be among us and that such were the kingdom of God. Many organizations help people through compassion and humanitarian efforts, but if we are not preaching the gospel with it then we are off focus. Tell us more than just the human side. What is God doing through the Church and this justice story in FL?
Anytime work is being done to help preserve the humanity, dignity, and life of a people the work of the Lord is being accomplished. As believers, when we accept God’s call to love our neighbors, we also acknowledge God’s prevenient grace goes before us and works through us. You mentioned a concern about us only doing social work in Immokalee. While social work is essential in our communities and to our nation, the very nature of restorative justice is Christ-centered. Restorative justice takes place when a community of believers doesn’t just fight for a right or two, but invest in a people through intentional relationships. There are over 40 different, local churches who are going into Immokalee (and areas like it) to be a voice to the voiceless and to build relationships with the people… It is very much a Christ compelled and Christ driven work.
The reason why the early Nazarenes in L.A. were so successful with their ministry and work is because of the incarnate nature of how they loved. They didn’t love from a distance. Instead, they moved into the neighborhood and they listened to the poor to understand their needs so that they could best love and serve them. With God’s grace and faithful hands, hopefully the same thing can happen in Immokalee.
Pretty sure Jesus would be a fan of living out the Gospel and expanding Kingdom restoring work, than presenting a 3 point sermon on how to accept Christ into your heart….any day.
We do everything we do in Jesus' name, because it is our Newly Created Nature. It doesn't mean every endeavor we go into we have to wear t-shirts, post signs, and sing songs so that everyone present knows why we're there. They will know we follow Jesus, by our Love. Wait…that sounds familiar…
I think there are many reasons it is important for Christians to help those in need. Perhaps the most important is that it serves as a tool for spreading the Gospel, but that is by no means the only reason.
For the last three years my wife and I and our small group took meals to a women's shelter outside of Leesburg, VA. We ate with the women, played with their kids, and talked with them about their lives. Occasionally we would talk about the Bible. Often we would pray with them. But during our many visits none of the women decided to follow Christ, as far as I know.
Does this mean that Jesus saw our efforts as a total waste of time? Of course not! Because spreading the Gospel is only one reason that we are to minister to the poor. I think, perhaps just as important, is that our service to the poor is a pleasing fast to the Lord.
Isaiah 58:6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
It seems that here in Isaiah God is very clear – our job is to loose, to share, to free, to provide . . . AND THEN our lights will break forth like the dawn. The light breaking forth as a result of service to the poor is as much a spiritual inevitability as my letting go of something will lead to that thing falling to the ground (natural law of gravity).
I have to admit – I squirm at the term "social justice". But, I find that seeking to restore people, rectify broken situations, love "the least of these" as if they were Jesus, and praying for a Holy Spirit ordained opportunity to share the Gospel are inseparable from my walk with Christ. I really believe that, in most cases, the privilege of sharing the Gospel with someone is earned through an authentic relationship. Because of that, the relational things come first, not because the Gospel is subordinate, but because it is, by nature, relational – "God so loved" (relational word alert) "the world…" But, rescue and restoration are not merely the means to and end, but integral to the process of building authentic relationships.
First let me say that my issue with the term far predates the current
hoopla in the media involving a certain media personality. I have no
issue with the majority of the work that is being categorized as
social justice, and I have no problem with the movement, especially
among young adults, that we are seeing under that banner. Perhaps
because I am old enough to relate to boomers, but still young enough
to interact with millennials in a mutual respect, I also have an
understanding of why a lot of the not so young have issues. I believe
it revolves around connotation.
Most of the boomers were just as rebellious and idealistic as
millennials seem to be, and when they got to a place where they could
make a difference, they felt as if they had made a huge dent in
addressing social inequities. When a younger set comes along and
starts using terms like injustice there is a natural defensiveness
that sets in – as if the good efforts of those boomers are somehow
judged as ineffectual and as if no change had occurred in dealing
with social difficulties.
They wonder, "are they saying we are party to this injustice?" Yet
these are the champions of the social revolution that gave us Martin
Luther King, Jr., and other pioneers in restoring society. Add to
this, the prevailing understanding that no matter how much we do, this
creation will still be broken until Jesus finally restores all things,
and you begin to understand that perhaps there is a major difference
in opinion about approach more than whether the work needs to be done
or not. When secular proponents of social justice chime in and begin
to elevate the work above the mission, an additional layer of
resistance emerges – again, not so much with the work, but the motive
- as if, under human intention we will somehow create the utopia that
is not possible until Jesus returns.
So then we find ourselves in the midst of a division, primarily
generational, but not entirely, that causes false assumptions on both
sides about the other. One saying that the other does not care about
the poor and disenfranchised and does not really understand the
Gospel, and the other side claiming that the other group is about
handouts and feel-good theology devoid of any remnant of the
redemptive Gospel.
Some term needs to emerge, that is born of a synergistic intention of
unity in God's people – one behind which both "sides" can rally,
champion, and immerse themselves. I've sought alternatives, like
"social holiness", which is misused by most, but I have not yet found
that ideal term. I am currently finding favor in "restorative
holiness" as a viable term – we'll see how it plays.
In His grip,
Herb Halstead
[...] hat follows is a copy/paste/edit of my comments on a blog I follow. The comments are to a post references a story told at the Sustainable Faith Conference about the exploitation of migrant workers in the USA. The discussion got interesting when one commenter asked, “What has all this got to do with the mission of the Church?” You can read the blog post and the ensuing discussion here. [...]
I have said a number of times recently that it appears part of the problem within Christianity these days is that we are speaking different languages. And your comment here, Herb, makes me feel that is occurring here and that you understand both languages.
Tell me why you squirm at the term "social justice"? For my part, I interpret those who have a problem with social justice to be people are are unconcerned about widows, orphans, and those who need justice. But clearly there is something else people are interpreting in that phrase that is foreign to my own interpretation of it. Can you share your insight with us?
reading over that – I am not sure I am conveying my thoughts adequately :-/
Rachel,
In all the string of comments above I really did not see an answer to my question about "is the gospel" in social Justice being lived out in the through the churches in Immokalee? I read 40 churches getting involved, but besides peoples rights being represented socially or politically, are people hearing the message of salvation (The Gospel) and getting saved and discipled?
I’m concerned that our church is becoming more social oriented without the mission of preaching the gospel to restore souls. Is the preaching of the gospel happening among social Justice Expressions at all?
Social work/justice/ restoration or whatever term is liked or used is mis-aligned eternal effort unless we are FOCUSED on souls. Yes we feed the body, but we also preach to the spirit of man as well and not just end it with warm fuzziness of humanitarian efforts.
We will get lost in the work without presenting, proclaiming and preaching the GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL. Shane Clairborne ( whom I am not familiar with at all yet) has some good comments I have picked up on recently, “It is easier to talk about the poor than to talk to the poor”. I agree with that, but better yet, let’s talk to them about the Love and grace of Jesus and the hope he offers when people repent and turn away from sin.
That is why we have Evangelist who God has given a boldness to proclaim to the lost. Just a few weeks ago I went into a home to pray with dying women at the invite of a family member new to our church. That first night I got right to business about her soul and asked her if she had been born again. She said no, but she trusted Jesus. Before I left we prayed clearly and then we moved ahead with love and compassion and even a baptism in the hospice home. In the social compassion of the moment what if I had not pressed the question about her soul in the midst of the physical pain of the moment?
Jesus did say GO and be among the jailed, poor and naked and do ministry. But ministry is spiritual accomplished through the deeds of humanitarian efforts when the Gospel stay center. Many Churches has gotten and are getting caught up in the human side of social work in the name of Christ without the power thereof.
Unless a clear message of salvation is woven into the intent of social efforts or justice or whatever term is the latest buzz word, it will not make an eternal difference if people are not getting presented with a clear message of the Gospel.
I thoroughly enjoy hands on ministry among the poor and mistreated and have been on mission trips and have feed the poor etc etc. We are surrounded now by a lot of poor in our area. We are struggling with how to accomplish the great commission without getting lost in load of social work that is increasing everywhere. If we are not Christ Centered with a message about KNOWING (salvation) we indeed do good works, but still we will miss the mark with LIFE CHANGING GRACE AND HOPE.
I realize that many come to trust the gospel through slow loving personal relationships. As well, many come to know Christ in the crowd when the Word of God is proclaimed and the foolishness of the Cross of Christ is presented.
Social Justice is a new term to me and as well I have not heard great things, but trying to weight it all with the gospel as I learn more.
Striving to Make a Difference in FL.
You make great points. It is important to note that as Jesus met peoples worldly needs, He ALWAYS worked on their souls as well. ALWAYS!
[...] hours into the trip. On the way, I called Southwest Airlines three times to change my flights for a work trip to Tampa, stopped four times for various kinds of caffeine, and blared the Glee soundtrack again and again [...]
This is what it takes to use magic love spells.
I think much confusion comes from the use of the misunderstood term “social justice” because of it’s historical context. Can we stop using it in our efforts to sound current, young and edgy? Can’t we just call it “charity” or “generosity” or “friendliness” or “practicing good works” or something like that?
I am alarmed by my beloved Church of the Nazarene’s growing attraction to these (often) political philosophies, or their lack of attention to the history/results of these endeavors. I am all for “Christian charity” on a voluntary individual level, but hope to hear more frequently from our churches leaders that we must not entangle ourselves with government agencies that seem to support this same goal, but with many unseen strings attached.
As a huge fan of the intentions of our founding fathers to separate from the oppressive governance of Europe, and an appreciative g-g-g-g-great grand-daughter of men who died painfully for this freedom, I have problems with the term “social justice” because it so closely aligns with the ideas of the socialism from which they fought to be free. The intentions of our founders were small government, and little interference into private business. (Yes, I know that there is evil in businesses sometimes, but there is a more dangerous evil in many that find power within political systems.) Therefore, our founders intended to keep government small for the safety and liberty of all.
I found this definition of Social Justice (which I shortened) on Wikipedia :
Social justice is defined as the concept of justice on a social scale. The term appeared before the 1800s, including in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
It is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by green parties worldwide. All tenets of “social justice” in the Global Green Movement have been adopted by many on the left of the political spectrum.
“Social justice” is also a concept that some use to describe the global governmental movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice involves a greater degree of forced economic egalitarianism through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or even property redistribution. These policies aim to manufacture equality of outcome in cases where incidental inequalities appear.
Many people accept some of the basic principles of social justice, such as the idea that all human beings have a basic level of value, but disagree with the elaborate conclusions and government enforced policies that may follow from this.
Many other people criticize the idea that there exists an objective standard of “social justice”. Some scholars reject the very idea of social justice as meaningless, self-contradictory, and ideological, believing that to realize any degree of social justice is unfeasible, and that the attempt to do so must destroy all liberty. The most complete rejection of the concept of social justice comes from Friedrich Hayek of the Austrian School of economics:
[Social justice] does not belong to the category of error but to that of nonsense, like the term `a moral stone'.