Be wary of thinking we Christians see clearly how to fix society
Remain focused on trying to do good and follow the example of Jesus
"I fundamentally don't buy the idea that we can fix people in the criminal justice system. I don't pretend to know what the answer is. I just kind of feel confident that like what we are doing now is not working that well," said Dana Bazelon, an assistant district attorney at the 28:30 mark of the second episode of the documentary Philly D.A. on PBS.
My wife and I are currently watching Philly D.A. a documentary series about a progressive prosecutor who becomes the District Attorney in Philadelphia PA. It is a great example of illustrating that there are no easy answers to solving our problems. These stories from World Magazine on the struggles to help those on drugs and the mentally ill illustrate this as well. Easy answers don’t exist. Sin complicates and messes up everything.
Often it's easier and far more comforting to think that if the people on the other side of the political aisle simply got out of the way, our ideas could make the world a whole lot better.
We as Christians can help by spending more time loving others, instead of pointing fingers.
Strive to be humble, honoring everyone
The most honorable, knowledgeable men of ancient Israel failed to judge Jesus correctly and then used their power to pervert justice, condemning Jesus to torture and death.
"The lesson we should take from this is simple and humbling—while justice is a universal human desire, we are universally incapable of achieving it. Our fallible natures cause us to regularly misidentify who is innocent and guilty, or our fallen natures cause us to deliberately misapply justice to protect the guilty and punish the innocent. This is why humility and virtue are indispensable qualities we should expect from our leaders who are called to pursue justice on earth, and why our hope for ultimate justice must always remain with our God in heaven," wrote Pastor Skye Jethani in his "With God Daily" email devotional for June 7, 2021.
Jethani's daily email devotional for $5 a month is one of the few I've ever encountered that I’ve liked. It connects with real life, in part because he writes it based on recent events. If you're looking for an online devotional that grapples with what it looks like to follow Christ in 2021, I strongly recommend taking a look. Each written email also comes in an audio format.
Don't give in to hollow philosophies
Unlike God, no one person on earth has all the facts. In Philly D.A., those from the previous administration being fired or pushed aside often talk somewhat derisively about the entire process being a "social experiment."
I contend everything in life that doesn't at least try to follow the guidelines laid out by God in the Bible is a "social experiment" because God wants what's best for us. If we flaunt those rules it can lead to horrific consequences.
That is why it is so critical to continue to love God with your mind, and understand the flaws in other philosophies.
To that end, I strongly suggest wrestling with the book Stealing from God: Why Atheists Need God To Make Their Case, by Dr. Frank Turek.
This book is good for people who want to know why, philosophically, ditching God makes no sense.
Turek builds a convincing case for why the very laws of logic and other factors atheism claims are not true. The structure of the book is built on CRIMES — Causality, Reasonableness, Information and Intelligence, Morality, Evidence and Sin.
If no god exists, Turek argued, neither do these concepts. At 270 pages, it's not a book you can rapidly read. I stopped often to ponder concepts. It helped me to take his online course at the same time.
The further I dig into apologetics, the more I've noticed understanding philosophy is intertwined with making an effective case for Christ. The conversation starts with how we know certain things are true (epistimology) but eventually progresses to why those truths exist at all (ontology). This book is really about that latter concept.