The Spirit of Activism and Justice

This is an excerpt from my final paper for my Apologetics class. I'm pointing to the spirit of activism on UNC's campus as a prime entry-point for the gospel:

I believe that this passion for justice is a critical bridge between the gospel and the culture that needs to be developed and explored. The spirit of activism that will not rest until things are made right is familiar to Christians. We know that Spirit. It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is his name, and he also will not rest until all things are made right.

The Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ is similar and different to the spirit of activism that is on campus. It is similar in its’ discontent with things as they are. But it is different in some very significant ways.

Primarily, the Spirit of Christ knows exactly what “justice” means. In our pluralistic culture everyone’s moral decisions are a private matter. Many argue that no one has any right to pass judgment on any one else’s decisions. So how are we to know what justice really is? To scream out that injustice has taken place is to call someone to account for an action that we intuitively know to be wrong. But if it is an action being knowingly perpetrated by someone, then either they do not think it wrong (and to disagree is to impose your morality on them) or they are ignorant (and your attempt at “informing” them is simply another form of cultural imperialism).

Thus, eventually we see that secular, agnostic pluralism must ultimately implode on itself. If all that truly exists is individual choice then, as Nietzsche said, all that’s left is the will to power. If there is no such thing as justice, only localized or personal definitions or constructs of it, then there is no place for any rule of law in any sense of the word. The result can only be anarchy. And in anarchy the strongest survive while the weak are crushed.

There is no place for the concept of “justice” apart from being committed to a search for something that is true and real. We believe as Christians that we know the One who is Justice. We believe we know the Spirit of Activism, the One who is making all things right. Not that Christians already know all the answers or that we always make just decisions. But simply that we are on the way of Justice, we are following in the steps of the One who is moving all of history in the direction of all things being made right.