試想像，你面前有一張屬靈地圖，上面展示了神透過耶穌基督、聖靈及教會所作成的工。如果要將一枚叫「公義」的大頭針釘在這地圖上，你會釘在哪裡？我想，很多人會把它放在宣教與福音事工國度的邊陲。我們或許會在「社會公義」的框架內看待「公義」，以為它只是神事工裡額外的「好行為」。事實上，如果將公義這觀念從神給人的使命和目標中分割，我們便會將公義當成可有可無的雞肋。舉一個極端的例子，熟悉美國教會各宗派歷史發展的人便會留意到，將「社會公義」與「福音」這兩詞的運用結合起來，曾被認為是對真正福音主義一個危險的誤解。
究竟當我們談及「公義」時，它真正的意思是甚麼？它跟神的心意又有何關係呢？以賽亞書三十章18節提及：「因為耶和華是公義的神」（《新譯本》，下同）；而詩篇九篇7-10節說到：「耶和華卻永遠坐著為王，為了施行審判，他已經設立寶座。他必以公義審判世界，按正直判斷萬民。耶和華要給受欺壓的人作保障，作患難時的避難所。認識你名的人必倚靠你；耶和華啊！你從未撇棄尋求你的人。」這些基督徒耳熟能詳的經文，背後都道出一個滿有大能的信息——神是誰和祂的屬性。
我們常聽信神的名字彰顯著祂的屬性，特別是一系列「耶和華」的名號。在以賽亞書第三十章和詩篇第九篇中，我們看到神的本質是公義和正直，祂與以色列周邊民族的異教神明最大的差異就是公義。彷彿用以區分以色列神與外族神明之別的「耶和華屬性」的名號，都被公義一詞所概括。祂不是無法預測和暴怒，只顧自己的權力和喜悅的神。祂是可靠和有條理的神，關顧祂子民的狀況，特別是受苦和被欺壓的。在祂的管治下，一套關乎行為和關係的準則被建立，這準則是基於祂的屬性而設的，並一視同仁地應用於各人身上，不管他們是富有或貧窮、弱小還是強壯。在祂的管治下，我們不難理解公義最終必然會壓倒一切，因為這是祂本質和屬性的彰顯。祂是一位公義的神。
每年在香港舉行的亞洲公義特會，目的是喚醒基督徒成為公義的使者，將這枚「公義」的大頭針牢牢地釘在神的中心。我們必須在這前提下出發，不然，在不公義的地方作「公義的使者」，會容易令我們將公義當成偶像！但我們的神是一位公義的神，所以當我們定意將祂作為敬拜的中心時，我們便有信心在各個領域都能反映祂公義的心。
亞洲公義特會聚焦亞洲區特別的社會公義需要。眾多非政府和非牟利組織在區內困難重重和資源缺乏的情況下工作，將憐憫、希望和公義帶給受不公義對待、被忽略和不能為自己發聲的人。特會涵蓋不同範疇，包括扶貧、販運性奴、饑荒、性虐待、微型金融、社會企業、公平貿易、宗教迫害、危難中的兒童、經濟不公義、促進和平等。本年度的主題是「愛你的鄰舍」，正切合香港與眾多亞洲國家面對的政治和社會撕裂。這個特會盼望能鼓舞非政府組織和教會工作者，使他們繼續造福社會。特會亦設立論壇讓參加者能在各自的服事範疇中跟其他同工交流。
這特會是我們踏上公義之旅極佳的起點，透過將「公義」這大頭針牢牢釘在神的中心，讓公義的影響力透過基督教各層面散播出去。我們真心盼望您能參與本年十月二十至廿一日舉行的特會，若想進一步了解特會詳情，請瀏覽www.thejusticeconferenceasia.com。
（亞洲公義特會系列之一，英文原文可參下文。）
（作者聶東尼牧師〔Tony Read〕為亞洲公義特會主席、灣仔葡萄藤教會的公義提倡者，
本文信息及主張摘自Timothy Keller的 “Generous Justice” 以及International Justice Mission
製作的 “4 Weeks of Justice–Bible study and devotional on Justice”。）
A God of Justice
by Tony Read
If you were asked to place a ‘justice’ pin on a spiritual map of all the activity of God through the Son and Holy Spirit and work of the church where would you place it? I guess that many of us would be tempted to place it somewhere on the outskirts of kingdom mission and evangelism. We would perhaps think of justice in the context of social justice as an added extra to the ministry of the ‘word’ in the form of ‘good deeds’. Indeed so disconnected is the concept of justice from the essential mission and purpose of God that we might be forgiven for thinking that it was actually on optional extra. At an even more extreme position, those who are familiar with the development of denominational history in the US will be aware that the use of the words ‘social justice’ in conjunction with the word ‘gospel’ would at one time have even been considered a dangerous misconstruction of the true evangelical gospel.
So what do we mean when we talk about ‘justice’ and how does it relate to the heart of God? Psalm 30:18 says “For the Lord is a God of justice”, and in Psalm 9:7-10 we read “But the Lord sits enthroned for ever; He has established His throne of justice and He judges the world with righteousness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” These are familiar words which as Christians we perhaps read often but there are powerful concepts being expressed which are fundamental to who God is and the nature of his Lordship.
We hear much about the names of God which express his character particularly the various ‘Jehovah’ names but in Isaiah 30 and Psalm 9 we see that at the core of his being is justice and righteousness and that his definitive nature seen here in contrast to the pagan gods of the nations surrounding Israel was justice. It was as if all the ‘Jehovah characteristics’ which distinguished Israel’s God from the others could be wrapped up in this one term. He was not unpredictable and angry, concerned only about his own power and pleasure. He was reliable and ordered and concerned about the condition of his people particularly those who were suffering and oppressed. In His rule there was an established standard of behavior and relationships which was consistent with his own character and applied equally to the rich and poor, weak and powerful. There was an understanding that under his rule this justice would eventually and inevitably prevail despite opposition and setbacks because it was the outworking of his very nature. He is a God of Justice.
At The Justice Conference Asia held annually in Hong Kong there is a purposeful reorientation of our christian perspective to become agents of justice by placing that justice pin firmly at the centre of God’s being. As ‘agents of justice’ in whatever area of injustice we find ourselves it is essential that we work firstly from this premise otherwise we will be in danger of making an idol out of justice itself! But our God is a god of justice therefore we can be confident that as we intentionally put him at the centre of our worship we can reflect his justice heart in the various areas that we work.
The Asia regional conference is designed to focus on the specific social justice needs in our part of the world. Many NGO’s and non-profits in the region work under difficult circumstances with few resources, to bring compassion, hope and justice to the people who are denied justice; who are overlooked; and who have no voice of their own. The conference covers many fields such as poverty relief, sex trafficking, hunger, gender abuse, micro-finance, social enterprise, fair trade, religious persecution, children at risk, economic injustice, peacemaking etc. Our overall theme for this year is “Love Thy Neighbour” which is extremely relevant to the deeply divided political and social landscape of Hong Kong and many Asian nations. They hope that it will bring encouragement to both ngo and church workers to reach out to impact society for good, and that it will provide a forum for discussion and interaction with others in their field.
This conference is a good place to begin our journey into justice by placing that pin firmly in the centre of God’s being and letting its influence permeate out through the various layers of Christian expression. We sincerely hope that you will join us in the conference this year on October 20-21st. For more, please visit www.thejusticeconferenceasia.com.
Tony Read is the Justice Advocate for The Vine Church in Wanchai. This article is based on information and ideas gratefully gleaned from ‘Generous Justice’ by Timothy Keller and ‘4 Weeks of Justice – Bible study and devotional on Justice’ produced by IJM (International Justice Mission).
