试想像，你面前有一张属灵地图，上面展示了神透过耶稣基督、圣灵及教会所作成的工。如果要将一枚叫「公义」的大头针钉在这地图上，你会钉在哪里？我想，很多人会把它放在宣教与福音事工国度的边陲。我们或许会在「社会公义」的框架内看待「公义」，以为它只是神事工里额外的「好行为」。事实上，如果将公义这观念从神给人的使命和目标中分割，我们便会将公义当成可有可无的鸡肋。举一个极端的例子，熟悉美国教会各宗派历史发展的人便会留意到，将「社会公义」与「福音」这两词的运用结合起来，曾被认为是对真正福音主义一个危险的误解。
究竟当我们谈及「公义」时，它真正的意思是什么？它跟神的心意又有何关系呢？以赛亚书三十章18节提及：「因为耶和华是公义的神」（《新译本》，下同）；而诗篇九篇7-10节说到：「耶和华却永远坐着为王，为了施行审判，他已经设立宝座。他必以公义审判世界，按正直判断万民。耶和华要给受欺压的人作保障，作患难时的避难所。认识你名的人必倚靠你；耶和华啊！你从未撇弃寻求你的人。」这些基督徒耳熟能详的经文，背后都道出一个满有大能的信息——神是谁和他的属性。
我们常听信神的名字彰显着他的属性，特别是一系列「耶和华」的名号。在以赛亚书第三十章和诗篇第九篇中，我们看到神的本质是公义和正直，他与以色列周边民族的异教神明最大的差异就是公义。彷佛用以区分以色列神与外族神明之别的「耶和华属性」的名号，都被公义一词所概括。他不是无法预测和暴怒，只顾自己的权力和喜悦的神。他是可靠和有条理的神，关顾他子民的状况，特别是受苦和被欺压的。在他的管治下，一套关乎行为和关系的准则被建立，这准则是基于他的属性而设的，并一视同仁地应用于各人身上，不管他们是富有或贫穷、弱小还是强壮。在他的管治下，我们不难理解公义最终必然会压倒一切，因为这是他本质和属性的彰显。他是一位公义的神。
每年在香港举行的亚洲公义特会，目的是唤醒基督徒成为公义的使者，将这枚「公义」的大头针牢牢地钉在神的中心。我们必须在这前提下出发，不然，在不公义的地方作「公义的使者」，会容易令我们将公义当成偶像！但我们的神是一位公义的神，所以当我们定意将他作为敬拜的中心时，我们便有信心在各个领域都能反映他公义的心。
亚洲公义特会聚焦亚洲区特别的社会公义需要。众多非政府和非牟利组织在区内困难重重和资源缺乏的情况下工作，将怜悯、希望和公义带给受不公义对待、被忽略和不能为自己发声的人。特会涵盖不同範畴，包括扶贫、贩运性奴、饥荒、性虐待、微型金融、社会企业、公平贸易、宗教迫害、危难中的儿童、经济不公义、促进和平等。本年度的主题是「爱你的邻舍」，正切合香港与众多亚洲国家面对的政治和社会撕裂。这个特会盼望能鼓舞非政府组织和教会工作者，使他们继续造福社会。特会亦设立论坛让参加者能在各自的服事範畴中跟其他同工交流。
这特会是我们踏上公义之旅极佳的起点，透过将「公义」这大头针牢牢钉在神的中心，让公义的影响力透过基督教各层面散播出去。我们真心盼望您能参与本年十月二十至廿一日举行的特会，若想进一步了解特会详情，请浏览www.thejusticeconferenceasia.com。
（亚洲公义特会系列之一，英文原文可参下文。）
（作者聂东尼牧师〔Tony Read〕为亚洲公义特会主席、湾仔葡萄藤教会的公义提倡者，
本文信息及主张摘自Timothy Keller的 “Generous Justice” 以及International Justice Mission
制作的 “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).
