Anyone who has run a business knows that wages are one of if not the largest expense. Social justice has become a hot topic as part of the push and pull of the business owner vs the working man. Better than Social Justice we should be looking to Biblical Justice. How we treat employees is the primary indicator of what society justice looks like.

Layoffs are Coming

When wall street executives are worried about hitting numbers the investment class wants the first action they take is a reduction in workforce. Layoffs happen every 2-3 years for publicly traded companies. Keeping labor costs down is a priority. I worked for a multimillion-dollar private company and the owner who was detached from the day-to-day operations kept a policy that his sign off was required before any employee or contractor could be hired. Labor is expensive. Apparently, this has always been the case as we see James call out the rich for not paying the wages promised in his book of wisdom.

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. James 5:4 ESV

Mercy to the Worker

I have run companies with laborers. These are the working poor. They can be warehouse workers or delivery men. They have personal issues that lead to them being poor working. Parol officers might even bring some potential employees to the office to help these men who struggle to find footing in society. In a move against Biblical Justice many of these workers have been cheated and abused by ungodly employers because they have no recourse and no standing in society to complain. Others have given up and have no plans to actually work. I have heard the stories and seen the results. James warns that the cry of the poor unjustly taken advantage of reach the ears of the Lord. Peter reinforces it to warn that the cries of the righteous will set the face of God against those who are cheating.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 1 Peter 3:12 ESV

Christian Responsibility

How then should the Christian business owners and those who have means live in a world of sin where everyone is only looking out for themselves? Social justice is the world’s answer and it has infiltrated the church to the point that we forget what Biblical Justice looks like. What we need is God’s answer of personal responsibility and generosity from those with means.

Equality and Equity

There are two key terms we need to understand to grasp the world’s version of Justice vs the Biblical version of Justice.

Equality is when you treat everyone the same regardless of circumstance. Blind justice is equality. Both the rich and the poor go to jail for breaking laws. Governments should treat people the same under the law.

Equity is when you treat someone disadvantaged differently prioritizing more resources to help them overcome. The world is running with equity in new ways that are not Biblical.

In society we want equality. We want the government to be fair and consistent. The rules are the rules. But as individuals when it comes to helping those in need, equity, we do not want the government to overlook equality. This is the problem we have in society today and this kind of social justice is not what James is warning the rich person of.

And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ Matthew 20:6-12 ESV

The Same Reward

Take this parable that Jesus says will be like the kingdom of heaven. At the beginning of the day workers are hired for a set wage and at the end of the day more workers are hired for the same wage. This is not equality and violates our sense of Biblical justice that all be treated equally. One of the workers in the parable even complains that the workers hired at the end of the day are being treated equal to those who did the majority of the work.

Is the kingdom of heaven some social justice work that everyone will have equity. Those workers hired at the end of the day did not have the same opportunity for whatever reason so maybe they deserved the leg up?

But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? Matthew 20:13-15 ESV

Government Mandates

Worldly social justice replaces the individual generosity with government mandates. This violates God’s expectation that government will remain just and equal. In essence when governments demand generosity from one group to help another group in the name of equity the government moves into the role of Church. Governments cannot mandate Biblical justice outside of equality. We all know the dangers of church taking on the role of government but do we know the dangers of government taking on the role of church?

Notice the response of Jesus to the worker who complained. You agreed to work for this wage and do you begrudge my generosity? Both workers entering into the kingdom of heaven agreed to the gift from God on his terms. “The gift of God is eternal life.” Both receive the same gift but one labored longer than the other. Equality is that both worked and both agreed to the reward. Equity is that God had mercy on the worker who was late to the party and out of generosity of his own wealth had mercy on him.

Generosity is Equity that Works

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Matthew 25:34-36 ESV

Today’s politicized notion of social justice replaces the individual with the government but that is not the Biblical mandate. James warns the rich to not cheat the worker because social justice in the Bible looks at the individual directly. No expectation or burden is placed on the government.

How then should the Christian business owners and those who have means live in a world of sin where everyone is only looking out for themselves? Be generous with what God has given you. Equity to those in your orbit who need help is what God wants from you.