Spirituality is the connection of the human spirit with God's spirit in the contexts of life. What is the spirituality needed to cope with injustice and oppression? Is it different as we seek to create structures that change oppression? What is the role of rage? This is foundational to the video at: https://vimeo.com/240806596

1. Justice Spirituality?
Prof. Viv Grigg,
Servant Among the Poor
July 2020
• Surviving for decades among the
elites to create Just structures, to
defend the poor?
• Or spirituality in the midst of
oppression?

2. What is the role of rage? Is rage against injustice godly? Or does
it come from dysfunctionality? (Discuss article by Grigg).
QUESTIONS ABOUT SPIRITUALITY AND INJUSTICE
Is God a protester (Isa 42: 2,3, Jesus in the temple)? an
anarchist? A rebel? (Read Proverbs).
Is there a different spirituality for those who create just
structures in society and those who oppose injustice from
underneath?
What is the relationship of peacemaking, and bringing justice? Is
healing of our spirits so we bring peace a pre-requisite to effective
justice-making?
These are two mega-themes with many interrelationships. Here are some
questions.
Item 1
Item 2
Item 3
Item 4

3. BEGINNINGS: WALKING WITH THE GOD
OF JUSTICE
• He structured the Universe and his voice
sustains it.
• Jesus was the man of justice (Isa 42:11-4)
• The Spirit guides us often to speak out on
injustice
• If we walk with God, we walk doing justice
(Micah 6:8)

4. WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?
1. OUR SPIRITS
2. ENGAGED BY GOD’S SPIRIT
3.IN AN ENVIRONMENT

5. GOD HIMSELF IS THE GREAT STRUCTURER OF THE
UNIVERSE

6. HE IS THE GOD OF JUSTICE WHO CREATES
FLOURISHING FOR ALL

7. WHAT IS JUSTICE?
• The right thing
• The right place
• The right way
• The right timing
These we call the structuring of society
Getting the covenants of God-human,
human-human, human-land right

8. FROM CHAOS THE SPIRIT CREATES
STRUCTURE THEN FILLS IT IN.
CITIES ARE THE CENTERS OF
HUMAN STRUCTURES
THE CITY BEGINS IN THE GARDEN
THE GARDEN ENDS IN THE CITY

9. URBAN
SPIRITUALITY
HOW IS OUR SPIRIT
DEFINED BY CITIES?
HOW DOES
THE HOLY
SPIRIT DEFINE
THE CITY?
WALKING WITH HIM IN HIS FOOTSTEPS IN THIS PROCESS

10. THE GODLY CITY IS
FULL OF JUST
STRUCTURES
CREATING A
SPIRITUAL
ENVIRONMENT
THE CITY BEGINS IN
THE GARDEN
THE GARDEN ENDS
IN THE CITY

11. SPIRITUALITY & JUSTICE
CONTEXT: FOR PEOPLE IN AUTHORITY,
THEY ARE ABLE TO STRUCTURE SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTS
Section 2

12. What is Justice Spirituality?
It is Urban
It seeks Just Structures

13. DOES THAT MEAN TWO
TYPES OF SPIRITUALITY?
1. THOSE WHO ARE FROM
THE ELITE EDUCATED
CLASSES WHO CAN
CREATE JUST STRUCTURES
FROM THE INSIDE.
SURVIVING FOR DECADES

14. The Spiritual
Discipline of
Discernment
Spirit-led Action-Based
Discernment
DO YOU ENJOY
ACTION- REFLECTION
LEARNING?

15. DISCERNMENT AS FOUNDATIONAL
TO SPIRITUALITY
Honed skills of collective
social analysis
Each door leads to another
and these determine our
pathway
The pathway is not always
straight nor upwards as we
confront evil we suffer
setbacks to our role, our
influence.
Wisdom (James 3:13-18)

16. TRANSFORMATIONAL
CONVERSATION
4.Transformat-
ional
Conversations
2.Faith
Convers
ations
3.Socio-
Economic
Conversat-
ions
SOCIAL ANALYSIS

17. SPIRITUALITY INVOLVES
DISCERNMENT
4.3
2.5
3.5
4.5
2.4
4.4
1.8
2.8
2
2
3
5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
COUNTRY 1
COUNTRY 2
COUNTRY 3
COUNTRY 4
Income Distribution
Bottom 20% Middle Class Top 10%
Which country is more
injust?
Is exact equality the
Biblical goal?

18. BEGINNING SPIRITUALITY: GOD WHO
DWELLS AMONG THE OPPRESSED AND
DISPOSSESSED

19. 2. SPIRITUALITY FROM THE OPPRESSED
How does being oppressed mold our
humanness?
What spiritual responses do damage?
pain? dysfunction enable?
What are the Biblical options of
response?
How are these evident across cultures

20. SLUM PENTECOSTAL ANALYSIS
THE WISDOM OF THE OPPRESSED
NOISY EMOTIONAL HEALING
WORSHIP
ORAL THEOLOGY: BIBLICAL STORY
VS STORY FROM THE SLUM

21. WISDOM SPIRITUALITY
ORAL LEARNER WISDOM
SPIRIT-INFUSED ACADEMIC
WISDOM
• Isaiah 11;2 The Spirit of Wisdom
• John 14: The Counsellor, the one who gives discernment
• 1 Cor 2: Reveals truth that destroys false philosophies
• James 3: 13-18 Wisdom deeds in humility, purity, peace-
loving, peace-making, harvesting

22. FOR EVANGELICALS
• ADDS AN EXTRA DIMENSION IN COMING TO KNOW GOD
• A SPIRITUALITY OF ACTION AND ENGAGEMENT
• AS CRITICAL AS THE SPIRITUALITIES OF INTERCESSION AND
SILENCE.

23. THE SERVANT AMONG THE POOR FORETOLD
Behold my Servant whom I uphold
My chosen one in whom I delight
I will put my Spirit on him and he will
establish justice in the earth
He will not falter or be discouraged till he
has established justice in the earth.

24. JUSTICE FROM UNDERNEATH
A. THE SERVANT AMONG THE POOR FORETOLD
• Four Servant Songs
• Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:1-6, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12
• Prophecies about the Spirit anoinging Jesus
• Prophecies of a servant among the poor, who
brings justice

25. THE INCARNATION: OUR LOCATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN
SOLIDARITY DETERMINES THE DEPTHS OF INJUSTICE
1. Down From His Glory…
3. Incarnation As A Profound Economic Act
4. Incarnation As A Profound Political Act
5. Incarnation As A Profound Historical Symbol
6. Incarnation As the Beginning Of A New Social
Ethic.
7. Incarnation As the Initiation of Justice

26. LOCATION AMONG THE ELITE
Trained at the Upper Level
• Joseph
• Daniel- in a lions dead
• Nehemiah – cup-bearer
• Esther- an outcast kept
woman
• Jeremiah – thrown into a
well
• David – chased by his father-
in-law
• All sought justice from their
positions of influence.
• How many years of
preparation?
• INTERCSSOR, PROPHET,
JUSTICE-MAKER
• What role did intercession
have in each of these lives?

27. SPIRITUALITY FOR PROTESTING INJUSTICE
CONTEXT: BEING IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE POOR

28. An-arche or non-
involvement
• Frantz Fanon
• Politics are evil
• Anabaptists
• Pentecostals
Respectful
Opposition
• Ghandi-ji
• Nelson Mandela
• Martin Luther
King
• Non-violence
• Peacemaking
• Franciscans
• Baptists
• Wesleyans
Active Involvement
• US Evangelicals 2011
Salt
Light
In but not of the world
Peacemaking through
Force
State churches
Presbyterians,
Anglicans Lutherans,
Catholics
RELATIONSHIP TO AUTHORITY

29. IS VIOLENCE
EVER AN
OPTION?
Stage 1: Engagement
• An Authority Overstepping
Their Authority
• Protest
• Discernment of Issues.
Stage 2:
Discernment
• Coalition with
Allies
• Discernment
of Strategies
Stage 3: Confrontation within
Boundaries
• Attempts to Change Systems
from within
• Non-violence
• Respect for Authority
Stage 4:
Violating
Authority
Structures
• Intensifying
Oppression
and Violence
Against the
Oppressed
• The 2nd
Violence –
Revolt
• Damaged
Social Fabric
for
Generations
Jesus said to turn the other
cheek to one who smites you.
He smote the money-changers.
Bonhoeffer became engaged in
a plot against Hitler, John Knox
sought to bring a revolt against
the British, Naga Christians are
fighting for their existence
against the Indian army, the
African Christians of Southern
Chad have had to defend their
people against the white Arabs.
What is the spirituality of such
contexts?
When is radical change
preferable to incremental
change of systems?
How far does non-violence go?

30. IS PACIFISM THE ONLY OPTION?
Violence Pacificism
Defence in the face of Violence Pacifism in face of Oppression
He smote the money-changers. Jesus said to turn the other cheek to one
who smites you.
The African Christians of Southern Chad have
had to defend their people against the
marauding white Arabs.
GhandiJi in the Context of Christian British
Rule
The United States fought for independence
aainst the British because of oppression.
Martin Luther King in the context of two
Christian entities
Bonhoeffer became engaged in a plot against
Hitler.
My grandfather was thrown into prison for
refusing to take up arms against Germany
in the first World War.
John Knox of Scotland, sought to bring a revolt
against the British.
Naga Christians are fighting for their existence
against the Indian army, who have taken over
their state.

31. VICTORIOUS JOY IN THE MIDST OF SUFFERING &
OPPRESSION
• The end is one of victory.
• We know our destiny.
• Though we lose battles and suffer shame, we
look to an ultimate reward.
• With this eternal perspective, we have to
make decisions at times as to what we can
and cannot do. We have to leave justice in
his hands and sing the blues. Jesus kept his
mouth shut (John 19:9).

32. SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE
SPIRITUALITIES
• Our spirits are connected with God in his
rectifying injustice
• Lifestyle
• Walking into Injustice and Pain
• Simplicity in the Midst of Opulence
• A Lifestyle of Intercession
• Location: Among the Elite
• Just Exercise of Authority (on behalf of God)
• Wise Administration
• Structuring for the Poor
• Location: Incarnational Among and
Solidarity with the Suffering
• Discernment through Social Analysis
• Suffering with Joy
• Confrontation
• Protest on behalf of others
• Respect for Authority
• Peace-making
• The Relationship of Church and
Government
• The Correlation of Academics and Justice
Spirituality
• Non-Violence

33. READINGS THAT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS
PRESENTAITON
• Christian, Jayakumar. (1999). God of
the Empty-Handed. Monrovia, CA:
MARC.
• Conn, Harvey. (1982). Evangelism:
Doing Justice and Preaching Grace.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
• Dorr, Donal. (1984). Spirituality and
Justice. Dublin.
• ---. (1991). The Social Justice Agenda:
Justice, Ecology, Power and the
Church. Melbourne: Collins Dove.
• Escobar, Samuel & Driver, J. (1978).
Christian Mission and Social Justice.
Scottdale : Herald.
• Gremillon , Joseph (Ed.). (1976). The
Gospel of Peace and Justice: Catholic
Social Teaching Since Pope John.
Maryknoll , NY: Orbis Books.
• Grigg, Viv. (2004). With Justice for All.
Companion to the Poor. Monrovia,
CA: Authentic Media.

34. READINGS
• National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
(1986). Economic Justice for All. Washington:
United States Catholic Conference.
• Perkins, J. (1982). With Justice for All. Ventura:
Regal Books.
• Rantisi , Audeh & Pat. (2003). Blessed are the
Peacemakers. Trowbridge Wiltshire: Eagle.
• Robert J Suderman. (1998). Calloused Hands,
Calloused Souls (W. Derek Suderman , Trans.).
Monrovia: MARC.
• Scott, Waldron. (1980). Bring Forth Justice: A
Contemporary Perspective on Mission. Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans.
• Smithies, Ruth & Wilson, Helen (Eds.). (1993).
Making Choices - Social Justice for Our Times.
Wellington: Epworth.
• Stassen, Glen H. (1992). Just Peacemaking:
Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace.
Louisville, KY: Westminster.
• Troeltsch, E. (1911/1960). The Social Teaching
of the Christian Churches (O. Wyon, Trans.).
New York: Harper and Row.
• Wolterstorff , N. (1983). Until Justice and
Peace Embrace. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
• Wren, Brian. (1977). Education for Justice.
London: SCM.