“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.”
These are the words of Martin Niemoller, one of the few German church leaders who, along with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, had the courage to speak-out against Hitler and his Government leading up to WWII. As a result he spent 8 years in Dachau concentration camp.
Why should Christians care about human rights?
Here are 8 Biblical reasons:
1. All Human Beings are Created in the Image of God
First, and most crucially, our commitment to Human Rights stems from the Biblical teaching that all men and women are made in the image of God and bear the divine image. Therefore each individual human life is infinitely precious and should be treated with the respect due those made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139, Matthew 10:29-30, James 3:9).
2. All Human Beings are Equal before God’s Law
The Bible is explicit in its teaching that all people are equal before God and before the law (Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 16:18-20). At the same time it is realistic in its understanding of human sinfulness and corruptibility, and therefore urges that we be especially diligent to ensure that the legal rights of the poor and the vulnerable are not over ridden by those more powerful (e.g. Exodus 23:6, Deuteronomy 24:17, Amos 5:11-15).
3. We are Commanded to Protect the Rights of the Poor and Vulnerable
Moreover, Scripture calls on all of us – and particularly those in leadership positions – to protect and provide for those in our society who are the least powerful/most vulnerable; e.g. widows, orphans, refugees, the poor (e.g. Psalm 82, Isaiah 1:16-17, Proverbs 31:1-9), for God ‘identifies’ with the suffering of the poor and exploited: ‘to oppress the poor is to show contempt towards God’ (Proverbs 14:31).
4. Christ Identifies with the Poor, the Oppressed, the Vulnerable
In the life of Christ, we see this principle lifted to new heights: in his lifestyle he consciously and deliberately identifies with the poor, the refugee, the outcast (Luke 8:20). This identification with the vulnerable reaches its climax with Jesus declaring that ‘how we treat the vulnerable is how we are treating him’ (Matthew 25:31-46).
5. God Knows and Cares about Every Act of Injustice on Earth
In the New Testament, these Old Testament principles given to Israel are picked up and universalised (Matthew 5:44-45): Jesus teaches the preciousness of each individual life before God (Matthew 10:29-31); and that God’s justice is universal and all will be judged by the same standards (Matthew 12:18-21, Luke 18:6-8, Revelation 20:11-15).
6. Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience have a rich Biblical Tradition
Elsewhere in the New Testament, we see the Apostle Paul insisting on his “rights” as a citizen in the face of oppression from Government officials (Acts 16:37, 22:25, 25:11) Earlier, the apostles have affirmed that if ever our leaders order us to take actions that violate the teachings of Jesus, ‘we must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 4:19). Actually, there is a rich vein of ‘civil disobedience’ in the Scriptures: from the Hebrew midwives’ refusal to perform infanticide (Exodus 1:15-21); to Daniels refusal to follow King Darius’ decree (Daniel 6); to Jesus’ refusal to kowtow to Herod (Luke 13:32), Pilot (John 19:8-11), or the religious leaders of his day (Matthew 23).
But what about Romans 13 (“everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities…”)?
Many Christians since Jesus – including Dietrich Bonoeffer in his opposition to Hitler, and Martin Luther King Jr. in his opposition to racism – have drawn on this Biblical tradition of civil disobedience. They clearly saw that Romans 13 has its limits: whenever a government abandons its mandate to be “God’s servant to do good”, it loses its moral authority. Whenever a Christian is faced with the choice between obeying the teachings of Jesus or the edicts of its government, it is the Lordship of Christ that must take precedence.
One of the great tragedies of Germany through the 1930’s and 1940’s was that the Christian church overwhelmingly fell in line with Hitler and his Nazi rule, in part due to their reading of Romans 13. Only a small minority (lead by Bonhoeffer and Niemoller) declared boldly that “we must obey God, not man”.
Jesus is our Lord. We are bound to follow His teachings. Our highest allegiance is to the Kingdom of God. Every other government, every other pledge, every other oath of allegiance, every other act of patriotism, is totally relativised by this.
Biblically, we are made more aware of our ‘civil responsibilities’ than we are of our ‘civil rights’. We have a responsibility to love and do good to our neighbours (Romans 13:8-10). All of us have a responsibility to contribute to the ‘common good’, and to submit to our government, its laws, and pay our taxes – so long as these are in turn contributing to the common good, and not to the furtherance of evil.
7. The Spirit of God – and we – are on the side of life and liberty; and against oppression
We are called to live in cooperation with God’s Spirit in proclaiming Good News to the poor and oppressed. The good news lifts, liberates (Luke 4:18-19) and brings life (John 10:10). Satan, and the powers and principalities, on the other hand – use fear and intimidation, violence and oppression, and are ultimately revealed to be destructive and death dealing (John 10:10, Ephesians 6:10-20).
8. We are called to Pray and we are called to Act
We are called to do good to all people (Galatians 6:10); to do acts of justice, and to pray for justice to come (Micah 6:8; Luke 18:7; 1Timothy 2:1-2).
[Kristin Jack has lived amongst the urban poor in Cambodia for more than a decade with his family and is currently Servants Asia Coordinator.]
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