Restorative Justice – The Kingdom Curriculum XVII (5)

Restorative Justice

“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.” Exodus 22:5

Restorative justice works to restore the imbalance introduced into the system of justice by someone’s actions against another. It doesn’t matter if the actions were intentional or unintentional. When my actions bring harm to my neighbor or his property, it is my responsibility to reset the scales of justice by restoring to my neighbor what he has lost because of my actions.

The practice of restorative justice only makes sense, but think how beneficial it can be to a society. First, it helps to ensure that the one who was wronged does not hold a grudge or plot vengeance against the one who harmed him. Because the balance of justice is reset right away, all things are returned to their proper order before resentment and hatred can begin to fester. Second, the one who committed the injustice doesn’t have to live the rest of his life with some albatross of guilt around his neck. He messed up, but he will also have set things right, albeit, not without some cost to himself. Plus, the community gets to see justice in action and receives a valuable lesson in the ways of neighbor love.

The Law of God prescribes varying standards and criteria for practicing restorative justice. In general, the required restoration is more severe if intent to harm another or deprive him of property is evident, or if the offense is repeated due to carelessness. God ratchets up the requirement in order to discourage evil intentions and to encourage the practice of preventive justice. Such cases as these are forms of restorative justice, but they also fall into the category of retributive justice, which we will examine in our next section.

It’s not hard to imagine how the practice of restorative justice can guide the conduct of our relationships in homes, neighborhoods, and among friends: if I do something to harm you or your property, I must seek forgiveness and discover some way of setting things right. When the balance of the just society–or just relationships at home or work–is upset, it must be reset by the community as a whole, each individual playing the part assigned. That’s why we have juries, to help decide cases of justice, and judges, to prescribe fair policies and practices of restoration.

Reading and meditating on the Law of God is every believer’s duty and privilege (Ps. 1). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compendium of the commandments and precepts of God’s Law, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.