You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (18-20)
I live in a country that is known for its corruption. For things to happen smoothly, people offer bribes and expect bribes. Refusing to participate in that process often makes things much more complicated and difficult. My country is not unique to Africa or many other parts of the world. Even places that consider themselves to be “Christian” will often participate in bribery and corruption while all the while lamenting the corruption that is rife in their society. It can be quite frustrating. I teach Cultural Anthropology and realize that different cultures have different foundations. In the West (where I come from), we are driven by guilt and innocence. It is no surprise that I would so quickly resonate with these verses because I have a strong sense of right and wrong, and things like corruption and bribery go against the grain of my cultural foundation. Other societies (like those in Africa) are often more driven by concepts like Fear/Power or Shame/Honor. As a student of culture, I recognize there are good and bad aspects of every culture, and I am hesitant to be super critical of the cultural values of my African friends. Then I read verses like the ones above, and I see that the biblical culture opposes corruption of any sort.
The Bible is supra-cultural and resonates with all cultures around the world. We must be careful not to read it through our personal baggage or cultural lens. Yet, it not only connects with all cultures, but it also corrects all cultures. In short, it is clear that Justice is a “God Value,” and He is the one who gets to define it, not us. The West or any other culture does not define Biblical Justice; it is defined by God. In his definition of Justice, corruption and bribery are wrong… period, and there is never an instance when they are right or acceptable. This perspective is not my cultural values coming to the surface in my writing; this is God’s value clearly communicated in His word. While we who live in other parts of the world must be careful to be objective when we consider the merits of other cultures and our own, God’s word decides what is right and what is wrong. His perspective trumps mine, and it also trumps the perspective of those I live among. Justice, and justice only, shall we follow.
