As followers of Jesus, we are beckoned onto a path that winds through the dense forest of injustice with the compass of the Gospel of Christ in our hands.

The Gospel, a story of God’s love and redemption, encompasses far more than personal morality and individual salvation—it is also a blueprint for societal restoration. For those who take their cues from Scripture, Christian advocacy and the response to injustice are not peripheral activities, they are central to the mission of embodying the Gospel.

In the Old Testament, we find a God deeply concerned with justice, instructing Israel to be a society where widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor are protected. Leviticus 19:10 commands, “Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.”

Here, justice is not a human construct but a divine mandate, a reflection of God’s character. The prophets carry on this baton, with Micah demanding, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Moving into the New Testament, Jesus’ mission is portrayed as a continuation and fulfilment of this quest for justice. The four Gospels depict Him as the one who brings good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed¹.

His advocacy was not an optional add-on but the essence of His ministry. The Epistles further reinforce this, with James sternly reminding believers that faith without deeds is dead².

Christian mission, therefore, cannot be a disembodied proclamation; it must incarnate the love and justice of Jesus.

Our advocacy for the marginalised is rooted in faith, not politics. While it may intersect with political systems, it operates from a different source and towards another end.

It seeks not the triumph of a party but the Kingdom of God—a Kingdom where righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit reign³. When we stand for the vulnerable, we are not primarily engaging in political activism; we are living out the Gospel.

Christian mission must be understood as a holistic endeavour—word and deed together, proclaiming and demonstrating the Kingdom.

The story of the Good Samaritan serves not just as a call to individual acts of kindness but as a radical redefinition of social obligation⁴. The Samaritan’s response was not simply a deed but a proclamation—a visible sermon of the neighbour-love commanded by Christ.

Injustice in the world is a stark contradiction to the order and peace of the Gospel. As such, Christianity cannot be mute or inactive in the face of oppression. Advocacy for justice is a prophetic embodiment of the future Kingdom we await, where “justice rolls on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.” Amos 5:24

So, when Christians advocate for the poor and the oppressed, we do not merely offer charity, but we stand in the long tradition of biblical justice. We remember that Jesus said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

In serving the least, we serve Christ. In advocating for justice, we are not straying into the secular; we are walking the path of Jesus—a path where word and deed are inseparably intertwined.

Christian advocacy is not optional; it is the Gospel lived out loud. It is not political; it is profoundly biblical. It is not secondary; it is central.

To live out the Gospel and follow Jesus is to walk in the way of justice—for it is in justice that the love of God is made manifest to a world in desperate need.

¹ Luke 4:18-19
² James 2:14–17
³ Romans 14:17
⁴ Luke 10:25-37