The Book of Amos on Social Justice

Amos 8:4

Hear this, you who trample on the needy,
    and bring to ruin the poor of the land…

Do you have conservative friends and family who are concerned that schools, books, Disney and Taylor Swift are indoctrinating your family into the dark world of social justice? Wait until they hear about the Book of Amos. It is the Bible itself that should be indoctrinating them into social and economic justice, so you don’t need to spend a lot on tuition or even listen to Spotify.

I’m really digging Amos right now, in a way that surprises me for a minor prophet. If you’re like me, you probably skimmed the book a few times in your annual reading plan, but it may or may not have left an impact. Part of the issue is that it was written almost 3,000 years ago so there are probably some things that need to be unpacked.

What is social and economic justice?

I’m not saying this in a political way, I’m saying this as a devout Christian: you need to care about social and economic justice because Jesus cared a lot about it. Social justice means that all people deserve to have the same basic rights and opportunities. Economic justice means that humans all deserve a living wage and access to housing, education and healthcare. That might mean calling attention to some uncomfortable facts.

Consider that our educational system does not produce equal outcomes for different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. For example, the National Bureau of Economic Research, found that 43% of white students admitted to Harvard are legacy, athletic or donor-related admissions. Even worse, 75% of those same students at Harvard would not have made it in if they were treated without favorable bias, as non-legacy, non-white students are treated. This is wrong regardless of where you get your news.

Also consider that while only 4% of Colorado’s residents are black, black people make up 17% of our prison population. The odds of a white Coloradan ending up in prison is around 0.17%. The odds if you’re black in Colorado go up to 1.24%, or seven times higher. There are three conclusions you could come to. First, and I think the most obvious, we don’t treat black people the same way we treat white people in our criminal justice system. The data backs up this conclusion as black people are seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of major crimes. This requires immediate action that falls under the banner of social justice. Second, you might conclude that black populations have been oppressed economically for the entire history of our country and as a result are exposed to more difficult environments. You would be right, but that still doesn’t address the wrongful convictions. Still, congratulations on recognizing the need for economic justice as well. Third, you may think there is just something inherently wrong with black people and they commit a lot of crimes and that makes you a flat out racist.

Finally consider wealth inequality. The United States has the worst wealth gap among all the G7 nations. The economic policies that were shaped by Reaganomics have completely failed, as the wealth gap between America’s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016. There is no trickling down happening. Three people in America have more wealth than half of the country.

This is where Amos comes in.

An overview of Amos’ world

Amos is set in the eighth century BCE. This is important because this period had woven basketfuls of wealth inequality. The rich were getting richer on the backs of the poor. Just like today, wealth inequality led to many disparate outcomes in people’s lives. Poor people lived shorter lives and had fewer rights. The time of Amos was no fun. If you think we have problems with democracy today, in Amos’ time there was no democracy. It was a cruel, monarchist government that favored the wealthy. It was violent and warfaring because Israel found itself trapped between three major world powers. Theological systems were put forward that tried to make these systems seem legitimate, blessed by God. This should remind you of the aims of Christian Nationalism which are supported largely by straight, cisgendered white people of at least some privilege. The way Amos might have put it is, “they’re trying to make Israel Egypt again,” as there was little difference between the way the kings mistreated their subjects and the pharaohs of legend.

The parallel to Egypt shouldn’t be missed. The story of the Exodus, as well as most if not all the prophets and very importantly Jesus all say the same thing: we need liberation from oppressive cultures of economic oppression that have been legitimized by the dominant theology of the day. In America, many Christians have perverted Christianity to support all forms of greed and intolerance. This is unfortunately just how the world works and it was no different for Amos. Amos passionately indicts the social system of his day. This is not a message about individual spirituality, this is a message of social justice plain and simple.

Amos Speaks for God

Marcus Borg pointed out that Amos uses three kinds of phrases when addressing his audience which helps you parse the messages:

• “They,” phrases are intended to show the peasants that the wealthy are guilty and not endorsed by God.
• “You,” phrases indict the wealthy directly
• “I,” phrases are where Amos is speaking for, or on behalf or in the name of God.

These phrases are powerfully written in Amos. Interestingly, the issue in Amos is not about worshipping other gods as you might find in other prophetic writings. Instead, the book is about how the orthodox were lavishly worshipping God when what God really wants is justice rolling down like a stream. The threats and judgments from Amos are not just a simple indictment. Nor are they some threat of a Hell or post-life punishment. Israel and then Judah will face a direct punishment in history – destruction and exile.

You need to read Amos for yourself because the language is wonderful. It’s nine fast flowing chapters. It’s mostly poetry because that made stories easier to recall among a preliterate people. But I will give you my favorite taste of the message that people who thought they were worshipping God with sacrifice and praise were not pleasing God because they were promoting social and economic inequality.

Amos 4:1-5

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
    who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
    who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”
The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:
    The time is surely coming upon you
when they shall take you away with hooks,
    even the last of you with fishhooks.
Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
    each one straight ahead,
    and you shall be flung out into Harmon,
            says the Lord.
Come to Bethel—and transgress;
    to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;bring a thank offering of leavened bread
    and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
    for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
            says the Lord God.

When you hear, “cows of Bashan,” think pricey Kobe beef fattened cattle or Silicon Valley CEOs or Wall Street fat cats. The point is clear all the way through. God is passionate about economic justice. Everyone should have enough. Not through charity, not through offerings but through social order. Society must be made to promote social and economic justice. God is the creator of the universe, yet the wealthy and powerful act as if it is all theirs to own and only give charity as they see fit.

God Has No Favorites

Many in Amos time believed they were God’s special chosen people, at least as a part of elite theology. But Amos asks, “are you not like the other kingdoms to me?” People would’ve been astounded to hear that Amos is saying Israel was not exceptional. Borg points out there are interesting parallels to Jonah who – as the only successful prophet in the Bible – was sent to warn Assyria of destruction. Assyria successfully repents and avoids wrath, not Israel. In a way, Jonah becomes a parody of repentance and even included cows in sackcloth. How can that not be read as some great sociopolitical humor?

Amos shocked people by telling them Israel isn’t exceptional in the eyes of the creator of the entire universe. In the verse that follows, God through Amos tells Israel directly you are no more special to me than the Ethiopians. You see, what makes you a people of God is not your nation or the color of your skin but the way you treat each other and especially the needy.

Amos 9:7

Are you not like the Cushites to me,
    O people of Israel? says the Lord.

Amos is About the Future of Israel, and Judah… And Maybe American Christianity

America is entering a dark time much like Amos’ day with rampant wealth disparity and cries of American exceptionalism. In the United States, we believe in the national myth of individualism. Now I think that individualism in the right amount is good and healthy. But we hold up the wealthy as if they alone created their wealth. In our mythology, if you succeed it is because you worked hard and if you fail it is because you were irresponsible with your American dream in a land of opportunity. This has led to a lack of concern for the common good, for the very systems and ideas that were originally meant to create those opportunities. We all depend on things we didn’t create, and our very lives belong to God. All our lives are better if we take the common good seriously and promote health, education and income equality.

I want to be clear; I am not on some kind of soap box here railing against capitalism or individual wealthy people. I’ve been very fortunate in my own life. I’m talking about the kinds of social systems should we support as Jesus followers. We may have been blessed as Americans, by God, by geographic isolation, by abundant natural resources and by military might. But how should we use that blessing to support God’s passion for a just and economically fair world?

Just as in Amos’ time, where theology was used to support oppressive systems, we’ve allowed American Christianity to be shaped by fundamentalist, evangelical, conservative, literalist and anti-intellectual ideas. Ask the average twenty-something what they think of when they hear the word, “Christian,” and they will say, “judgmental, bigoted and ignorant.” We’re doing this to ourselves, oh cows of Bashan.

People are leaving the faith in droves and liberal mainline denominations are afraid to stand up for what they know is right. Heaven forbid we chase away 10% of our congregations who are uncomfortable with the phrase, “social justice.” If we really lived and promoted God’s passion for social justice – if we heeded God in Amos’ words – I think we’d attract more thinking Christians back into the pews. But more importantly, we’d be doing Christ’s work on earth.