Afia Noway was highly admired, liked and loved by both the young and old alike. She was a proud native of Dwakrom City. Dwakrom was well known for its fervent trading and religious activities. Noway was well known in her native land. Her electric fame was grounded on her unique beauty and character. As a true Christian, righteous and holy living was her most important pursuit in life. She was a staunch member of Looking unto Jesus Ministries. Noway was among others the leader of the singing group. Pastor Hasty Carnal, her pastor, was proud of her and always mentioned her name during service and appeal especially to the young congregants to emulate her. Of course, Noway was a pure virgin. But one day she was found to be pregnant. Both her church and the entire Dwakrom community were not convinced of her explanation for the pregnancy. To her mind, she has never known any male person. The church expelled her in accordance with its Constitution, and the community banned her based on its custom. Was justice being done?
Justice is mostly never achieved by merely applying applicable laws to relevant facts. Application of applicable laws to relevant facts may definitely lead to judgment, not necessarily justice. Judgment is never justice. It has been variously said that justice emanates from the people. False! Justice emanates only from God. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Therefore, it is impossible to do justice outside God and His Word. People may easily accuse or judge a matter, not so with justice! While judgment is mainly based on the use of the senses justice is spiritually discerned. Judgment mainly emanates from the seeing of the eyes and hearing of the ears. Justice on the other hand flows from righteousness judgment and equity. Justice is always surrounded by mercy, peace, righteousness and truth. For instance, through truth, justice dispenses freedom. Thus there is no freedom outside justice. Joseph, Daniel, Prophet Hosea and Virgin Mary once found themselves in complicated matters. Joseph was wrongly accused of rape and thrown into prison; Daniel was innocently cast into a lion’s den for praying to God; Prophet Hosea was commanded by God to marry a prostitute and he obeyed; and Virgin Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps, they were criticized, condemned, damned, and wrongly judged by many people. By human judgment, they were guilty but before God they were blameless. Their generations inflicted injustice against them but God decreed justice in their favour. People scorned and rejected them but God glorified them.
Jesus Christ, God’s incarnate, was even judged and punished more severely. People questioned his birth and ministry. His power and authority were attributed to devilish powers. Jesus was also opposed and rejected by his own Jewish brethren because of wrong judgment. God never forbids us from accusing, criticizing, or judging people. He however forbids us from doing so falsely or wrongly. We accuse falsely or judge wrongly when we ignore God and His word and rely on our senses and physical facts to do so. How will you judge Afia Noway?
Richard Obeng Mensah, author of Persecutions are Promotions. borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com.
