Does God Love The Oppressor?
And What Catholic Social Teaching Can Teach Us
“But what about the perpetrator? They need help too!”
This is often a question I get at the end of sermons or talks when I talk about justice for people in oppression.
“But you didn’t mention the oppressor. Doesn’t God love them too?”
The evangelical / exvangelical empathy for the oppressor (sometimes even over the well being of the oppressed) has always fascinated me. I would say that this is a Western Christian phenomena but it isn’t - because I’ve also heard this from Global South Christians (in the Global South).
And again, I would say that this is a conservative evangelical phenomenon but it isn’t - because I’ve also head this from progressive evangelicals / exvangelicals when I speak at their churches and conferences.
The Global South evangelical theology I was raised with and the Western evangelical theology I was trained in would answer the original question by saying, “Yes, God loves the oppressed and the oppressor.”
Nevertheless, while this theological response is no doubt true, it also somehow feels inadequate. If God loves the oppressed and the oppressor, then why should Christians bother to seek justice for people in oppression?1
Progressive theology in the Western Church is huge on restorative justice - justice that is restorative to both the oppressed and the oppressor. This is also a beautiful vision for justice.
But if I’m being honest as a Jesus-loving advocate for justice whose theology has been shaped by experiencing Jesus among marginalized peoples, this response also feels a bit inadequate. Because it doesn’t really feel like good news for people in oppression.
It is possible for one to leave evangelicalism and still hold to the limiting frameworks of evangelical theology. This is where I think looking beyond evangelical theology can be immensely helpful to Christians who care about justice (and to our marginalized neighbours).
Side note (brought to you by my ADHD brain): I know many well-meaning Christians who will only love their neighbour as much as their evangelical theology allows them to. But the Christian call to love our neighbour must be shaped by the leading of the barrier-breaking Holy Spirit (who is alive & active) and the example of Jesus (who came to set the oppressed free as he proclaimed in Luke 4:18).
But back to the topic at hand.
I think we can learn a lot from Catholic Social Teaching (and more originally, Latin American liberation theology) when it comes to unpacking God’s postures towards the oppressed and the oppressors.
Latin American liberation theologians like the recently departed Father Gustavo Gutierrez argued that God always has a preferential option towards people in poverty and oppression.
Now, does this mean that God hates the rich and powerful oppressor? Of course not - God loves them too. Because God is love and God loves everyone.
But while God loves the rich and powerful oppressors, he goes out of his way to stand with people in poverty and oppression (as we see in the first Advent of Jesus) - because they have no one else to stand by their side. And if the oppressed and oppressor ever switch sides, God also switches sides to stand with the newly oppressed people.
To advocates of racial justice, these thoughts might even be reminiscent of the “Black Lives Matter versus All Lives Matter” debate a few years ago. If we apply Catholic Social Teaching / Liberation Theology to this debate, we would say: “Yes, of course all lives matter. But we must first acknowledge that Black Lives Matter. Because unless we first acknowledge that Black Lives Matter, we will never believe and embody that All Lives Matter.”
Through my work in the global anti-trafficking space over the past decade, I have come across stories of dozens of survivors who forgave their perpetrators after these perpetrators received their accountability in the form of criminal convictions in court. In every single case - it was the survivors choosing to forgive their oppressors of their own volition.
What I want my progressive siblings in Christ to understand is this: Restorative justice absolutely has its place - but restorative justice should always be the prerogative of our neighbours on the margins (who in my experience, embody the grace of Jesus in really unique ways that we can all learn from - if we trust and empower them to).
Our prerogative as the Church (the literal hands and feet of Christ until his return in the second Advent) on the other hand, is to stand with all people in poverty and oppression.
Because if God has a preferential option for prioritizing people in poverty and oppression (while also loving their oppressors and desiring their ultimate restoration), then so must we.
And because good news for people in poverty and oppression is also (temporarily) bad news for their (unrepentant) oppressors.
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Apart from, you know, Scripture repeatedly and consistently commanding God’s covenant community to prioritize justice and equity for our marginalized neighbours.
This whole idea of God loving the oppressor came to a head in my family at the beginning of 2023 when my abusive ex suddenly passed away. Some of my kids wrestled with the question of “is he in heaven?” Because if he was in heaven, then they didn’t want to go there when it was their turn. And if he just got a free pass into heaven after the way he treated us here on earth, they wanted nothing to do with a God who didn’t care. I gave them space for their questions. I didn’t give them the pat answers I was given growing up in a Christian home. The pastor at the memorial service also honoured my kids by not giving the typical sermon, but acknowledged the complexity in our situation. At the end of the memorial service, I shared that hearing phrases like “he was such a good guy or a wonderful man” shouldn’t be shared with my kids at this time. They needed to not have their experience of him minimized, they needed space to grieve in their own way. We purposefully kept the memorial to a small crowd of invited guests. We told others to find a way to express their grief in a different manner, because protecting my kids was more important to me.
I needed to hear the perspective you shared today, Joash. That yes, God loves the oppressor, but he stands with the oppressed. Thank you for sharing this article with us. (By the way, one of my sons shares your name!)
Period! This is good brother. I worked in the human trafficking field for 7 years and witnessing the forgiveness of survivors towards their oppressors completely changed my life. It healed parts of me and deepened my theology of justice and God’s love.