Wait, huh?

Ok, so by the number of questions that both Jonathan and I have received over the past few days it is obvious that a lot of you guys out there are a bit confused as to what this whole living justly thing is all about. Well, its a bit hard to sum it up in a short pithy blog post, so if this subject is completely foreign to you I will post a list of books by real, live theologians and pastors that can help you on your way to a nirvana understanding social justice. In the mean time, let us go with this very general working definition of living justly:

"making long-term personal sacrifices in order to serve the interests of the most vulnerable, marginalized, and poor members of society."

In the Bible, the most most vulnerable groups of society that come up over and over again are what some refer to as the "quartet of the vulnerable" and they are the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the poor. In modern times we can expand this to look like many single mothers and elderly, the migrant worker, the refugee, the slave, the homeless.

Right now you might be thinking that I have JUSTICE mixed up with MERCY or CHARITY. But I assure you, I don't. For one, charity implies something that is optional - otherwise it would not be charitable, it would be... a tax? A forced gift is no gift at all. Justice is something that is owed someone. God exhorts us in the Bible to protect these groups - and so therefore that is what they are due. Justice is giving someone what they are due whether it is positive- protection, or negative- punishment.

ONE trickle down application of this, therefore, is your buying power. Think of it as voting with your dollar. So that's what we'll be doing - voting with our dollar. Supporting those companies and places that treat their workers in a just manner.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more to just living than that. We'll explore more in the days to come.

This might be crazy but...

So this might be the craziest* idea I've ever had, but welcome to it! As impulsive and reactionary as I can sometimes be, I've actually been mulling this idea over in my head for a week or so now and I can't seem to shake it. Rather the opposite has been happening. I find not only my conviction for this project getting stronger, but more ideas splintering off from my first as my enthusiasm and excitement grows. I have gone from "is this even possible?" to "I can not wait to get started!"
The goal is this: to take all of my book knowledge and do what the bible really tells us to do, that is, to ACT justly. See, I've read a lot of books on justice - A LOT. Maybe you have too. I know a lot about a lot of what is going on in the "world" of social justice. Adoption. Orphan Care. Poverty. Brothel Rescues. Sweat Shops. Name a human rights issue and I could talk to you pretty knowledgeably about it, and more than likely I would know someone in that particular area of work. But knowledge, as we know, tends to puff up, and what I want to do more than anything is serve where needed.
What does ACTING JUSTLY look like? Where will our food, clothing, and energy needs come from? What will our giving look like? Who will I talk to to really find out what is going on on the ground level in some of places where the worst injustices on earth are taking place? You will have to stay tuned to find out. We have some ideas already, and some outlining still to do in the weeks ahead to get prepared for what is ahead of us. I am sure we will make mistakes. I am sure that at some point I will have to make an emergency stop at a store that won't fit my profile, for that is the nature of being a mom to three kids. But I also know the balance of justice is mercy, and for that I am thankful.

I welcome healthy conversation and debate in the comments section.

*For those of you that remember my idea to put a GPS tracking device and bug in my adoption dossier, you know I have had some crazy ideas in the past...