What is Justice?

If at its root, poverty is relational and about more than just our material circumstances, then justice must also be about more than food or money or other material things.

In his book, Walking with the Poor,¹Myers, B. L. (1999). Walking with the poor: Principles and practices of transformational development. Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books. Byrant Myers talks about four foundational relationships that all humans are part of: relationship with themselves, each other, God, and creation. When all of these relationships are right and whole, everyone and everything flourishes. This is the way things were intended to be. But in a hurting world, we recognize that all of these relationships are broken, and this brokenness is evident in the poverty and injustice we see all around us.

Yet, as Christians, we believe that God is in the process of restoring ALL THINGS. ²Colossians 1: 15-20, NIVAnd, as God is in the process of reconciling the whole world to Himself, we are called to be ambassadors of that reconciliation, ³2 Corinthians 5: 16-21. NIVworking to put broken things back together; caring for the vulnerable, and the creating and maintaining right relationships across all of creation. For it is in this work for right and just relationships that we reflect the character of God and what He is doing in the world.