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OFF THE SHELF

THE JUSTICE PROJECT

Edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla,

and Ashley Bunting Seeber Baker Books

Reviewed by Erika Bai Siebels

For those of us who consider ourselves informed veterans of justice — and for those of us who are well-read and well-intentioned but make good excuses about why we don’t take the time to do jus-tice — The Justice Project provides a wealth of stories to challenge our assumptions. Essay after essay reveals what God has to say about justice, God’s heart for justice, where the church in North America has gone wrong in violating justice (our relationship with land, Native peoples, and energy is just a start), and how we can take steps toward finding a true sense of justice.

Have you ever considered what and whom you’re supporting when you buy a certain product? Do you vote on a single issue when it comes time for elec-tion, and is that issue campaign finance

reform? Why not? Have you ever stopped to think about the context for God’s oft-quoted words from Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”? Do you think nonprofits are the only agencies that can do justice, or can busi-nesses do justice, too? Do you know where your food comes from? Your energy? Why should these things matter? These are just a few of the questions that will get you musing once you start the book.

You might also find yourself think-ing about eye-jabbing quotes like this one, from Archbishop Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in a situation of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Rather than outlining and whining about all the injustices we face (both historically and currently), the book encourages us with stories of Christ-followers who are doing something to combat deforestation, apathy, and a sleep-ing church that needs to be awakened to care about the poor and the “least of these” — because God does and because we must.

How can we get there? The authors offer glimpses into their own struggles to better discern and do justice. Some common themes emerge. Listen — even when you don’t want to, even when you’d rather get up and walk away, especially when you think you’ll be offended. Invite others to the table to tell their stories and hear them out, recognizing the other as a fellow sojourn-er created in the image of God, not as an enemy. Repent. Be humble. Lead by serving. Love, like Christ did, even unto death. n

Erika Bai Siebels is trying to figure out how to do justice in her neighborhood in Troy, N.Y. and has written about restorative justice for PRISM.

JESUS & JUSTICE

By Peter G. Heltzel Yale University Press

Reviewed by Mae Elise Cannon

Written with rhythm and style, Jesus & Justice: Evangelicals, Race, and American Politics offers a sharp critical analysis of the progression of evangelicalism and its expression in the public square. Heltzel addresses the historical significance of two primary streams of evangelicalism at the intersection of theology and poli-tics while uprooting America’s “origi-nal sin” — racism. He highlights the teaching and praxis of two prominent Christian leaders, Carl F. H. Henry and Martin Luther King, Jr., acknowledging their contributions toward public dia-logue and modern-day perceptions of the intersection between faith and jus-tice as well as their continued influence through subsequent evangelical move-ments.

King is traditionally viewed from the framework of black Protestant lib-eralism, but Heltzel suggests that this unnecessarily limits King and neglects to acknowledge the parallels of King’s theology to evangelicalism. Heltzel expands the scope of the evangelical tradition by redefining its genealogy to be more inclusive of other prophetic black Christian voices, such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Fanny Lou Hamer, and others.

He argues that these voices emerge from the underbelly of the evangelical community while inspiring transforma-tion through their prophetic witness, call to justice, and peaceful advocacy for social reform. King manifested these attributes and placed emphasis on both personal and systematic transformation in pursuit of his beloved community. Heltzel asserts that out of the suffering of enslaved African Americans hope emerged in the theological truth of Jesus

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and his teachings. King, an example of this heritage of black suffering, rested on the truth that “Jesus Christ was the stone of hope, a refuge in the storm, and an inspiring example of the non-violent struggle for justice.”

From King’s legacy a stream of evan-gelical movements arose that were committed to both personal transfor-mation and social reform. Jesus & Justice tells the story of two such movements: the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and Sojourners/Call to Renewal. John Perkins, cofound-er of CCDA, is one of the pioneer leaders of “prophetic evangelicalism.” Similarly, Jim Wallis, a white social activist, has been compelled by his faith to put justice into action through advo-cacy and political engagement. Both Perkins and Wallis exemplify the pro-phetic evangelicalism that emerged out of King’s legacy, placing emphasis on Christ as the one who suffers with and is the perfect embodiment of both love and justice.

Carl F. H. Henry was also a pioneer of the Christian faith and was consid-ered by many to be the “theological

architect of evangelicalism.” If King’s influence was from the underbelly of the evangelical movement, Henry’s was at its very core. As both a theology pro-fessor at Fuller Seminary and the editor of Christianity Today, Henry carried great influence as a public theologian, leading the way for a conservative stream of evangelicalism. His legacy contributed to the emergence of several Christian movements, including Focus on the Family and the National Association of Evangelicals. While Henry’s emphasis was on the kingdom of God and per-sonal righteousness, he expressed an uneasy conscience about racism and injustice. Although not actively involved in the civil rights movement, Henry used his voice to call for increased evangelical involvement in social action through public policy and other meth-ods of reform. His theology acknowl-edged God’s heart for justice and for racial equality, but his own personal life did not manifest significant social action. He failed to acknowledge insti-tutional racism and did little to rectify the horrors of racial inequality and injustice. Heltzel offers a strong and well-substantiated critique of Henry and his influence upon white evan-gelicalism and its failure to develop “theological vision, social analysis, and collective motivation” in response to the problem of racism.

Despite Henry’s and other white evangelical’s negligence, Heltzel leaves the reader with great hope that a new stream of evangelicalism is emerging. Jesus & Justice is convincing in its argu-ment that evangelicalism must be viewed in its historical context of white oppres-sion and black suffering. Heltzel says, “Evangelicalism is singing and listen-ing to the blues; it is evolving and growing green.” The blues represent the horrors and tragedy of black suffer-ing, and the green shows the growing holism of evangelicalism inclusive of the ideas of peace and justice. With the inte-

gration of these two streams, we are reminded that “Evangelicalism is mov-ing, and moving quickly, to embody justice around the world.” n

Mae Elise Cannon is executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church in Walnut Creek, Calif., and the author of The Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World (IVP, 2009).

TRaIlS Of HOPE and TERROR

By Miguel A. De La Torre Orbis Books

Reviewed by Glen Peterson

Social ethics professor Miguel de la Torre takes immigration reform to the desert, transforming it from dry policy debate to complex and compelling stories about real people. Along with fellow professors and students from Denver’s Iliff School of Theology, De La Torre walks the Sonoran desert to meet migrants and learn why they immigrate, then trans-

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lates and tells their stories with passion. The testimonies found in Trails of

Hope are deeply personal. We meet folks who undertake long journeys to cross international borders at great risk of injury and even death — people whose children need to be fed, whose liveli-hoods are destroyed by global econom-ic forces beyond their control, whose hometowns are void of opportunities for economic improvement. This book is not designed as a case for one side of an argument; nor is it an intellectual exercise from the ivory tower of academia. It is a call to action, a call for justice and compassion.

The book also includes testimonies of those who provide water and first aid to migrants in near-death situations — aid that comes too late for some. It shares stories about human smugglers, vigilantes trying to enforce their own interpretation of the laws, border patrol agents barely trained for the difficulties of their jobs, ranchers and property owners from both sides of the border, church workers, theologians, students, and the family members of immigrants. While the book raises many questions and offers few answers, one thing is made clear from this cloud of witnesses: A humanitarian crisis is being played out daily along the US/Mexico border.

Trails of Hope and Terror is organized along such topics as borders, economics, myths, families, the politics of fear, vary-ing perspectives, and ethical responses. A poem, prayer, or song accompanies each chapter.

De La Torre seeks corresponding themes in the biblical testimony of migrating people, such as the narratives of Abraham and Lot, in which arro-gance, overabundance, and unconcern for the poor and the sojourner incurred God’s wrath. The history of the Hebrew people’s liberation — migrant people who were mistreated as slaves in Egypt — is a constant reminder of God’s concern for those considered foreigners. The

story of Joseph and Mary, who fled to protect their firstborn from the mur-derous hand of an insecure tyrant king, demonstrates God’s empathy for and identification with immigrants.

“In the act of God becoming human,” writes De La Torre, “God redraws the borders between people, making strangers into neighbors and aliens into members of a common family.” n

Glen Peterson is a writer, catalyst, and activ-ist living in Southern California where he volunteers for Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and is a consultant with capacitypartnership.com. He writes about immi-gration reform at LeviticusTwentyFour22.blogspot.com.

WHEn HElPInG HURTS

By Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert Moody Publishers

Reviewed by Rodolpho Carrasco

“Have you ever done anything to hurt poor people?” asks Dr. John Perkins in the foreword to the timely book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself. Evangelical America is awash in books calling for greater engagement in min-istry to the poor via direct help and social justice advocacy. Much of the material in these books is introductory, focusing on the theological case for holistic gospel engagement and then providing starting points for ministry. But not many approach the topic with a narrative thread that constantly returns to the core premise that not all help is helpful.

How can help not help? Here’s how: In the introduction, co-author Brian Fikkert tells of “helping” a suffering woman in Kampala, Uganda, by ponying up $8 so she could purchase penicillin. The penicillin was needed — long story

short — to fight an infection she had developed after asking her neighbor (who complied) to treat her tonsillitis by cutting out her tonsils with a kitch-en knife.

Fikkert felt great about it at the time, but the realization eventually dawned on him that his help had under-mined the local believers with whom the woman related. The purpose of this book is to explain how his help (and similar efforts) didn’t — in the long run — help. But I’ll give you a little spoiler here. Fikkert writes that he “failed to consider the local assets that already existed in this slum, assets that included small amounts of money, a church, a pastor, and the social bonds of the 100 refugees attending the small-business class” that he had journeyed to Uganda to teach over a two-week period. “The truth is that there was more than enough time to walk back to the church... and ask people there to help. While the refugees were extremely poor, they could have mustered the eight cents per per-son to pay for the penicillin,” thus deepening a bond of relationship among people who would continue to live

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together long after he left the scene.Applying long-term solutions in

times of short-term crisis — that’s the challenge for believers who desire to be used effectively by God. From this start-ing point, Fikkert and co-author Steve Corbett provide background, theology, and practical experience that will help churches, small groups, and individuals to grasp concepts that appear basic but are difficult to implement in practice.

Their definition of poverty as bro-ken relationships in four spheres (with God, self, others, and creation) will help readers assess the effectiveness of their own ministries and outreach efforts. Asset-based development, do’s and don’ts of short-term missions, and overviews of current practices in wealth genera-tion and poverty alleviation are right on target.

The practical experience of the authors is bedrock to this approach. I’ve been in the poverty-fighting trenches for decades. Some things you under-stand only as you do them. This book will not replace experience. But inas-much as concepts for effective poverty alleviation can be taught didactically, When Helping Hurts does the trick. In the words of Dr. Amy Sherman, “While accessible to beginners, [this book] is rich with insights for veterans, too.” I concur. n

Rodolpho Carrasco is a contributing editor to PRISM, an associate director at Partners Worldwide in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a board member of TechMission. He served for 19 years at Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif., an urban min-istry providing programs for African American and Latino young people.

a STORy Of RHyTHm and GRaCE

By Jimi Calhoun Brazos

Reviewed by J.D. Buhl

If you own Dr. John’s breakthrough album, Gumbo, then you know Jimi Calhoun. That the former bassist does not mention this 1972 classic until page 73 illustrates why the tempo lags in his well-intentioned book. He wants his past to serve only as support for his present as a pastor, church planter, and missionary in the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and for what he has to tell the evangelical community today. While written in an easygoing, first-person style, this is not a memoir. Every drop of a name, every memory of a gig must be justified. “They are intended to be much more than just tidbits of inside information” about his early years, he states, but such control over his material locks up the funk he was known for. Consequently, Rhythm and Grace: What the Church Can Learn

from Rock & Roll about Healing the Racial Divide lacks a groove.

His concern is “race casting,” that unconscious maintenance of comfort and culture that, while not overt dis-crimination, makes for our modern obsession with “interpreting all human interaction through skin-colored lens-es.” Such a topic is most effectively communicated by personal anecdotes and examples; here Calhoun is on the beat. “When I was a kid,” he muses, “I used to wonder what white Christians thought was going to happen once they went to heaven.” His guess — that they imagined a paradise divided into “des-ignated areas for each different race to congregate” — says much about the skin-colored shades the church continues to wear. “Race casting has caused whites to not see blacks for who they are, and blacks to not see who they can become,” he warns. This leads to his second topic, racialization, that which “predetermines which areas each race comes to accept as ‘theirs.’”

Calhoun is not certain that race, as it is usually thought of, even exists. From the many personal stories he shares he constructs a parallel world where concepts of difference fail to dominate. In rock music, those engaged have something else they are immediately concerned with. The moment brings its own priorities, and things like skin color or physical appearance are just not as important as the business at hand. Calhoun wishes that Christians were so engrossed in furthering the kingdom of God that creaturely diversity would cease to be such a distraction. The anti-dote to racialization is not increased attention to race matters, but “becom-ing free of the word ‘race’ as a noun and an adjective.” n

J.D. Buhl is a regular contributor to PRISM’s music column. See his review of Diane Birch on the next page.

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