it ain't a sin to be on the street

I want to lay out my central question when it comes to justice. Tonight at salvation Army, Kenneth said to me, before launching into a long plan for making the church do the church's work, "It ain't a sin to be on the street. The problem is what you are doing while you are on the streets."

so here's my question: social justice seems to be pushing a very particular vision of what a socially just society would look like and no matter which way i turn, this vision seems to be almost entirely filled with liberal-democratic notions of "the good life" that comes through the pursuit of happiness. I want to see a society that promotes righteousness first and the end of poverty, hunger, the welfare of the city (Jer. 29), and the education of kids comes out of that.

We seek to end poverty so that the poor can seek Christian poverty.
We seek to end hunger so that the hungry can fast.
We seek to educate so that the illiterate can read and seek God in the lives of the saints and in the Scriptures.
We seek to bring an end to the structures of death as an outgrowth of choosing life (Deut. 30).

my point is that we do not become active citizens but that we move people to a standard that allows them to be good (e.g. they do not have to steal to eat) and then do not pressure them to become more wealthy but rather we teach the value of poverty and simplicity. To expect wealth is to lose their personhood while they are poor. Let us recognize that the poor and the wealthy and everyone in between is a gift of God--a precious gift worth celebrating and valuing. Our work should not be neutral to our love of these people but rather, it should flow out of a love for people. If we lose the love, we should take a sabbatical from our organizing and our justice work to fall in love with the people again.

I want justice--justice rooted in righteousness, holiness, sanctification, and love.