Where does an ordinary person who wants to live like Jesus start? Some simple ways are discussed in Justice in the Burbs: Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever you Live, by Will and Lisa Samson. It’s an unusual book, interweaving a fictional story about a family who try to live “justly” with observations from the authors’ real-life efforts. The type of “justice” described in the book is a strange blend of serving the poor, living frugally, environmentalism and political correctness.
In the introduction, the authors indicate that the issues of justice addressed by the book apply to people who are not Christians, but their reasoning throughout the rest of the book relies exclusively on the teachings of Jesus, leaving the reader wondering whether the authors believe that all religions must teach the same things. The particular actions recommended in the book are: consume less fuel, food, electricity and water; look for ways of serving neighbourhood kids and lonely people, while reducing the time you spend at church, work, and in your children’s activities; become involved with organisations which serve the poor; buy used goods, buy less stuff, and recycle; and buy “fair trade” products.
The book tackles some important subjects, and Christians do need to spend more efforts engaging with the poor and disadvantaged, and caring for the environment. The book is reasonably well-written, even if I am not a big fan of the fiction-made-up-to-illustrate-a-point segments. However, I was left with the impression that the authors’ message was a collection of loosely-related small ideas, rather than a coherent vision for living justly in suburbia today.