“. . . doing missions means doing the work of the kingdom wherever you are sent. And the best place to think about where you have been sent is to see where you are. God is a being of great economy. He works before you even realize it and before you sign on, and he’s placed you where you are today for a reason. If you find yourself in the suburbs, welcome to your mission field.”

And with this phrase one dives into Will & Lisa Samson’s book “Justice in the Burbs”. This is a book that deal with more then just justice but brings to the table ideals for holistic living in a suburban context. This is Will & Lisa’s story. They talk a lot about there lives and also have other people chime in with their experiences as well (people such as Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones, Luci Shaw, and others). In the later chapters, the book gives some great practical ideas for holistic, missional living in the suburban lifestyle, however the book spends a good deal of time talking about urban or rural areas and the need for the ‘burbs to begin to better focus on the needs in these areas. I agree with this to a degree, however I feel there are needs that need to be met in the burbs as well and many of the same situations can also be taken seen outside of the rural or urban areas. I have done some hands on work both in urban settings and in suburban settings and can say that both have needs that need to be met by people who have a passion for serving others and the world around them. I feel Will & Lisa would agree with me on this and their book is here to be a voice for moving people to action and I would stand with them in that.

At the end of the book, Will & Lisa offer this:

“To hold onto this hope, however, we need a new view of the kind of future that is possible if we act out the call of God on our lives. This is what one theologian referred to as an ‘eschatology of hope,’ or a view of the future that involves the world of tomorrow living more justly because of your actions today.
And this is where we would like to end. Imagine what the world of your great-grandchildren could look like if you begin to live justly today. There is an old Arab proverb that states, ‘Old men plant trees.’ This is precisely the kind of hope we would wish for you – a hope rooted in the belief that another world is possible.”

This is a good read and one that can be read in a very diverse group and would have effect on many different types of people. The book deals with more of the idea for the need to be involved and active in the works of justice. As the sub-title of the book says, we need to be “the hands of Jesus wherever we live”.