IVP Readers' Choice Award

Stop outsourcing justice!

Many local churches don't know what to do about justice. We tend to compartmentalize it as merely a strategy for outreach, and we often outsource itto parachurch justice ministries. While these organizations do good work, individual congregations are left disconnected from God's just purposes in the world.

Adam Gustine calls the local church to be just and do justice. He provides a theological vision for our identity as a just people, where God's character and the pursuit of shalom infuses every aspect of our congregational DNA. As we grow in becoming just, the church becomes a prophetic alternative to the broken systems of the worldand a parable of God's intentions for human flourishing and societal transformation. This renewed vision for the church leads us into cultivating a just life together—in community, discipleship, worship, and more—extending justice out into the worldin concrete ways.

Let's hold being and doing together, so we can become just, compassionate communities that restore shalom and bring hope to the world.



Adam L. Gustine leads CovEnterprises, a social enterprise initiative of Love Mercy Do Justice, for the Evangelical Covenant Church. He is also the founder of an enterprise incubator in South Bend, Indiana, dedicated to extending opportunity, restoration, and ownership to the margins. He has pastored multiple churches in a wide variety of contexts and has a doctor of ministry degree from Missio Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Ann, are raising three kids to seek the shalom of their city South Bend.



Dennis R. Edwards (PhD, Catholic University of America) is associate professor of New Testament as well as vice president for church relations and dean of North Park Seminary, Chicago. He has worked in urban ministry for over three decades, including serving as a church planter in Brooklyn and Washington, DC. His books include Might from the Margins and the Story of God Bible Commentary on 1 Peter.



Foreword by Dennis Edwards



Introduction

Part 1: An Ecclesiology for Justice



1. Justice Isn't an Outreach Strategy: A Way of Life for the People of God



2. Exiles in the Promised Land: The Church as Prophetic Alternative



3. Demonstrating Mañana: The Church as a Parable of God's Intent



4. Gardeners of Shalom: The Church for Flourishing and Transformation

Part 2: Justice in Our Congregational Life



5. Low-Ground Church: Discerning Vision in a High-Ground World



6. Recovering Kinship: Hospitality as Resistance



7. Finding Common Kingdom Ground: Discipling People into Shalom Community



8. Worship: Questions that Drive How We Gather

Part 3: What'sNext?



9. Power: A Conversation About the Linchpin of Justice with Juliet Liu and Brandon Green



Epilogue: Commence Justice



Acknowledgments



Notes



"Adam Gustine writes with the heart of a pastor and the imagination of a prophet. Immersed in sincerity from Gustine's ministry journey, this is a lived story of repentance, a testament of how personal—even ecclesial—privilege can cede to God's transformative love. Becoming a Just Church provides a biblical approach for churches to seek shalom in their contexts, living as God's demonstration for the world to witness with wonder. Like a hearty Sunday benediction, every chapter shouldinspire many to live into God's dream of tomorrow for our world right now."



"There is a generation of white evangelical Christians who are discovering God's beautiful and risky call to seek justice in this world. Unfortunately, many of these younger women and men were discipled in churches where justice was viewed as being either tangential to the gospel or a threat to it. The result is that as they grow close to God's heart for justice, these young Christians often move away from church. Becoming a Just Church demonstrates how unnecessary the gap between justice and church is. Rather than being an impediment to justice, Adam contends that our congregations are meant to provide the spiritual formation that matures us into people who don't simply do justice but who are just. He has written a book that is wise and practical. If we let these pages shape our imaginations, it's possible that generations of Christians will mature within just congregations. And what a hopeful future that would be!"



"Becoming a Just Church is not just another book about justice. It's like reading a memoir, a prophetic challenge, and a practical guide all in one. Adam Gustine writes neither from the high vantage point of the ivory tower of academia nor from a chip-on-the-shoulder condescending edge as if to display his superiority. Instead, he writes clearly with a posture of vulnerability and humble confidence rooted in praxis. Adam doesn't merely write about the importance of embodying justicewithin a local church; he lives it. This book will be helpful for any church or leader who isn't merely interested in doing justice because it's trendy, but instead who is committed to embodying the way of justice for the sake of God and his shalom.



"Becoming a Just Church offers us a beautiful and deeply biblical vision of the church as the primary conduit of God's shalom (justice, wholeness, and harmony) invading our broken world. As Adam Gustine humbly shares his own often-faltering journey in discovering the centrality of God's justice for the gospel, he insightfully exposes the various reasons why white American evangelicals in particular tend to overlook this biblical vision, misunderstand God's justice, and frequently endup inadvertently contributing to the very injustice we are supposed to be confronting. Becoming a Just Church is a well-written, eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, prophetic and pastoral work that has the potential to fundamentally transform the way readers—and especially white evangelical readers—think about church and engage with issues of justice. If you've ever sensed that the church should be a greater force for transforming society, read this book!"



"Particularly for white evangelical Christians like me, 'justice' can easily become a fad, a program, or a means to another end. But as Adam Gustine argues in Becoming a Just Church, justice is a biblical idea that God intends for the whole church to embody as a community. With careful biblical analysis, practical examples, and a healthy dose of self-awareness, Gustine provides a road map for churches wanting to live out the biblical command to do justly."



"Becoming a Just Church appropriately centers our call to do justice as actual congregations. With pastoral experience and care, Adam Gustine reminds us of our vocation as a prophetic and exilic people seeking shalom. This theologically astute resource is a must-read for evangelical churches, though most American congregations would do well to discuss and discern the significance of this book together."



"I love it when pastors write about justice. Why? Because they keep it on the ground where real people live and struggle. With a genuine pastor's heart and years of experience, Adam Gustine combines a compelling theological vision of God's shalom and a practical way forward for churches to understand and live out that vision in their neighborhoods and beyond. He pulls this off with humility, grace, and grit. That is, far from coming off like he has it all figured out, Gustine offers insightswrought not just from triumphs but also from mistakes. He knows better than most that justice work is a journey. I for one am glad that Gustine is there to walk alongside us."



"Adam Gustine is not only a thoughtful author, pastor, friend, and die-hard Notre Dame fan, he is a man committed to leading his church, and churches like yours, into a lifestyle of justice. Drawing on a sound theology, Gustine gently guides us into principled application. For those who want to follow Jesus on the narrow and hard road of church and city—shalom, this book is for you!"



"Adam Gustine has done the church in the United States a great service. Becoming a Just Church is one of those rare books possessing the potential to change the way we think about and do Christian ministry. . . . Becoming a Just Church provides both a theological framework as well as practical guidance on how followers of Jesus can live out the Great Commandment."



"Adam approaches the topic of biblical justice from a position of humility and with the heart of a pastor. For any church looking to embrace God's heart for justice more deeply, you will find Becoming a Just Church to be a valuable theological and practical resource."