Used to stimulate discussion about doing charity and doing justice in relation to homeless individuals.

1. The Challenge of
Homelessness:
Charity vs Justice
February 7, 9:45-10:45 a.m.
Davis Community Church, Fellowship Hall
Robb Davis

2. Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of today’s class is to examine what it means to approach
the challenge of homelessness from the perspective of charity versus
approaching it from the perspective of justice. Rather than articulate the
idea that charity is “not good” whereas justice is good we will seek to
examine what doing justice implies and develop a more nuanced way of
thinking about or work.
Objectives: By the end of the class you will have...
1. Articulated differences between charity and justice as they apply
to homelessness in Davis.
2. Considered ways that Jesus engaged in acts of “justice” and what
was key for him to be able to do so (symbolic acts and telling
stories).
3. Used an enhanced model of charity/justice and “relationship-
focused”/distribution-focused” approaches to homelessness to
categorize where existing ministries of the church are and where
they might go in the future.

3. Task:
Leaving aside the idea of “versus” for the time being,
turn to someone next to you and brainstorm some
words that come to your mind when year hear
“charity” or “justice”.
I would invite you, for now, not to put them in the
context of work with homeless people but just think of
some words that generally come to mind when you
hear “charity” or “justice”.
I will give you just a minute or two and then we will
hear your ideas.

4. Standard Definitions

5. Standard Definitions
The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité"
which was derived from the Latin "caritas". Originally in Latin the word caritas meant
preciousness, dearness, high price...
...(T)he act of giving money, goods or time to the unfortunate,
..(T)he most obvious expression of the virtue of charity is giving the objects of it the means
they need to survive. (Wikipedia)

6. Standard Definitions
The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité"
which was derived from the Latin "caritas". Originally in Latin the word caritas meant
preciousness, dearness, high price...
...(T)he act of giving money, goods or time to the unfortunate,
..(T)he most obvious expression of the virtue of charity is giving the objects of it the means
they need to survive. (Wikipedia)
Catholic social teaching distinguishes three dimensions of basic justice: commutative
justice, distributive justice, and social justice
• Commutative justice calls for fundamental fairness in all agreements and exchanges
between individuals or private social groups
• Distributive justice requires that the allocation of income, wealth, and power in
society be evaluated in light of its effects on persons whose basic material needs are
unmet.
• Social justice implies that persons have an obligation to be active and productive
participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to
participate in this way.

7. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
The link between justice and power:
“…what does it mean to say that ours is a God of
justice? ...Fundamentally, justice has to do with the
exercise of power. To say that God is a God of
justice is to say that (God) is a God who cares
about the right exercise of power or authority…
When power is exercised in a way that violates
those (right) standards we call it injustice.”
*Pages 71 and 72 in Good News about Injustice

8. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
Power and “Powers”

9. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
Jesus’ Challenge to the “Power
System” (doing justice as challenge)
Key: Engaging in Symbolic Acts and “Telling
Stories” (Providing an Alternate Narrative)

10. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
Jesus’ Challenge to the “Power
System” (doing justice as challenge)
Key: Engaging in Symbolic Acts and “Telling
Stories” (Providing an Alternate Narrative)
Oppressive
Structure or Symbolic Act New Narrative
System
Laws and Codes
• Healing on Sabbath • Humanity
• Writing in Sand • Forgiveness-not condemnation
Eating with sinners
Ritual (Purity) Restoration-not exclusion
(as a sinner)
Cleansing of the True faith not a “place” but a
Temple Religion
Temple Courts relationship

11. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
The Challenge as “Witness”
John Howard Yoder’s The Christian Witness to the State

12. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
The Challenge as “Witness”
John Howard Yoder’s The Christian Witness to the State
...the Christian accepts the powers that be and speaks to them in a corrective way.
...the Christian witness to the state will not by an imagined pattern of ideal society... An
ideal or even a “proper” society in a fallen world is by definition impossible. The
Christian speaks not of how to... seek to create the ideal society but of how the state
can best fulfill its responsibilities in a fallen society. The Christian witness will therefore
always express itself in terms of specific criticisms, addressed to given injustices in a
particular time and place, and specific suggestions for improvements to remedy the
identified abuse.

13. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
The Challenge as “Witness”
John Howard Yoder’s The Christian Witness to the State
...the Christian accepts the powers that be and speaks to them in a corrective way.
...the Christian witness to the state will not by an imagined pattern of ideal society... An
ideal or even a “proper” society in a fallen world is by definition impossible. The
Christian speaks not of how to... seek to create the ideal society but of how the state
can best fulfill its responsibilities in a fallen society. The Christian witness will therefore
always express itself in terms of specific criticisms, addressed to given injustices in a
particular time and place, and specific suggestions for improvements to remedy the
identified abuse.
• The witness to the state but be representative of the church’s clear conviction...
• The witness of the church must be consistent with her own behavior. Only if she
herself is demonstrably and ethically working on a given problem does the church
have a right to speak to others...
• There should be no sense of a responsibility to “cover the field” with a full gamut of
statements of every kind of subject that be of any moral significance.

14. Theological Reflection: “Doing Justice”
The Key...
Matthew 9
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching
in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind
of sickness.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them,
because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep
without a shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but
the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the
harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

15. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness

16. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness

17. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness
Charity

18. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness
Charity Justice

19. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness
Charity Justice

20. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness
Relationship-Focused
Charity Justice

21. A More Complete Model for
Thinking About Responding to the
Challenge of Homelessness
Relationship-Focused
Charity Justice
Service Distribution-Focused