Generous Justice
The foundation of our vision + the means of our mission
River House Global is a non-profit organization predicated upon the reality of our justification. Our story, collectively and as individuals, is this: we have been unrecognizably transformed by the lavish grace of God bestowed upon us in our weakness, our poverty, our pride, our rebellion – a grace full of such power and unstoppable love as to bring us from death to life.
This justification is more than forgiveness, which assures us our sins - past, present, and future - have been placed on Jesus, but it is also a scandalous free gift: His righteousness has been placed on us. We have been granted not only a pardon, which would have been enough, but also an inheritance – exceedingly more than we could’ve asked or imagined.
Ephesians 2 puts it this way:
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (v. 1-9).
In other words, though we had nothing, God gave us everything.
In other words, though we had nothing, God gave us everything.
This sobering truth leads us to live our lives committed to justice – an intense concern for the most vulnerable among us – the ones who are well aware of their own poverty – literally and figuratively (Matt 5:3). In fact, this posture is the sign – not the basis – of our justification (James 2:14-26).
Timothy Keller calls this posture “generous justice”. He says, “we are saved by faith alone but not by a faith that stays alone”. In other words, if the reality of our justification has really taken root in our hearts, there will be evidence – and the evidence will be an intense concern for what he calls the “quartet of the vulnerable”: the orphan, the widow, the immigrant, and the poor. It’s these whom God gives His unceasing attention, these whom He highly esteems and regards, these whom He has chosen to give the entirety of His kingdom (Matt 5:3).
If we are, as we confess, in right relationship with God, maintaining an understanding that our justification has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God, we will move toward the least of these, as He does, with the message and reality of the gospel. Failure to do so reveals a disconnect between ourselves and God, who is ever concerned with the plight of the vulnerable (James 1:27; Isaiah 58:6-12; Acts 2:44-45).
Contrary to the kingdom of God, however, we live in a culture that prizes independence and esteems the self-made man – which is to say, we live in a culture that despises the needy in our midst.
Contrary to the kingdom of God, however, we live in a culture that prizes independence and esteems the self-made man – which is to say, we live in a culture that despises the needy in our midst.
We are quick to judge whether or not someone is deserving of our time, energy, or resources – whether they’ve put in adequate effort to help themselves and whether they can be trusted to be responsible with our generosity.
We fail to remember this is not how Jesus dealt with us.
Indeed, this attitude defiles the grace we’ve been so freely given. Like the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, it exposes that we have forgotten the reality of our justification: that we were “once dead in our transgressions and sins” – completely incapable of helping ourselves, undeserving of salvation if earning it were at all possible – but God. Because of His mercy, His grace, His compassion, we were brought from death to life and bestowed with identity, authority, dignity, and every spiritual blessing.
We had nothing; we were given everything.
For this reason, at River House Global, we withhold no part of ourselves from God – least of all our time, energy, and resources. Our commitment to union with Christ means we are intimately aware of the passion of His heart, and thus immovably oriented toward the “quartet of the vulnerable” – those for whom His heart burns. As we behold Jesus spending His mercy freely on the orphan, the widow, the immigrant, and the poor, we go and do likewise (Luke 10:29-37).
Our philosophy behind every financial partnership we form is this: we have been blessed in order to be a blessing. Until all are free and all know Him.