John M. Perkins - Let Justice Roll Down

PUBLISHED BY REGAL BOOKS
FROM GOSPEL LIGHT
VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Regal Books is a ministry of Gospel Light, a Christian publisher dedicated to serving the local church. We believe Gods vision for Gospel Light is to provide church leaders with biblical, user-friendly materials that will help them evangelize, disciple and minister to children, youth and families.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Authorized King James Version.

Other versions used are

NASBScripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

RSVFrom the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission.

1976 by GL Publications.
All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging Card No. 74-30172
ISBN 978-0-8307-6374-0

Rights for publishing this book in other languages are contracted by Gospel Light Worldwide, the international nonprofit ministry of Gospel Light. Gospel Light Worldwide also provides publishing and technical assistance to international publishers dedicated to producing Sunday School and Vacation Bible School curricula and books in the languages of the world. For additional information, visit .

Dedicated to Vera Mae, my wife, and to Spencer (deceased), Joanie, Phillip, Derek, Deborah, Wayne, Priscilla and Betty, my children.

Let justice roll down like waters, And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5:24, RSV

FOREWORD

Past the Noise

Well, Regal Books said that it was between President Jimmy Carter and I as to who would write the foreword to Let Justice Roll Down. Youll have to settle for me. Im not sure what Jimmy had going on, but I would drop virtually anything in the worldshort of my own funeralfor John Perkins. Of course, Ive never been president yet, either.

Its sort of like writing a foreword for your father, even though John and I dont share much in common by way of DNA, skin tone or hair style. But Im not alone as his son. John Perkins is a spiritual father to thousands of people, from punk kids and culture-savvy pastors to urban gangsters and activist theologians. Just as Mother Teresa raised up a family of orphans and outcasts, Papa John has fathered a ragtag and dysfunctional spiritual family as diverse as the kingdom of God. As one who was raised without a father, I recognize the gift of John as a father in this dad-hungry worlda father who is paternal without being patronizing. He loves and believes in this generation and in becoming the Church we dream of that will bring the change we want in the world.

For others of us, John Perkins has been a prophetic figure, a voice in the wilderness, like Moses leading an exodus people to a promised land. For many of his peers, John has carried on the torch of the civil rights movement with great integrity, careful to never sever the personal conversion from the social conversion. He has led many over-churched souls to the streets where the gospel has come to life. And he has led many tired and thirsty fellow strugglers to an oasis of community where they have found living water. He has led folks who have written volumes of books and folks who have never read a word at all to the Word of life that transcends the pages of academia. And he has led us all with such humility that as we arrive at the secret promises of community, reconciliation and justice, we are able to say, we did it ourselves.

Now, dont be fooled. John Perkins is also Dr. Perkins, a legend so well respected that there are buildings and streets named after him. Although he dropped out of school, Dr. Perkins has more honorary degrees than I have T-shirts (in fact, Ive been meaning to get on him about that to see if he might practice a little redistribution with those degrees). Yet while hes got the Dr. thing down, he has the cleverness to know that God chooses the foolish things to confound the wise and the weak things to shame the strong. Thats the Dr. Perkins that can float seamlessly between the addicts and politicians, the palaces and ghettoes, the halls of academia and the streets of injustice.

Im amazed at what John gets away with. I guess thats one of the fruits that come with age: You can say what you want and not have to waste time sugarcoating the truth. You can hear in his voice the sassiness of the prophets but also the gentleness of a grandfather. This is part of his charm and the covert innocence that has allowed him to affect and infect so much of our society without getting killed (so far). Many times, with a glisten in his eyes and a smirk on his face, Ive heard him say things such as, Weve got the best politicians that money can buy. And I remember that same prophetic smile on his face as we went to jail togethernot in the civil rights protests decades past, but only a year ago when we were singing those old spirituals and praying the Lords prayer outside the Capitol to decry a national budget that turned the Beatitudes upside down as it blessed the rich and sent the poor away empty.

John cries out with the prophets, Let justice roll down, and yet he will surprise you with his grace. I remember hearing one fellow share how he told John about his racist mother and, after listening intently, John said, Does your mother like blueberries? Lets go visit her. And they did, fully armed with a bowl of berries. It is that sort of childlike love that our world is starving for. There is no doubt that we need justice to roll down like water; those words of the prophets drip from Perkinss tongue. And yet justice without grace still leaves us thirsty. Justice without reconciliation falls short of the gospel of Jesus. Love fills in the gaps of justice. John has lived for us what it looks like when justice and reconciliation kiss. After all, he did not just call for an end to the hate crimes of the Klu Klux Klan, but he became friends with a reborn Klansman.

Not long ago, I remember hearing that John had been invited to speak at one of the edgy, mostly white and academic conferences that used a lot of fancy multimedia and spectacular technology. He just got up and told his story. All the lights and hoorah were struck dumb. Past the noise of Christendom, the whisper of the Spirit could be heard. When you finish this book, youll feel that dazzling tranquilitylike after riding a good roller coaster when you just sit still, trying to take it all in. John Perkins has seen the loops, the dips, the bumps and thrills of life that bring tears to your eyes and butterflies to your stomach. He has held on for the ride. He has lived the Jesus adventure to its fullest in the front seat with his eyes wide open and his hands in the air.

Ive heard it said, If you want to know what someone believes, watch how they live. Each of us is a living epistle. Our lives shout what we believe, sometimes even louder than our words. So often, people cannot even hear our words past the noise of our lives. In these pages is the story of a life well lived, a life that has become a proclamation of the Good News. Listen to Johns life and allow it to draw you closer to Jesus, and closer to the poor the Gospel according to John Perkins.