In the first article of this series, we asked whether The Salvation Army is still a church for the streets. Micah 6:8 presses that question further—not by asking what we believe, but by asking how we live.

What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.—Micah 6:8

This verse was our sessional theme when we were commissioned as Defenders of Justice in 2024. Out of all the commissioning themes I’ve encountered, this one has stayed with me. If I’m honest, of the three calls—act justly, love mercy, walk humbly—I have always been most drawn to act justly. When I pictured God, I saw the Lion of Judah: powerful, authoritative, a consuming fire who stands against oppression and wrong. Justice felt strong. Clear. Bold.

But as I have walked more deeply with God, I have learned this truth: we cannot separate the Lion from the Lamb. Perfect justice cannot exist without perfect mercy. And neither can be lived apart from humility. God embodies all three—fully and perfectly. And if we want to reflect his likeness, we must hold them together.

Act Justly: Justice Is Who God Is

Justice is not a trend or a program—it is rooted in the very character of God. Throughout Scripture, God calls his people to defend the widow and the orphan (see Isaiah 1:17), to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (see Proverbs 31:8-9), to act with honesty and fairness (see Amos 5:24), and to treat the poor and marginalized with dignity.

Justice, in the biblical sense, is not passive. It is active, courageous and costly. It requires us to notice what others overlook and to move toward places of pain rather than away from them.

This is where the heart of The Salvation Army was born. William Booth did not invent justice work—he responded to God’s call to live it. He saw the suffering outside the church walls and refused to worship comfortably while people were perishing. Justice compelled him into the streets.

But justice alone is not enough.

Love Mercy: Seeing People Through God’s Eyes

To act justly, we must first learn to love mercy. Mercy shapes how we see. It softens our posture. It allows us to feel the weight of injustice rather than simply respond to it as a task to complete. Mercy asks God daily: Give me your eyes to see. Your ears to hear. Your words to speak life and not harm.

Break my heart for what breaks yours.

Justice without mercy becomes harsh. Mercy without justice becomes shallow. But together, they move us to action, rooted in compassion. This is where Jesus shows us the way.

Jesus: The Perfect Embodiment of Justice, Mercy and Humility

Jesus embodied Micah 6:8 perfectly. He did not build his ministry around convenience or efficiency. He went out of his way—travelling from town to town—to meet the overlooked, the unseen and the outcast. He crossed cultural, religious and social boundaries to encounter the one.

He travelled through Samaria to meet a Samaritan woman at a well (see John 4). He stopped for a bleeding woman when the crowd pressed in (see Mark 5). He called Zacchaeus down from a tree and went to his home (see Luke 19). He touched lepers, ate with sinners and defended the accused.

Jesus could have chosen another way. He could have sent his disciples ahead to gather crowds, ensured platforms were built and then arrived to preach to thousands. He is God—he could have revealed himself unmistakably, undeniably, to everyone. But he didn’t.

He chose relationship. He chose presence. He chose to plant seeds—often one life at a time. Justice, for Jesus, was personal.

Walk Humbly: Depending on God, Not Ourselves

This brings us to the third call: walk humbly with your God. Humility is often misunderstood as weakness, but biblical humility is rooted in truth. It is the recognition that we can do nothing apart from God—and everything with him.

Walking humbly means serving not from our own strength, skills or education, but from dependence on the Holy Spirit. It is knowing that justice work done without God becomes performance, but justice done with God becomes worship.

In Isaiah 58, God challenges his people’s understanding of worship: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice … to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter …?” (Isaiah 58:6-7). This is the fast God desires. Thisis the worship he receives.

Is this not what William Booth saw when he walked out of the church buildings of his day? Was he not witnessing prayers and sacrifices offered inside, while suffering was experienced outside the doors?

The Salvation Army was born from this conviction: faith must be lived, not just declared.

Building a Just Community Today

So, what does this mean for us now—for our corps, community services and social mission? It begins by stepping beyond Sunday worship and asking God throughout the week: Where are you already at work, and how can I join you?

It might start by simply acknowledging the person everyone else walks past. Learning a name. Offering dignity before assistance. Building trust before solutions.

In our corps, justice is lived when worship fuels service and service flows back into worship. In our community services, justice is lived when programs are rooted not only in efficiency but in relationships. In our social mission, justice is lived when we see people not as needs to meet but as lives to honour. 

This is how Jesus ministered—and this is how we are called to minister still.

A Call to Hold It All Together

Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly.

None of these can stand alone. If we hold only one, we risk becoming just another humanitarian organization. But when all three are held together, we reflect the heart of God and the mission he entrusted to us. Justice is not a department. It is not an initiative. It is not optional.

It is the mission.

And perhaps today, God is inviting us—not to do more—but to return. To return to a faith that is courageous, relational and Spirit-led. To return to the streets, the margins and the overlooked places—where Jesus already is.

Lieutenant Mirna Dirani is the resource officer—immigrant and refugee services at Toronto Harbour Light Ministries.

Reflection Questions

1. How does your ministry unit reflect the call to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly?
2. Where might one of these be missing or underdeveloped in your ministry?
3. Who is God inviting you to see this week—personally and intentionally?