Early this year 60,000 students converged on the Georgia Dome for the annual Passion conference. The four-day event had the stated purpose of "making Jesus famous and fighting modern-day slavery." The popularity of such events attests to the white-hot enthusiasm among younger Christians for engaging justice issues. How can churches channel this excitement and help congregants, young and old, exercise their faith on behalf of "the least of these"? Nicole Unice interviewed Jim Martin, author of The Just Church (Tyndale, 2012) and vice president of church mobilization for International Justice Mission (IJM), a human rights agency that protects the poor from violence.

What's the idea behind The Just Church?

We tend to make the connection between justice and mission quite easily. But I wanted to connect justice and discipleship, too. Every pastor I know is asking, "How do I mobilize my congregation?" Most people in our churches know so much already. ...