Showing posts with label churches and poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label churches and poverty. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Monday, January 02, 2012
Embracing poverty?
Luke's second volume, Acts of the Apostles, reveals that the earliest Christian community got Jesus' message as members sold possessions and gave to the communal fund that wiped poverty out among his early followers.
Most of the time though, I don't embrace poverty as a spiritual discipline that both assists the poor more completely and witnesses to the evil of impoverishment. Few contemporary expressions or understandings of the Christian faith call followers to intentionally embrace poverty as a style of lfie.
Consider the following thoughts:
Poverty is an act of love and liberation. It has a redemptive values. If the ultimate cause of human exploitation and alienation is selfishness, the deepest reason for voluntary poverty is love of neighbor. Christian poverty has meaning only as a commitment of solidarity with the poor, with those who suffer misery and injustice. The commitment is to witness to the evil which has resulted from sin and is a breach of communion. It is not a question of idealizing poverty, but rather of taking it on as it is--an evil--to protest against it and to struggle to abolish it. As Ricoeur says, you cannot really be with the poor unless you are struggling against poverty. Because of this solidarity--which must manifest itself in specific action, a style of life, a break with one's social class--one can also help the poor and exploitated to become aware of their exploitation and seek liberation from it. Christian poverty, an expression of love, is solidarity with the poor and is a protest against poverty. This is the concrete, contemporary meaning of the witness of poverty. It is a poverty lived not for its own sake, but rather as an authentic imitation of Christ; it is a poverty which means taking on the sinful human condition to liberate humankind from sin and all its consequences. (page 172)
Gustavo Gutierrez
Theology of Liberation
Friday, March 18, 2011
Budgets as moral documnets
I picked this report up from the United Methodist News Service last week. Worth considering. Where does faith and its values fit in the process of prioritizing funding decisions?
Budget’s ‘moral’ impact
Faith leaders condemn ‘draconian cuts’
By Linda Bloom
Faith leaders are expressing concern over proposed U.S. federal budget changes that could slash aid to the poor. Cuts passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would reduce international food-aid programs by up to 50%.
UMNS — The poor have no one staging mass protests on their behalf, but religious leaders are speaking out about how proposed changes to the U.S. budget for 2011 and 2012 could affect them.
“The message is consistent year in and year out: We want to make sure we’re protecting those living in poverty or on the economic margins both in the U.S and around the world,” explained John Hill, director of Economic & Environmental Justice at the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society.
In a March 1 letter to Congress, 16 religious leaders — including Bishop Larry Goodpaster, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, and the Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist who is executive director of Church World Service — expressed their full commitment to ministry with the poor.
“None of us can prosper and be secure while some of us live in misery and desperation,” the letter said. “In an interdependent world, the security and prosperity of any nation is inseparable from that of even the most vulnerable both within and beyond their borders.”
Last month, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for 2012, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $61 billion budget-cut package for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The U.S. Senate has yet to agree on the House cuts. The president signed a budget extension bill March 2 that will keep federal agencies open through March 18 and enact $4 billion in new spending cuts.
Draconian cuts
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are proposing draconian cuts that will greatly compromise “our capacity as a nation to respond to situations of need,” McCullough said. “The budget reduction essentially reduces what we would call the safety net for poor people and for vulnerable communities here in the United States.”
Faith leaders understand the concerns over the nation’s financial deficits. Drastically reducing discretionary programs for the poor that constitute an extremely small part of the budget is not a solution to the economic crisis, they pointed out in the letter to Congress.
“These cuts will devastate those living in poverty, at home and around the world, cost jobs, and in the long run, will harm, not help, our fiscal situation,” the letter said. “While ‘shared sacrifice’ can be an appropriate banner, those who would be devastated by these cuts have nothing left to sacrifice.”
The sacrifice is global, not just local, said Thomas Kemper, top executive of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. And while only a fraction, 0.5% of the budget, relates to international aid, “for the people who are affected by these cuts, it makes a lot of difference,” according to Kemper.
Budget decisions have ethical as well as financial implications, say Christian leaders organized by Jim Wallis and Sojourners, a faith-based social justice organization. Those leaders took out a full-page ad in the Feb. 28 edition of Politico, a newspaper devoted to politics.
’What would Jesus Cut?’
Titled “What would Jesus Cut?,” the ad declared, “A budget is a moral document.” It called on legislators to defend international aid for pandemic diseases, critical child-health and family-nutrition programs, “proven” work and income supports for poverty-level families and educational support, particularly in low-income communities.
Sojourners, a faith-based social justice organization, took out a full-page ad with a simple question in the Feb. 28 issue of Politico, a publication devoted to politics.
“Our faith tells us that the moral test of a society is how it treats the poor,” the ad said. “As a country, we face difficult choices, but whether or not we defend vulnerable people should not be one of them.”
Engaging in ministry with the poor is a mission priority for The United Methodist Church, and its 13 agencies and commissions have adopted “guiding principles and foundations” for that work.
Social holiness
“It’s fundamental to our faith that we care for the poor and vulnerable,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications. He pointed out that in the Wesleyan tradition holiness does not exist without social holiness. “We are a faith community who believes faith should not only promote our personal growth, it should also equip and mobilize us for mission and service to the world,” he said.
It’s about personally being involved and being with the poor.
The understanding of that ministry goes beyond charity, according to Kemper. “It’s not only about giving money. It’s not only about doing a soup kitchen. It’s about personally being involved and being with the poor,” he emphasized.
Advocacy actions over federal budget matters since January have included a call by faith leaders to Obama to renew his campaign pledge to “cut poverty in half” in the next 10 years and a Valentine’s Day lobbying effort to “show love” and make the poor a priority.
Alternative solutions
After the House bill passed, Hill said National Council of Churches leaders drafted the March 1 letter that reflected deep concern that these cuts are particularly affecting faith-based anti-poverty ministries, both in the U.S. and around the world.
Alternative solutions exist, Hill asserted. At times of fiscal crisis in the 1990s, he pointed out that Congress was able to make reductions while still protecting those in poverty. “As a result, even though there were very large cuts, poverty rates were down,” he said. “We’re basically asking them to do that again.”
The House bill cuts in the 2011 budget also would greatly affect international assistance, according to the Washington Post. It slashes international food-aid programs by up to 50% and State Dept. funding for refugees by more than 40%.
The International Disaster Assistance Fund would be reduced by 67%. McCullough questioned this cut because it is obvious, judging from the outpouring of support by Americans to help victims of disasters like the Asian tsunami and Haiti earthquake, “people expect the United States is going to be in a position to respond to these types of disasters.”
Makes no sense
Humanitarian agencies like Church World Service already are aware, McCullough said, that when resources for aid and development work are severely curtailed “the potential for [human] survival diminishes dramatically.”
It also makes no sense to cut aid that helps avoid military conflicts and fights terrorism, said Kemper. He used as an example the new nation of South Sudan emerging after years of civil war. “If you take away funding and aid from these countries, they get more fragile,” he said.
Because of the denomination’s pledge to help eradicate malaria, United Methodist leaders are particularly concerned about the House bill’s decrease in the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria & Tuberculosis by 40%. Kemper called it “a blow” to church members trying so hard to raise $75 million themselves through the Imagine No Malaria initiative.
Some of the “unacceptable” consequences of that budget reduction were pointed out by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Those consequences include the denial of treatment and prevention measures for malaria to 5 million children and family members; denial of treatment for tropical diseases to some 16 million people and a loss of millions of available polio and measles vaccines.
“It means children will die, more people will get sick, and preventable diseases will not be prevented,” said Hollon, whose agency coordinates Imagine No Malaria.
Editor’s note: Linda Bloom is a United Methodist News Service reporter based in New York.
Budget’s ‘moral’ impact
Faith leaders condemn ‘draconian cuts’
By Linda Bloom
Faith leaders are expressing concern over proposed U.S. federal budget changes that could slash aid to the poor. Cuts passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would reduce international food-aid programs by up to 50%.
UMNS — The poor have no one staging mass protests on their behalf, but religious leaders are speaking out about how proposed changes to the U.S. budget for 2011 and 2012 could affect them.
“The message is consistent year in and year out: We want to make sure we’re protecting those living in poverty or on the economic margins both in the U.S and around the world,” explained John Hill, director of Economic & Environmental Justice at the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society.
In a March 1 letter to Congress, 16 religious leaders — including Bishop Larry Goodpaster, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, and the Rev. John McCullough, a United Methodist who is executive director of Church World Service — expressed their full commitment to ministry with the poor.
“None of us can prosper and be secure while some of us live in misery and desperation,” the letter said. “In an interdependent world, the security and prosperity of any nation is inseparable from that of even the most vulnerable both within and beyond their borders.”
Last month, President Barack Obama released his budget proposal for 2012, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $61 billion budget-cut package for the rest of the 2011 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The U.S. Senate has yet to agree on the House cuts. The president signed a budget extension bill March 2 that will keep federal agencies open through March 18 and enact $4 billion in new spending cuts.
Draconian cuts
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are proposing draconian cuts that will greatly compromise “our capacity as a nation to respond to situations of need,” McCullough said. “The budget reduction essentially reduces what we would call the safety net for poor people and for vulnerable communities here in the United States.”
Faith leaders understand the concerns over the nation’s financial deficits. Drastically reducing discretionary programs for the poor that constitute an extremely small part of the budget is not a solution to the economic crisis, they pointed out in the letter to Congress.
“These cuts will devastate those living in poverty, at home and around the world, cost jobs, and in the long run, will harm, not help, our fiscal situation,” the letter said. “While ‘shared sacrifice’ can be an appropriate banner, those who would be devastated by these cuts have nothing left to sacrifice.”
The sacrifice is global, not just local, said Thomas Kemper, top executive of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries. And while only a fraction, 0.5% of the budget, relates to international aid, “for the people who are affected by these cuts, it makes a lot of difference,” according to Kemper.
Budget decisions have ethical as well as financial implications, say Christian leaders organized by Jim Wallis and Sojourners, a faith-based social justice organization. Those leaders took out a full-page ad in the Feb. 28 edition of Politico, a newspaper devoted to politics.
’What would Jesus Cut?’
Titled “What would Jesus Cut?,” the ad declared, “A budget is a moral document.” It called on legislators to defend international aid for pandemic diseases, critical child-health and family-nutrition programs, “proven” work and income supports for poverty-level families and educational support, particularly in low-income communities.
Sojourners, a faith-based social justice organization, took out a full-page ad with a simple question in the Feb. 28 issue of Politico, a publication devoted to politics.
“Our faith tells us that the moral test of a society is how it treats the poor,” the ad said. “As a country, we face difficult choices, but whether or not we defend vulnerable people should not be one of them.”
Engaging in ministry with the poor is a mission priority for The United Methodist Church, and its 13 agencies and commissions have adopted “guiding principles and foundations” for that work.
Social holiness
“It’s fundamental to our faith that we care for the poor and vulnerable,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications. He pointed out that in the Wesleyan tradition holiness does not exist without social holiness. “We are a faith community who believes faith should not only promote our personal growth, it should also equip and mobilize us for mission and service to the world,” he said.
It’s about personally being involved and being with the poor.
The understanding of that ministry goes beyond charity, according to Kemper. “It’s not only about giving money. It’s not only about doing a soup kitchen. It’s about personally being involved and being with the poor,” he emphasized.
Advocacy actions over federal budget matters since January have included a call by faith leaders to Obama to renew his campaign pledge to “cut poverty in half” in the next 10 years and a Valentine’s Day lobbying effort to “show love” and make the poor a priority.
Alternative solutions
After the House bill passed, Hill said National Council of Churches leaders drafted the March 1 letter that reflected deep concern that these cuts are particularly affecting faith-based anti-poverty ministries, both in the U.S. and around the world.
Alternative solutions exist, Hill asserted. At times of fiscal crisis in the 1990s, he pointed out that Congress was able to make reductions while still protecting those in poverty. “As a result, even though there were very large cuts, poverty rates were down,” he said. “We’re basically asking them to do that again.”
The House bill cuts in the 2011 budget also would greatly affect international assistance, according to the Washington Post. It slashes international food-aid programs by up to 50% and State Dept. funding for refugees by more than 40%.
The International Disaster Assistance Fund would be reduced by 67%. McCullough questioned this cut because it is obvious, judging from the outpouring of support by Americans to help victims of disasters like the Asian tsunami and Haiti earthquake, “people expect the United States is going to be in a position to respond to these types of disasters.”
Makes no sense
Humanitarian agencies like Church World Service already are aware, McCullough said, that when resources for aid and development work are severely curtailed “the potential for [human] survival diminishes dramatically.”
It also makes no sense to cut aid that helps avoid military conflicts and fights terrorism, said Kemper. He used as an example the new nation of South Sudan emerging after years of civil war. “If you take away funding and aid from these countries, they get more fragile,” he said.
Because of the denomination’s pledge to help eradicate malaria, United Methodist leaders are particularly concerned about the House bill’s decrease in the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria & Tuberculosis by 40%. Kemper called it “a blow” to church members trying so hard to raise $75 million themselves through the Imagine No Malaria initiative.
Some of the “unacceptable” consequences of that budget reduction were pointed out by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Those consequences include the denial of treatment and prevention measures for malaria to 5 million children and family members; denial of treatment for tropical diseases to some 16 million people and a loss of millions of available polio and measles vaccines.
“It means children will die, more people will get sick, and preventable diseases will not be prevented,” said Hollon, whose agency coordinates Imagine No Malaria.
Editor’s note: Linda Bloom is a United Methodist News Service reporter based in New York.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sojo and Dallas
The Dallas Justice Revival was featured prominently in the June 2010 issue of Sojourners magazine. Check out Catherine Cuellar's essay, "Now the Work Begins":
Sharon Tillis had every comfort of a “good Christian wife”: a home, a car, a job, and children. In her 40s she also faced some challenges other Christians hadn’t—bipolar disorder, domestic violence, and shame about surviving incest. Deciding whether to stay in an unhealthy marriage or get divorced and risk homelessness, she chose the latter.
“God was with me every step of the way,” Tillis says now of her journey. After two years of counseling, time spent sleeping in her car and on the couches of friends and family members, and 18 months in and out of shelters, Tillis finally has a home to call her own again. CityWalk@Akard, a mixed-use high rise developed over the past five years by the nonprofit Central Dallas Ministries (whose chair, Larry James, served on Justice Revival’s leadership team) includes 200 affordable apartments. Of these, 50 have been designated as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless residents like Tillis. CityWalk’s expected completion in spring 2010 is in the context of a Greater Dallas Justice Revival goal of developing a total of 700 new units.
“I could go to church and stay at members’ houses a couple of months or so. The church can provide me, I guess, with gas money or whatever I need, food. But to provide me housing—that’s a miracle.” Tillis says. “I feel independent, self-sufficient. I feel like I can do anything now. I have peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to lay my head. It gave me all of that. It gave me hope.”
To read the entire essay click here.
Sharon Tillis had every comfort of a “good Christian wife”: a home, a car, a job, and children. In her 40s she also faced some challenges other Christians hadn’t—bipolar disorder, domestic violence, and shame about surviving incest. Deciding whether to stay in an unhealthy marriage or get divorced and risk homelessness, she chose the latter.
“God was with me every step of the way,” Tillis says now of her journey. After two years of counseling, time spent sleeping in her car and on the couches of friends and family members, and 18 months in and out of shelters, Tillis finally has a home to call her own again. CityWalk@Akard, a mixed-use high rise developed over the past five years by the nonprofit Central Dallas Ministries (whose chair, Larry James, served on Justice Revival’s leadership team) includes 200 affordable apartments. Of these, 50 have been designated as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless residents like Tillis. CityWalk’s expected completion in spring 2010 is in the context of a Greater Dallas Justice Revival goal of developing a total of 700 new units.
“I could go to church and stay at members’ houses a couple of months or so. The church can provide me, I guess, with gas money or whatever I need, food. But to provide me housing—that’s a miracle.” Tillis says. “I feel independent, self-sufficient. I feel like I can do anything now. I have peace of mind. I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to lay my head. It gave me all of that. It gave me hope.”
To read the entire essay click here.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
What's a church for?
That is a staggering number, possibly the most ever pledged by any group of church folk.
That's just a lot of money.
This development forces a question into my mind. Sorry, I can't stop it or turn it back. So, here it is:
What's a church for anyway?
Certainly, the contemorary church has become an institution, a cultural force, a haven for people of a certain mindset. When budgets and buildings and staffing and programming reach a certain level, the church takes on a life well beyond the simplicity of a group of people who believe in a person or accept the outlines and claims of a story, a narrative.
Churches can turn inward, become self-serving. . .you know, sort of a country club for people who share a common belief system and worldview.
Inside such a system it is not hard to justify the expenditure of huge amounts of money on real estate and improvements that serve, almost exclusively, those who accept the belief system or embrace the version of the story being promoted at one location or another.
Trouble is, it becomes fairly easy in such a system to turn away from the core values, the clear directives of a very radical Messiah.
Paying for a building can take the place of growing as a world-changing follower of a homeless, extremely poor, amazingly challenging, anti-material spiritual guide like Jesus. Oh, be sure of this, we can confess his name while abandoning his clearly delineated priorities. The program we devise to serve him can easily become a self-serving system shielding us from the real dimensions and demands of a Lord we too easily claim to accept without much if any thought of the cost associated with lining up with him.
One hundred and fifteen million dollars is just one number. Spending $4MM on a church built during my watch as a pastor seems no more justifiable.
If people of "the Way" really pursued the master of the path, the world would be in a far different place and amazing resources would be freed up to flow in kingdom directions.
For some reason, I'm thinking of the poor, the pressed down, the marginalized, the outcast. . .I'm thinking of a very different expression of faith, one that could change lives, save families, reshape cities and relieve suffering. Jesus had a thing or two to say about those matters (read St. Luke's Gospel for a quick reminder).
One thing is certain: a change in direction by the American church could reap wonderful results.
But frankly, I'm not holding my breath.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Justice Revival Dallas. . .who'll step up and how?
Gerald Britt, VP of Public Policy here at Central Dallas Ministries, published the following essay on the Op-Ed pages of The Dallas Morning News on last Tuesday, December 15:
After the Justice Revival
This isn't a criticism, just a reality: Getting church leaders across denominational, theological, racial, geographic, class and ideological barriers to work together can be like getting cats to march in a parade. But that is the challenge in the aftermath of Dallas' Justice Revival.
The Justice Revival is a concept introduced in the book The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis, the leader of the progressive Christian organization Sojourners. It harkens back to church revivals that resulted in spiritual conversions and social justice movements that helped bring about the abolition of slavery; produced child labor laws; and addressed issues of public health and poverty in northern slums area.
Can churches still provide the spark that ignites a spiritual-based revival with social implications in Dallas?
Although attendance goals for the November gathering fell short of expectations, the Justice Revival was always promoted as more than a specific event. The real test will be whether churches achieve their goals involving education and housing for the homeless. That, in turn, involves how well participating congregations are able to draw the distinction between "justice" and "charity."
The November "Day of Service" focused on deploying Justice Revival participants throughout the city to help with service projects at schools and Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance's March to Help the Homeless. These weekend events were meant to symbolize commitment through acts of compassion. Justice, however, means addressing the failures of the systems associated with these issues.
The spiritual "great awakening" – of which this revival should be both symbol and catalyst – should seek to play a more robust role than simply being campus volunteers. Substantive engagement regarding public education is a vital need in our schools.
We all should heed and repeat former DISD board president Sandy Kress' warning that this involvement avoid becoming "charity around the edges" of much-needed reform. Churches must be careful not to be used to mask real systemic failures with feel-good success stories or to be relegated to the margins, where real impact is almost impossible.
Serious involvement demands rejecting stereotypes of poor families, instead listening and becoming allies with parents in their dreams for their children's future. It means dealing with issues of health and safety as well as asking whether schools have textbooks and up-to-date technology. It should involve helping parents understand the relationship between classroom grades and standardized testing. Plus partnering with existing community programs to provide enrichment opportunities to enhance classroom learning. It could mean establishing academies to help parents better understand school culture, the politics of public education and parental rights and responsibilities within the school system.
In short, congregations should bring an appetite for tough-minded engagement as well as tenderhearted volunteerism.
Justice Revival congregations also are asked to lead the way in supporting Dallas' official goal to provide 700 units of affordable housing, a goal that should be embraced by the entire city. Churches can be invaluable allies, educating themselves on effective strategies addressing the problem that can be adopted here in Dallas. Churches also can promote the housing goal as an opportunity for a ministry of inclusion.
Most important, churches can work with city officials and nonprofits to make this housing a reality. That starts with congregations recognizing the homeless among us as fellow citizens and thus serving as advocates to build support within their respective communities for the housing.
Justice Revival congregations' impact can be totally out of proportion to the event attendance itself if their commitment to justice is as great as their compassion.
__________________
So, what do you think?
After the Justice Revival
This isn't a criticism, just a reality: Getting church leaders across denominational, theological, racial, geographic, class and ideological barriers to work together can be like getting cats to march in a parade. But that is the challenge in the aftermath of Dallas' Justice Revival.
The Justice Revival is a concept introduced in the book The Great Awakening by Jim Wallis, the leader of the progressive Christian organization Sojourners. It harkens back to church revivals that resulted in spiritual conversions and social justice movements that helped bring about the abolition of slavery; produced child labor laws; and addressed issues of public health and poverty in northern slums area.
Can churches still provide the spark that ignites a spiritual-based revival with social implications in Dallas?
Although attendance goals for the November gathering fell short of expectations, the Justice Revival was always promoted as more than a specific event. The real test will be whether churches achieve their goals involving education and housing for the homeless. That, in turn, involves how well participating congregations are able to draw the distinction between "justice" and "charity."
The November "Day of Service" focused on deploying Justice Revival participants throughout the city to help with service projects at schools and Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance's March to Help the Homeless. These weekend events were meant to symbolize commitment through acts of compassion. Justice, however, means addressing the failures of the systems associated with these issues.
The spiritual "great awakening" – of which this revival should be both symbol and catalyst – should seek to play a more robust role than simply being campus volunteers. Substantive engagement regarding public education is a vital need in our schools.
We all should heed and repeat former DISD board president Sandy Kress' warning that this involvement avoid becoming "charity around the edges" of much-needed reform. Churches must be careful not to be used to mask real systemic failures with feel-good success stories or to be relegated to the margins, where real impact is almost impossible.
Serious involvement demands rejecting stereotypes of poor families, instead listening and becoming allies with parents in their dreams for their children's future. It means dealing with issues of health and safety as well as asking whether schools have textbooks and up-to-date technology. It should involve helping parents understand the relationship between classroom grades and standardized testing. Plus partnering with existing community programs to provide enrichment opportunities to enhance classroom learning. It could mean establishing academies to help parents better understand school culture, the politics of public education and parental rights and responsibilities within the school system.
In short, congregations should bring an appetite for tough-minded engagement as well as tenderhearted volunteerism.
Justice Revival congregations also are asked to lead the way in supporting Dallas' official goal to provide 700 units of affordable housing, a goal that should be embraced by the entire city. Churches can be invaluable allies, educating themselves on effective strategies addressing the problem that can be adopted here in Dallas. Churches also can promote the housing goal as an opportunity for a ministry of inclusion.
Most important, churches can work with city officials and nonprofits to make this housing a reality. That starts with congregations recognizing the homeless among us as fellow citizens and thus serving as advocates to build support within their respective communities for the housing.
Justice Revival congregations' impact can be totally out of proportion to the event attendance itself if their commitment to justice is as great as their compassion.
__________________
So, what do you think?
Friday, November 13, 2009
Not knowing what to do with a radical Jesus
If you read the teachings of Jesus and observe what the Gospels claim that he actually did, you must conclude that he lived a radical life. This conclusion appears especially evident when you stop to compare his lifestyle and expressed values with the ordinary, run of the mill U. S. Christian.
Luke 4:16ff reports on an early speech that Jesus delivered in the synagogue in his hometown. Many consider these words the basis of his first sermon. During that address, Jesus outlined his understanding of his personal mission in life. It is quite the litany, especially when compared to the apparent mission understandings of most churches and most church members these days.
Here's the mission statement Jesus shared with the crowd who gathered in the Nazareth house of prayer:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
I've been pondering during the past few days how the church has rewritten that mission statement in America. Here's what I believe is an accurate mission statement for many congregations in the mainstream church today and for typical members of such congregations:
"The requirements of common sense are forced upon me to bring a word of direction to the disaffected middle-class materialists among whom I live and with whom I identify so strongly. God has sent me to proclaim release to those imprisoned in unsatisfying relationships and held captive by basic negative self-images; to unlock the chains of self-imposed limits and open every eye to the possibilities bound up in a life lived to the full, to set free slaves to unrestrained debt by means of creative 'work outs' and to proclaim the year of infinite possibilities, especially for our children."
I'm certain that there are other ways to rewrite the mission. But this one will have to do for today.
There is a reason why most churches don't act as if they share Jesus' concern for the poor, the impoverished, the economically distressed, as in "po folks."
There is a reason why most churches don't reach out to the prisoners, those locked up in need of compassion, love, mercy and liberation.
There is a reason why the church is not positioned near the blind, and by implication the unhealthy, the uninsured and the cast offs of our culture.
There is a reason why most church members don't know what the "year of the Lord's favor" is all about; why they don't really know what the Year of Jubilee involved or why Jesus embraced it as his defining mandate for his entire life.
It's all about mission and self-understanding; purpose and reason to exist.
Of course, there are exceptions to my critique. You easily can prove up the fact that your church falls into the exceptional category. Just check this year's budget.
.
Luke 4:16ff reports on an early speech that Jesus delivered in the synagogue in his hometown. Many consider these words the basis of his first sermon. During that address, Jesus outlined his understanding of his personal mission in life. It is quite the litany, especially when compared to the apparent mission understandings of most churches and most church members these days.
Here's the mission statement Jesus shared with the crowd who gathered in the Nazareth house of prayer:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
I've been pondering during the past few days how the church has rewritten that mission statement in America. Here's what I believe is an accurate mission statement for many congregations in the mainstream church today and for typical members of such congregations:
"The requirements of common sense are forced upon me to bring a word of direction to the disaffected middle-class materialists among whom I live and with whom I identify so strongly. God has sent me to proclaim release to those imprisoned in unsatisfying relationships and held captive by basic negative self-images; to unlock the chains of self-imposed limits and open every eye to the possibilities bound up in a life lived to the full, to set free slaves to unrestrained debt by means of creative 'work outs' and to proclaim the year of infinite possibilities, especially for our children."
I'm certain that there are other ways to rewrite the mission. But this one will have to do for today.
There is a reason why most churches don't act as if they share Jesus' concern for the poor, the impoverished, the economically distressed, as in "po folks."
There is a reason why most churches don't reach out to the prisoners, those locked up in need of compassion, love, mercy and liberation.
There is a reason why the church is not positioned near the blind, and by implication the unhealthy, the uninsured and the cast offs of our culture.
There is a reason why most church members don't know what the "year of the Lord's favor" is all about; why they don't really know what the Year of Jubilee involved or why Jesus embraced it as his defining mandate for his entire life.
It's all about mission and self-understanding; purpose and reason to exist.
Of course, there are exceptions to my critique. You easily can prove up the fact that your church falls into the exceptional category. Just check this year's budget.
.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Community Hunger Day is Here! You can help. . .
Distributing food is essential, especially in tough economic times like these. Savings achieved by families who use our food pantry means dollars freed up from tight, limited budgets to pay for housing, clothing, health care, transportation and child care.
Today, October 22 CDM hosts our "Second Annual Community Hunger Day."
You can help!
To find out how click here!
I know we can count on you. Act before the day is over!
.
Today, October 22 CDM hosts our "Second Annual Community Hunger Day."
You can help!
To find out how click here!
I know we can count on you. Act before the day is over!
.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Jubilee Sunday or a new way to "do" church
Looking for something different in a church this Sunday?
Check this out!
Reactions?
[I'm looking forward to being with Josh Ross and his church in September.]
Check this out!
Reactions?
[I'm looking forward to being with Josh Ross and his church in September.]
Thursday, July 23, 2009
One man's "home"
Driving up an alley in South Dallas adjacent to a piece of property we're interested in acquiring for expansion purposes, I passed by what I've tried to capture on my phone's camera.What does this look like to you?
A pile of junk?
The result of a clean up project inside the store behind which this was "piled up"?
No.
This collection of discards will serve as someone's home tonight.
Neatly arranged with old sofa cushions strategically positioned for optimum comfort on the hard concrete pavement beneath, someone has "built" a home out of basically all of the possessions available.
When I passed by, the tenant of this home was likely at "work."
I had to capture it to pass along. The second photo reveals that everything depends on being positioned up against the wall to the back side.
When I climb into bed tonight, a neighbor of mine will climb into this space and regard it as home, the only home available.
I'll offer up a prayer for mercy on behalf of this unknown friend and on my own behalf as well.
We can't go on like this.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Biblical reflection, Sunday application
You trample on the poor, and take advantage of him in your markets. . .as a result, you are rich and uncaring. . .
You oppress the poor as a part of your overall plan. . .you regularly receive bribe money and you rob the poor of justice in the courts in the name of "law and order". . .because of your ways with those who are poor, you and your nation will suffer horribly. . .
Now understand this, God hates your Sunday worship services. . .God is sickened by your displays of religious fervor and piety. . . God detests all of your gifts and offerings and plans to give to further serve only yourself. . .God will not hear the silly sounds of your music and song in view of the terrible cries of the poor suffering outside your fine sanctuaries. . .God refuses to listen to your beautiful music because of what you have done to chain the poor. . .
Here's the "order of service" God desires from you: justice that rolls like a mighty river and right practice on the streets, in your courthouses and state houses and White House that results in a sacrifice of relief and hope for the poor who are God's true people.
You oppress the poor as a part of your overall plan. . .you regularly receive bribe money and you rob the poor of justice in the courts in the name of "law and order". . .because of your ways with those who are poor, you and your nation will suffer horribly. . .
Now understand this, God hates your Sunday worship services. . .God is sickened by your displays of religious fervor and piety. . . God detests all of your gifts and offerings and plans to give to further serve only yourself. . .God will not hear the silly sounds of your music and song in view of the terrible cries of the poor suffering outside your fine sanctuaries. . .God refuses to listen to your beautiful music because of what you have done to chain the poor. . .
Here's the "order of service" God desires from you: justice that rolls like a mighty river and right practice on the streets, in your courthouses and state houses and White House that results in a sacrifice of relief and hope for the poor who are God's true people.
[Interpretative thoughts drawn from Amos 5:11-24]
_______________________________________
Order of Worship
A Time of Prolonged Silence to Ponder Our Oppressive Ways
Silent Prayers to Entreat the Lord for Forgiveness
Repentance and Confession
Closing Prayers for Mercy
Silent Benediction and Solemn Retreat to Life
.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Lenten Meditation: A story for Dallas and its urban scene 2009
"The Rich Man and Lazarus" (formatted for modern residents of urban neighborhoods)
There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption.
A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores (likely due to his runaway diabetes and no health care options), had been dumped on his doorstep, outside the walls and fencing that surrounded his estate.
Homeless Lazarus worked through his days with a single focus: all he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. Just the crumbs, sir, just the crumbs.
Lazarus' "best friends"--the only ones to even look his way--were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham, to, as we say, "a better place."
The rich man, sharing the destiny of all humankind, also died and was buried. However, he woke up in hell and in torment. When he looked up, he was completely amazed to see Abraham in the distance with, of all people, Lazarus in his lap!
"Uh, oh," he thought!
He called out, "Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. Just a small thing, just a little help here, sort of like the pocket change I denied Lazarus so often. I'm in agony in this fire."
"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things, and you didn't care enough to even look his way. It's not like that over on this side. Here and now he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us. It's just too late, Child.'
The rich man said, "Oh, no, don't tell me that! What was I thinking? Then let me ask you, Father--just a little favor, sort of like a hot meal or a drink of water or a place to live, like I so often denied Lazarus: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment."
Abraham answered, "They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them. I mean, after all, they are in church every Sunday!"
"I know, Father Abraham," he said, "but they're not listening and, honestly, in church lots of time is spent talking about everything but Lazarus and the values that would have rescued him while he lived on this side. But, I know that if someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways."
Abraham replied, "If they and their religious leaders won't listen to Moses and the Prophets--to say nothing of the songs they've been given--they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead."
Jesus
St. Luke 16:19-31
There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption.
A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores (likely due to his runaway diabetes and no health care options), had been dumped on his doorstep, outside the walls and fencing that surrounded his estate.
Homeless Lazarus worked through his days with a single focus: all he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. Just the crumbs, sir, just the crumbs.
Lazarus' "best friends"--the only ones to even look his way--were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham, to, as we say, "a better place."
The rich man, sharing the destiny of all humankind, also died and was buried. However, he woke up in hell and in torment. When he looked up, he was completely amazed to see Abraham in the distance with, of all people, Lazarus in his lap!
"Uh, oh," he thought!
He called out, "Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. Just a small thing, just a little help here, sort of like the pocket change I denied Lazarus so often. I'm in agony in this fire."
"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things, and you didn't care enough to even look his way. It's not like that over on this side. Here and now he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us. It's just too late, Child.'
The rich man said, "Oh, no, don't tell me that! What was I thinking? Then let me ask you, Father--just a little favor, sort of like a hot meal or a drink of water or a place to live, like I so often denied Lazarus: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment."
Abraham answered, "They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them. I mean, after all, they are in church every Sunday!"
"I know, Father Abraham," he said, "but they're not listening and, honestly, in church lots of time is spent talking about everything but Lazarus and the values that would have rescued him while he lived on this side. But, I know that if someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways."
Abraham replied, "If they and their religious leaders won't listen to Moses and the Prophets--to say nothing of the songs they've been given--they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead."
Jesus
St. Luke 16:19-31
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What if things changed?
I'm in and out of giant church buildings on a fairly regular basis.
Not long ago I walked from one end of such a building to the other. It was quite a trek! This particular "campus" is enormous. No doubt the structure cost several hundred million dollars.
That's a long way from the "upper room."
The architecture was beautiful. The construction excellent. The looks of everything betrayed the continual presence of a hard-working, full-time staff devoted to tending to the property. It was an amazing operation, to say the least.
Church buildings much like this one cover the landscape of the nation. Not all turn out as grand, but still church real estate holdings boggle the imagination in terms of scale and investment costs.
This is not intended as a tired, diatribe against church buildings, I promise. While serving churches in New Orleans and Richardson, Texas, I oversaw building renovations and new construction, the cost of which ran in the millions of dollars.
It is, rather, a reflection, a "what if" of sorts on the nature of faith communities in general at the beginning of the 21st century.
People often post here about how the church should be the front-line and primary responder to the needs of poor people in the United States and around the world. As I've said before, the economics just don't add up on that vision. Too much of the church's resources and wealth goes to facilities and professional staff for anything approaching that to be possible.
But, what if things changed for churches and denominations?
What if a life of faith meant less organization, less institutional support and structure and more individual action and small group engagement? What if people of faith got together in homes, in small groups instead of in buildings designed mainly for larger groups and gatherings only a few times a week?
I wonder what might happen if just a few churches that owned large real estate holdings sold out? Literally sold their property, banked the funds, organized more organically and then developed new and effective strategies for pursuing lives of faith that involved new kinds of contact with the community around them--how would that look?
What would it take to do that? What would it mean? What would be the potential impact? What would be lost? What gained? What major obstacles and objections would such congregations face?
This notion has been in my head for years. The idea that a network of smaller cell groups could blanket a city, nurture the faith of members, commit to serve those around them and work for a more just and equitable community. . .it may not be easy or even practical, given our long experience and our typical expectations, but I can't help but think the impact could be enormous.
I do know one thing. The income from the sale of just one building like I walked through not long ago, placed in the hands of capable leaders and community developers, would go a long way toward leveraging the start of the renewal of an entire inner city neighborhood that sits in ruin today.
From house-to-house for the sake of the cities.
Might sound really "out there," but, as I say, it's not a notion I can shake very easily.
Go ahead, call me Alice, as in Wonderland.
(Isaiah 58:1-12)
.
Not long ago I walked from one end of such a building to the other. It was quite a trek! This particular "campus" is enormous. No doubt the structure cost several hundred million dollars.
That's a long way from the "upper room."
The architecture was beautiful. The construction excellent. The looks of everything betrayed the continual presence of a hard-working, full-time staff devoted to tending to the property. It was an amazing operation, to say the least.
Church buildings much like this one cover the landscape of the nation. Not all turn out as grand, but still church real estate holdings boggle the imagination in terms of scale and investment costs.
This is not intended as a tired, diatribe against church buildings, I promise. While serving churches in New Orleans and Richardson, Texas, I oversaw building renovations and new construction, the cost of which ran in the millions of dollars.
It is, rather, a reflection, a "what if" of sorts on the nature of faith communities in general at the beginning of the 21st century.
People often post here about how the church should be the front-line and primary responder to the needs of poor people in the United States and around the world. As I've said before, the economics just don't add up on that vision. Too much of the church's resources and wealth goes to facilities and professional staff for anything approaching that to be possible.
But, what if things changed for churches and denominations?
What if a life of faith meant less organization, less institutional support and structure and more individual action and small group engagement? What if people of faith got together in homes, in small groups instead of in buildings designed mainly for larger groups and gatherings only a few times a week?
I wonder what might happen if just a few churches that owned large real estate holdings sold out? Literally sold their property, banked the funds, organized more organically and then developed new and effective strategies for pursuing lives of faith that involved new kinds of contact with the community around them--how would that look?
What would it take to do that? What would it mean? What would be the potential impact? What would be lost? What gained? What major obstacles and objections would such congregations face?
This notion has been in my head for years. The idea that a network of smaller cell groups could blanket a city, nurture the faith of members, commit to serve those around them and work for a more just and equitable community. . .it may not be easy or even practical, given our long experience and our typical expectations, but I can't help but think the impact could be enormous.
I do know one thing. The income from the sale of just one building like I walked through not long ago, placed in the hands of capable leaders and community developers, would go a long way toward leveraging the start of the renewal of an entire inner city neighborhood that sits in ruin today.
From house-to-house for the sake of the cities.
Might sound really "out there," but, as I say, it's not a notion I can shake very easily.
Go ahead, call me Alice, as in Wonderland.
(Isaiah 58:1-12)
.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Can they come?
Several weeks ago, back in the summer, I received the following message from a young pastor who leads a new, young church in an undisclosed urban area.
He wants to lead his congregation in reaching out to the poor. He really wants his group to be committed to engaging the realities of urban poverty, including homelessness and extreme poverty.
He's finding that his vision and good intentions may not be enough to pull it off.
Here's the email exchange we shared. His comments are in italics, my embedded replies to his original message are in bold red font.
I need some counsel. As we’ve started to cultivate relationships with our poor friends, several of them have expressed the desire to participate in our house church gatherings. On one occasion, a couple of them have. Way cool!
We’re delighted that we’re rubbing shoulders with the poor in this way. But it’s messy. Ain't it the truth! If you keep it up, it'll get messier than it is now. . .kingdom does that. . .wears you out too!
I feel tension about it: 1) on one hand, our primary demographic is young adults in the . . . area; I’m concerned about our ability to connect to them in a house church gathering setting if more and more of our poor friends continue to come. Maybe the Lord has a different demographic that is being imposed or has come to challenge you. . .I am serious about that and understand your fear and trembling. . .the fact that you have the "problem" makes you and your current enterprise exceptional in a Shane Claiborne, et. al. sort of way. . . 2) at the same time, I’m thrilled that we have poor friends! It would not feel just or righteous telling Cindy, one of our homeless friends, “You can’t come to house church anymore.” It just doesn’t seem right. Never abandon your heart on this one.
How would you approach this? I 'd let whoever wanted to come, come. I think you'll find that the "non-Christians" among you (what exactly is that anyway????) would be impressed. I'd (you asked for my opinion!) want those looking for a church to know and understand up front our commitment to the poor.
Options we’ve considered: 1) start a house church for our poor neighbors; I wouldn't do this--class segregation is no different from racial segregation, plus reading James helps. . . . And Paul had a thing or two to say about the nature of the church and the poor. . .not that Paul answers all the questions! 2) continue to have our poor friends mingle with our young adult friends in a house church setting; I've found this works, especially if you address it together. 3) propose to our poor friends a weekly meal/hang out time where we can continue to cultivate relationships instead of in the house church setting, relationship. To what end? Friends who aren't good enough to be on the inside, but good enough to hang out with so as to make us feel as if we are doing Kingdom work. . .??? Middle class folks and educated folks too often operate under the notion that control is what we need. Usually, God doesn't work much in such situations.
If you’re able to respond through email, that would be great. Coffee would be even better. I know you’re a busy man. We see this as a significant strategic decision in our community and want to listen to as many wise voices as we can. Francis Shaeffer, not my favorite thinker, wrote a book 30 years ago or so--The Church at the End of the 20th Century--in which he said something like: the church needs the poor more than the poor need the church; the church needs the poor to sleep between its pressed, washed, starched sheets. It is about the kingdom, not about "decisions for Christ."
Let me know. Thanks. Feel free to take that "Thanks" back. ..but you asked! I wish I had time for coffee on the run, but if you want to meet me email. . . Love you guys!
Larry
He wants to lead his congregation in reaching out to the poor. He really wants his group to be committed to engaging the realities of urban poverty, including homelessness and extreme poverty.
He's finding that his vision and good intentions may not be enough to pull it off.
Here's the email exchange we shared. His comments are in italics, my embedded replies to his original message are in bold red font.
__________________________________
I need some counsel. As we’ve started to cultivate relationships with our poor friends, several of them have expressed the desire to participate in our house church gatherings. On one occasion, a couple of them have. Way cool!
We’re delighted that we’re rubbing shoulders with the poor in this way. But it’s messy. Ain't it the truth! If you keep it up, it'll get messier than it is now. . .kingdom does that. . .wears you out too!
I feel tension about it: 1) on one hand, our primary demographic is young adults in the . . . area; I’m concerned about our ability to connect to them in a house church gathering setting if more and more of our poor friends continue to come. Maybe the Lord has a different demographic that is being imposed or has come to challenge you. . .I am serious about that and understand your fear and trembling. . .the fact that you have the "problem" makes you and your current enterprise exceptional in a Shane Claiborne, et. al. sort of way. . . 2) at the same time, I’m thrilled that we have poor friends! It would not feel just or righteous telling Cindy, one of our homeless friends, “You can’t come to house church anymore.” It just doesn’t seem right. Never abandon your heart on this one.
How would you approach this? I 'd let whoever wanted to come, come. I think you'll find that the "non-Christians" among you (what exactly is that anyway????) would be impressed. I'd (you asked for my opinion!) want those looking for a church to know and understand up front our commitment to the poor.
Options we’ve considered: 1) start a house church for our poor neighbors; I wouldn't do this--class segregation is no different from racial segregation, plus reading James helps. . . . And Paul had a thing or two to say about the nature of the church and the poor. . .not that Paul answers all the questions! 2) continue to have our poor friends mingle with our young adult friends in a house church setting; I've found this works, especially if you address it together. 3) propose to our poor friends a weekly meal/hang out time where we can continue to cultivate relationships instead of in the house church setting, relationship. To what end? Friends who aren't good enough to be on the inside, but good enough to hang out with so as to make us feel as if we are doing Kingdom work. . .??? Middle class folks and educated folks too often operate under the notion that control is what we need. Usually, God doesn't work much in such situations.
If you’re able to respond through email, that would be great. Coffee would be even better. I know you’re a busy man. We see this as a significant strategic decision in our community and want to listen to as many wise voices as we can. Francis Shaeffer, not my favorite thinker, wrote a book 30 years ago or so--The Church at the End of the 20th Century--in which he said something like: the church needs the poor more than the poor need the church; the church needs the poor to sleep between its pressed, washed, starched sheets. It is about the kingdom, not about "decisions for Christ."
Let me know. Thanks. Feel free to take that "Thanks" back. ..but you asked! I wish I had time for coffee on the run, but if you want to meet me email. . . Love you guys!
Larry
_________________________________
I really don't think there is an acceptable, effective "middle ground" here.
What do you think?
.
Friday, October 24, 2008
"So, where's the ministry?"
It happens to me again and again.
Always it involves church people.
It can be in the midst of or at the end of a site visit/tour. Most recently, it occurred in a meeting with a large church's board of elders.
It goes something like this.
I describe in great detail all that we are doing. Or, I escort folks around the inner city to see site after site where we are working with very poor people.
Included in almost every tour or discussion is exposure to our community health services, our public interest law firm, our after-school academy, our affordable housing developments, our 15-story building in Downtown where homeless folks will live, our summer and after-school lunch program, our food distribution center, the one-stop shop that serves the needs of youth who "age out" of the foster care system, the Central Dallas Church, our AmeriCorps efforts, the list goes on.
These efforts touch thousands of individuals and families.
Eventually, someone feels the need to ask the question.
"So, Larry, where does the ministry happen?"
Translation: where do you "share the gospel," "close the sale," "call people to convert to Jesus," "invite people to pray that Jesus would come into their hearts and 'get saved?'"
The question betrays a couple of fundamental misunderstandings.
First, it ignores the fact that 95%-plus of our neighbors already claim that they are Christians. Like everyone, their lives are not problem free or without challenge--now there is understatement! But, the vast, vast majority of the people we touch cling to faith in Jesus as one of their only certain assets. Often, our friends in the community point us to God, a very powerful dynamic to experience.
Second, there is power in the humility of voiceless engagement. I've said over and over again that at Central Dallas Ministries we tend to adopt a Franciscan approach to our work. Saint Francis told his followers to "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary."
This is our approach.
But, in my opinion--and it is an opinion shaped by my day-to-day experience over the last 15 years--there is something else going on here with many church leaders and members, something back of the common question so many ask.
In a strange way, "evangelism" and concerns framed by it provide people of faith a nice, respectable barrier, a secure place behind which to hide. Staying in this place of "safety" is not as costly or as dangerous as addressing the evil that keeps people and families shut out, left behind and in perpetual distress.
Frankly, focusing on more traditional "church stuff," as a primary concern in inner city neighborhoods where people battle extreme poverty, is not as personally demanding as facing and actively grappling with the facts of life among the urban poor.
Church folk from the outside, who come to the city with an agenda, often, no, usually, do not stay.
Evangelism, especially when imported from outside the community, has a way of placing the evangelist in a position of power, control and status above the target (at least in the evangelist's own mind!).
Community work is all about incarnation, and I think we know where that leads!
But embracing people in their communities, on their terms is how change happens. And, in this embrace we always find "the ministry."
.
Always it involves church people.
It can be in the midst of or at the end of a site visit/tour. Most recently, it occurred in a meeting with a large church's board of elders.
It goes something like this.
I describe in great detail all that we are doing. Or, I escort folks around the inner city to see site after site where we are working with very poor people.
Included in almost every tour or discussion is exposure to our community health services, our public interest law firm, our after-school academy, our affordable housing developments, our 15-story building in Downtown where homeless folks will live, our summer and after-school lunch program, our food distribution center, the one-stop shop that serves the needs of youth who "age out" of the foster care system, the Central Dallas Church, our AmeriCorps efforts, the list goes on.
These efforts touch thousands of individuals and families.
Eventually, someone feels the need to ask the question.
"So, Larry, where does the ministry happen?"
Translation: where do you "share the gospel," "close the sale," "call people to convert to Jesus," "invite people to pray that Jesus would come into their hearts and 'get saved?'"
The question betrays a couple of fundamental misunderstandings.
First, it ignores the fact that 95%-plus of our neighbors already claim that they are Christians. Like everyone, their lives are not problem free or without challenge--now there is understatement! But, the vast, vast majority of the people we touch cling to faith in Jesus as one of their only certain assets. Often, our friends in the community point us to God, a very powerful dynamic to experience.
Second, there is power in the humility of voiceless engagement. I've said over and over again that at Central Dallas Ministries we tend to adopt a Franciscan approach to our work. Saint Francis told his followers to "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary."
This is our approach.
But, in my opinion--and it is an opinion shaped by my day-to-day experience over the last 15 years--there is something else going on here with many church leaders and members, something back of the common question so many ask.
In a strange way, "evangelism" and concerns framed by it provide people of faith a nice, respectable barrier, a secure place behind which to hide. Staying in this place of "safety" is not as costly or as dangerous as addressing the evil that keeps people and families shut out, left behind and in perpetual distress.
Frankly, focusing on more traditional "church stuff," as a primary concern in inner city neighborhoods where people battle extreme poverty, is not as personally demanding as facing and actively grappling with the facts of life among the urban poor.
Church folk from the outside, who come to the city with an agenda, often, no, usually, do not stay.
Evangelism, especially when imported from outside the community, has a way of placing the evangelist in a position of power, control and status above the target (at least in the evangelist's own mind!).
Community work is all about incarnation, and I think we know where that leads!
But embracing people in their communities, on their terms is how change happens. And, in this embrace we always find "the ministry."
.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bread and faith
National Public Radio's "This I Believe" segments always seem to touch me, usually deeply.
My good friend, John Siburt made me aware of this piece--check it out: http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=44482&topessays=1.
My good friend, John Siburt made me aware of this piece--check it out: http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=44482&topessays=1.
Sara Miles really "gets it."
You can hear her at the link above, but here are her words just in case you'd like to read. . .
Strangers Bring Us Closer to God
As heard on NPR's All Things Considered, May 5, 2008.
Until recently, I thought being a Christian was all about belief. I didn’t know any Christians, but I considered them people who believed in the virgin birth, for example, the way I believed in photosynthesis or germs.
But then, in an experience I still can’t logically explain, I walked into a church and a stranger handed me a chunk of bread. Suddenly, I knew that it was made out of real flour and water and yeast––yet I also knew that God, named Jesus, was alive and in my mouth.
That first communion knocked me upside-down. Faith turned out not to be abstract at all, but material and physical. I’d thought Christianity meant angels and trinities and being good. Instead, I discovered a religion rooted in the most ordinary yet subversive practice: a dinner table where everyone is welcome, where the despised and outcasts are honored.
I came to believe that God is revealed not only in bread and wine during church services, but whenever we share food with others––particularly strangers. I came to believe that the fruits of creation are for everyone, without exception––not something to be doled out to insiders or the “deserving.”
So, over the objections of some of my fellow parishioners, I started a food pantry right in the church sanctuary, giving away literally tons of oranges and potatoes and Cheerios around the very same altar where I’d eaten the body of Christ. We gave food to anyone who showed up. I met thieves, child abusers, millionaires, day laborers, politicians, schizophrenics, gangsters, bishops—all blown into my life through the restless power of a call to feed people.
At the pantry, serving over 500 strangers a week, I confronted the same issues that had kept me from religion in the first place. Like church, the food pantry asked me to leave certainty behind, tangled me up with people I didn’t particularly want to know and scared me with its demand for more faith than I was ready to give.
Because my new vocation didn't turn out to be as simple as going to church on Sundays and declaring myself “saved.” I had to trudge in the rain through housing projects, sit on the curb wiping the runny nose of a psychotic man, take the firing pin out of a battered woman's Magnum and then stick the gun in a cookie tin in the trunk of my car. I had to struggle with my atheist family, my doubting friends, and the prejudices and traditions of my new-found church.
But I learned that hunger can lead to more life—that by sharing real food I’d find communion with the most unlikely people; that by eating a piece of bread I’d experience myself as part of one body. This I believe: that by opening ourselves to strangers, we will taste God.
Sara Miles is founder of The Food Pantry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. A former restaurant cook, Miles is a journalist who writes about military affairs, politics and culture, and is author of the memoir Take This Bread.
Independently produced for NPR by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman with John Gregory and Viki Merrick.
____________________________
Your feedback would be helpful. . .
.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Retreating on the poor. . .
Did you see the report on the group of men who took part in a spiritual retreat in Austin, Texas during Holy Week?
It seems the leader of a homeless ministry in that city leads such a group of "seekers" onto the streets for three days. The goal of the retreat is "to connect with God" by striping away the normal creature comforts of the participants. The intention is to "walk among the poor as Jesus did" to grasp the power of the resurrection. Appropriate Easter theme.
One of the participants commented, "We're made aware again just how much of a chasm there is between who we are and who we could be." You know, there but for the grace of God go I.
Another confesses that he wants to "see Jesus in the faces of people who live here permanently." The experience of detachment from the materialism of his normal life causes him to feel like
"standing on a mountaintop and shouting 'Don't you see where the peace is?'"
Such analysis always prompts me to think or to say, "Wonder if the homeless and the impoverished frame their poverty in such joyous, spiritual terms?"
One of the men is a retired theology professor who reported that he has been thinking about the randomness of his situation compared to the homeless people he will meet on the streets. "You meet people in the world who are really powerless. The shoe could be on the other foot." He makes a clear connection between his experience on the streets among the very poor and a personal discovery of how Jesus shared in the human condition during his life.
I expect this little group of Holy Week pilgrims discovered great benefit in their short-term street experience. I expect they learned a great deal from the experience, including new insights about themselves.
But, am I the only person put off by the entire concept?
Wouldn't a more productive way to escape the troublesome limits of materialism involve giving and sharing the wealth and the goods that success brings on a consistent basis? I mean, is it really a good thing to use the poor to grow spiritually in such come and go fashion?
How about forming a new spiritual commitment to doing the hard, daily work of battling poverty on as many fronts and in as many ways as are both possible and necessary to see things actually change?
Maybe these men leave the streets more committed than ever to put an end to homelessness in the Texas capitol. But the report I read in the Austin American-Statesman did not mention such new resolve born of the group's Lenten repentance.
To presume to "come and go" for my own personal "spiritual benefit" seems to raise lots of questions that don't have very satisfying answers.
Maybe it's just me. What do you think?
.
It seems the leader of a homeless ministry in that city leads such a group of "seekers" onto the streets for three days. The goal of the retreat is "to connect with God" by striping away the normal creature comforts of the participants. The intention is to "walk among the poor as Jesus did" to grasp the power of the resurrection. Appropriate Easter theme.
One of the participants commented, "We're made aware again just how much of a chasm there is between who we are and who we could be." You know, there but for the grace of God go I.
Another confesses that he wants to "see Jesus in the faces of people who live here permanently." The experience of detachment from the materialism of his normal life causes him to feel like
"standing on a mountaintop and shouting 'Don't you see where the peace is?'"
Such analysis always prompts me to think or to say, "Wonder if the homeless and the impoverished frame their poverty in such joyous, spiritual terms?"
One of the men is a retired theology professor who reported that he has been thinking about the randomness of his situation compared to the homeless people he will meet on the streets. "You meet people in the world who are really powerless. The shoe could be on the other foot." He makes a clear connection between his experience on the streets among the very poor and a personal discovery of how Jesus shared in the human condition during his life.
I expect this little group of Holy Week pilgrims discovered great benefit in their short-term street experience. I expect they learned a great deal from the experience, including new insights about themselves.
But, am I the only person put off by the entire concept?
Wouldn't a more productive way to escape the troublesome limits of materialism involve giving and sharing the wealth and the goods that success brings on a consistent basis? I mean, is it really a good thing to use the poor to grow spiritually in such come and go fashion?
How about forming a new spiritual commitment to doing the hard, daily work of battling poverty on as many fronts and in as many ways as are both possible and necessary to see things actually change?
Maybe these men leave the streets more committed than ever to put an end to homelessness in the Texas capitol. But the report I read in the Austin American-Statesman did not mention such new resolve born of the group's Lenten repentance.
To presume to "come and go" for my own personal "spiritual benefit" seems to raise lots of questions that don't have very satisfying answers.
Maybe it's just me. What do you think?
.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer
Twenty-eight years ago, I discovered Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.
His powerful, analytical book, Hunger for Justice: the politics of food and faith (Orbis Books, 1980), first rocked and then began shaping my thinking about faith's practical application to the pain and injustice of real life. I'm not sure I've read a book that's had more long-term impact on me and what I do than this one volume.
Not long ago, I picked up the book and thumbed through my markings. The spine is broken, the pages are falling out.
Here's just one insight he offers about poverty and the spiritual quality of nations, in this case the nation of Israel in biblical times:
"According to the biblical writers, the suffering of the poor reveals the religious and social fabric of nations. . . .
"The suffering of the poor is an indication that there is something deeply wrong in the religious and social fabric of the nation. Just as a red light flashes when a car is running without enough oil, the suffering of the poor flashes a warning that our political, economic, and religious systems are functioning without justice. When the poor were being trampled, the prophets conveyed the judgment of God: there is no knowledge of God in the land (Jer.9:6); the poor are being exploited in the marketplace and dispossessed of their land (Amos 8:4-7); and the religious and political authorities are co-conspirators against God and the poor (Micah 3:9-11; Isa. 3:14-15)."
His powerful, analytical book, Hunger for Justice: the politics of food and faith (Orbis Books, 1980), first rocked and then began shaping my thinking about faith's practical application to the pain and injustice of real life. I'm not sure I've read a book that's had more long-term impact on me and what I do than this one volume.
Not long ago, I picked up the book and thumbed through my markings. The spine is broken, the pages are falling out.
Here's just one insight he offers about poverty and the spiritual quality of nations, in this case the nation of Israel in biblical times:
"According to the biblical writers, the suffering of the poor reveals the religious and social fabric of nations. . . .
"The suffering of the poor is an indication that there is something deeply wrong in the religious and social fabric of the nation. Just as a red light flashes when a car is running without enough oil, the suffering of the poor flashes a warning that our political, economic, and religious systems are functioning without justice. When the poor were being trampled, the prophets conveyed the judgment of God: there is no knowledge of God in the land (Jer.9:6); the poor are being exploited in the marketplace and dispossessed of their land (Amos 8:4-7); and the religious and political authorities are co-conspirators against God and the poor (Micah 3:9-11; Isa. 3:14-15)."
[page 186]
.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Can't we beat this???
States can be a lot like people. Operating philosophies produce certain results. Neglect tends toward tragedy and amazingly disturbing outcomes.
Here's how bad things are in Texas these days: The Dallas Morning News ran a multi-page, feature report in its Points section last Sunday with the headline, "The bottom line" (December 23, 2007, 1P, 4-10P) chronicling the social nightmare that is playing out in the overly proud Lone Star State.
Want a study in the extended consequences of "trickle down," laissez-faire public policy?
Come to Texas.
The state is a model of how not to do it in just about every category related to the prevention and relief of human suffering and societal injustice. Talk about the power of a system gone wrong.
Here's how the editorial board of paper leads the story:
"Hidden among Texas' great abundance--the booming businesses and mega-malls--are statistics that all of us would just as soon ignore. But the state can't afford to forget the faces behind those numbers. . . . No liberal blog or legislator is spinning these numbers. In fact, they aren't even new. They are simply compiled from statistics published by sources including the Texas state comptroller's office, the U. S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. . . . Looking at the statistics, it's almost impossible to comprehend how a state with such a healthy bottom line has crashed to the bottom in so many social areas. How many lives must be ruined before we get the picture?"
Consider the facts, just the facts, about Texas:
Here's how bad things are in Texas these days: The Dallas Morning News ran a multi-page, feature report in its Points section last Sunday with the headline, "The bottom line" (December 23, 2007, 1P, 4-10P) chronicling the social nightmare that is playing out in the overly proud Lone Star State.
Want a study in the extended consequences of "trickle down," laissez-faire public policy?
Come to Texas.
The state is a model of how not to do it in just about every category related to the prevention and relief of human suffering and societal injustice. Talk about the power of a system gone wrong.
Here's how the editorial board of paper leads the story:
"Hidden among Texas' great abundance--the booming businesses and mega-malls--are statistics that all of us would just as soon ignore. But the state can't afford to forget the faces behind those numbers. . . . No liberal blog or legislator is spinning these numbers. In fact, they aren't even new. They are simply compiled from statistics published by sources including the Texas state comptroller's office, the U. S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. . . . Looking at the statistics, it's almost impossible to comprehend how a state with such a healthy bottom line has crashed to the bottom in so many social areas. How many lives must be ruined before we get the picture?"
Consider the facts, just the facts, about Texas:
- A child is born in poverty every 7 minutes
- A child is abused or neglected every 10 minutes
- First in teen births and the most repeat teen births in the U. S.
- 25% of Texas' children are born into poverty
- 49th in the number of working poor (that is, Texas is second in the number of people who work and remain poor)
- $14,700--the average annual income of the poorest 20% of Texas families
- $203,200--average annual income of the richest 5% of Texas families (13.8 times as high as the poorest 20%)
- 16% of Texans live with hunger or in fear of starvation, just ahead of New Mexico and Mississippi
- 48th in the nation in state and local government expenditures for public welfare--$808 per capita
- Second highest Gross Domestic Product in the U. S.
- Number 1 in cancerous emissions into the air and toxic chemicals into the water.
- Ranks 50th in the number of insured people in the nation--5.5 million Texans are not covered by health insurance or 24% of the population (compared to 15.7% for the U. S.)
- 1st in the U. S. in executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976
- 2nd highest incarceration rate
- 60% of children under Texas Youth Commission supervision come from low-income families
- 83% of these children have IQs below 100
- 41% experience serious mental health issues
- 52% come from families with a history of criminal behavior
- 76% have parents who are separated or never married
- 34% of Texas high school students drop out--8th highest in the U. S.
- 49th in verbal SAT scores and 46th in math
- Texas ranks 41st in per capita spending on students in public schools, compared to 25th in 1999. [Did I hear someone say, "No child left behind"?]
- 8th largest GDP in the world--$1.1 trillion in 2006
- 1st in number of shopping malls in the nation
- 12th in church or synagogue attendance
Not a pretty picture.
If I'm a Texas preacher today, I figure I have a few things to bring up with my congregation.
If I'm a Texas legislator, after I take a long look at myself in the mirror, I figure I've got a few things to work on.
If I'm a citizen of the state, and I am, I figure I need to be engaged at several levels.
.Sunday, November 25, 2007
Gordon Cosby
N. Gordon Cosby founded The Church of the Savior in Washington, DC. Here's a bit of his prophetic wisdom for this Sunday:
We see the realities of our world and recognize that the church has not become a strong and mighty witness for scores of displaced refugees and starving ill, ignored, assaulted masses. We are not calling the nations to bow before God in recognition of systemic oppression of the poor. We are not demanding that practices of reconciliation and justice be at the heart of national and global policies, nor even at the heart of our own schools, work places and neighborhoods. We are not lending our corporate voice to the voiceless and our power to the powerless. . . .
No longer do we wish to remain silent in the face of our immense needs. No longer will we condone the church's complicity in the violence of war, racism, sexism, addiction, and the growing divide between those with access to wealth and those with access only to poverty. No longer will we accept being separated from each other because we are of different races and cultures and economic classes.
[Taken from Becoming the Authentic Church: From Principle to Practice (2004), pages 10-11]
We see the realities of our world and recognize that the church has not become a strong and mighty witness for scores of displaced refugees and starving ill, ignored, assaulted masses. We are not calling the nations to bow before God in recognition of systemic oppression of the poor. We are not demanding that practices of reconciliation and justice be at the heart of national and global policies, nor even at the heart of our own schools, work places and neighborhoods. We are not lending our corporate voice to the voiceless and our power to the powerless. . . .
No longer do we wish to remain silent in the face of our immense needs. No longer will we condone the church's complicity in the violence of war, racism, sexism, addiction, and the growing divide between those with access to wealth and those with access only to poverty. No longer will we accept being separated from each other because we are of different races and cultures and economic classes.
[Taken from Becoming the Authentic Church: From Principle to Practice (2004), pages 10-11]
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