I feel conflicted tonight. A part of me is heart-broken and disappointed at the state of the church in America, particularly in Boston where I live. Another part of me is hopeful, optimistic, even faith-full. I can't see what God has in store, but from my experience with God I can only conclude he's up to something big!
This evening I spoke once again with my neighbor Curt. Curt is a hard-working man who gets up everyday and works long, hard hours at his job to provide for his family. Yet Curt is like the many millions of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. "I'm working just to pay my bills. Then once they are paid, I've got nothing left. So it's right back to work," he said to me. "I can't even afford to get a cold and miss work." Curt feels like a hamster on a stationary wheel just working to make someone else rich. And before I could even begin my inspirational, entrepreneurship pep-talk, he beat me to the punch. "I could start my own moving company, but that work is seasonal," he tells me. Curt already knows that owning his own business rather than working for someone else is a means of personal advancement. But where does a person without business ownership experience start? Where does he get the capital? What can be done to ensure his success?
There are some conversations I have in which a part of me is beside myself, or hovering above somehow, as if in an out-of-body experience. In conversations like this one, it is as if I am role-playing the precise scenario all my social justice, Christian community development research, reading, studies have equipped me to address. It is as if I have just left a class on evangelism only to be approached by someone at the grocery store who says, "Excuse me sir, aren't you a Christian? How can I be saved?" It cannot be merely coincidental that the challenges my neighbor Curt faces are the exact challenges I feel personally called to confront. There must be a purpose in our proximity.
Nearly 8 years ago I realized how captive the gospel I had been sharing was to Western, white individualism. With the help of such visionary leaders and ministries as John Perkins and the CCDA, I discovered the power of holistic ministry and how holistic is the gospel. Since then, I have given myself over to the kind of ministry that is intentionally Incarnational. I have served with ministries that do not merely proclaim the power of the gospel with words, but demonstrate the self-sacrificial love that is at it's heart through service and meeting felt needs. I have witnessed first-hand the power of holistic ministry by seeing it transform entire communities through faithful, prophetic witness.
I said to Curt, "The answer is community! Our culture blinds us to our potential for prosperity together by constantly trying to convince us that we are all on our own. As long as each one of us believes we just have to look out for ourselves, we will continue in this perpetual cycle of helplessness." But Curt is not a question on the midterm exam in my social ethics class in seminary. He is a real person who has been down that road before and been hurt. His response was as true as it was bleak. "Ya, but... even in community, when one person starts to make it, the others get jealous and think 'why ain't I making it?' Even family will stab you in the back over money." Curt isn't just jaded; I can't simply dismiss his apprehensions. There is a lot of truth to Curt's cynicism. Naturally, I want to reassure Curt that a community centered on faith in Christ will offer him the stability and trustworthiness he needs. However, even as optimistic and faith-full as I think I am, I too quickly recall just how treacherous and divisive church communities can be. Even still I said to him, "The community must be rooted in something trustworthy for those in the community to be trustworthy." I almost didn't believe myself as I said the words.
After several more minutes of conversation about IDAs (Individual Development Accounts), homeownership, and an organization that assists Boston residents in purchasing their first home at an affordable cost, we were both called inside our respective homes for dinner.
Still, I couldn't shake the sense of frustration that comes from knowing the Kingdom of God is the answer to Curt's dilemma---and everyone else's for that matter---but that the church that is called to reflect and advance that Kingdom is failing. Or maybe it is not that the church is failing necessarily. Perhaps somewhere in Boston God has prepared for Curt the precise resources and support he needs. Only I have no idea how to connect the two because I am unaware if or where this ministry exists. While I feel above average in being informed of the ministry taking place in Boston, I admit I cannot exhaustively know what is available. It is conceivable that minutes from us both is a ministry that God has purposed to meet Curt's need perfectly. Nevertheless, I felt helpless. So I called my friend Glenn who is much more informed of holistic ministry in Boston than I. But he had no good news. He said, [edit] 'Christian community development in Boston is a huge need.'
Osheta and I lifted Curt and his family up before the Lord and thanked God that we have the opportunity to know them and share in their lives. We prayed that God would use us to lead Curt and his family into his Kingdom freeing them not only from captivity to sin, but also from the oppressive power of injustice.
I do not know how God will meet Curt where he is at, but I am confident that if he can find and deliver me, he can rescue anyone! Please pray with me for Curt and his family that God will glorify himself in Curt's life by miraculously delivering him into his Kingdom.
Posts
