This is an (abridged) excerpt from an awesome book I'm reading, called Encounter God in the City, by Randy White. He lives in Fresno, California in a community called Lowell. Though the whole book is great, the following part especially moved me because it's SO true...
There is a bumper sticker I see from time to time that says "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Somehow, somewhere, it became acceptable-- regarded as inevitable, really-- that in this city, 4 out of 10 children live under the poverty line, that 38 % of the population runs out of their food budget before the end of the month, that we have the worst school system in the state, and that we have an average of 15% unemployment. Not only are so many of us in the church not outraged at these social realities, we have also individualized and internalized our faith making it disengaged from social systems altogether, becoming "privately engaging but socially irrelevant." We have so wrapped our faith in comfort and equated it with niceness that we can't imagine it compelling us to become disturbed (or disturbing). We can't imagine anything allowing us to disrupt our lives, certainly not involvement in the complexities of community transformation.
Our "faith" doesn't require it, though the apostle James reminded us that the truest expression of faith is "to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." Oxford theologian N.T. Wright laments,
Fact is, many of us are embarrassed by people who are so passionate about certain issues that they seem to have no other life. And we are rightly horrified by those who let their passions over issues lead to acts of violence. If that is what outrage leads to, we're happy to carry on our quiet, private lives of faith. We may feel a twinge of guilt or anxiety when faced with the massive urban problems of homelessness, illiteracy, hunger, and substandard housing. But it's like we've made a decision that, since we can't go around constantly outraged, we'll enter an "urban trance." We can deal with our anxiety generated by the homeless and the hungry by simply not focusing on them.
The more positive and proactive cousin of that bumper sticker is from the prophet Amos, who cried out "let justice roll down like waters, / and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Yet, it is one thing to affirm this majestic command, and quite another to DO it. Only recently have Western evangelical leaders begun to recapture the spirit of the early Christians: that we can wholeheartedly commit ourselves to Christ-motivated social action combined with the proclamation of the gospel without feeling that we are somehow abandoning the "real" gospel for a "social" gospel.
However, this does not mean the practice has trickled down to the church pews, where it is still assumed that Christian growth has to do with primarily internal/attitudinal changes. We hear verses like "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Rom 12:2) and assume the goal is merely a change in thinking. "We are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor 3:18) is assumed to refer merely to character. We hear "aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands (1 Thess 4:11) and take it as permission to live focused solely on our own lives, families, and jobs. Many believers don't like to think of becoming discordant, and can't imagine how to reorganize their lives in order to maximize their efforts toward kingdom transformation.
Transformed people can transform a society. The cycle of experience, reflection, and application can in itself lead to social change. As we engage in the kind of ministry that has the potential to bring transformation to a community, the effect on us is more than a desire for personal growth. In other words, our own transformation makes us avenues for transformation in the city.
After visiting Immokalee yesterday, this passage really seemed very real to me. I am reminded of the churches near Immokalee who donate a Thanksgiving dinner year after year for the farmworkers to eat for free, but yet these church members don't wonder why, though the people of Immokalee work hard labor for 12 hour days, 6-7 days a week, they still can't afford to feed their families. I am reminded of a Christian woman who won't help the homeless in her neighborhood because she sees the same people on her street year after year, but yet though these same homeless people have been around for 6 years, the woman does not know how they became homeless, does not know whether they have families... she doesn't even know their names.
When will Christians in the Western world see that there is more to following Jesus than simply developing character? Yes, character development IS important, but if that's all you get out of a relationship with God, then you are NOT following the Jesus of the Bible! When will the church see that band-aid fixes are not enough?? It is NOT ENOUGH to simply hand out food and clothing! It is our responsibility as people with privilege and an education to use our resources to enact real change! We need to not only feed the hungry, but change the systems that allow hunger to continue year after year. We need to not only hand out charity, but to develop real, loving relationships with those in need!
We need to offer our whole lives to God, and thus offer our whole lives to serving those in need. Yes, saying this scares me. I won't lie. I don't always WANT to give control of my entire life to God. I give this part, and that part, but never all of it. But it really is what is required of us if we want to truly love the poor... and, as Brian Sanders once said, only in loving the poor can we truly love God.
Thanks for reading the whole thing. I know it was long. Comments?
There is a bumper sticker I see from time to time that says "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Somehow, somewhere, it became acceptable-- regarded as inevitable, really-- that in this city, 4 out of 10 children live under the poverty line, that 38 % of the population runs out of their food budget before the end of the month, that we have the worst school system in the state, and that we have an average of 15% unemployment. Not only are so many of us in the church not outraged at these social realities, we have also individualized and internalized our faith making it disengaged from social systems altogether, becoming "privately engaging but socially irrelevant." We have so wrapped our faith in comfort and equated it with niceness that we can't imagine it compelling us to become disturbed (or disturbing). We can't imagine anything allowing us to disrupt our lives, certainly not involvement in the complexities of community transformation.
Our "faith" doesn't require it, though the apostle James reminded us that the truest expression of faith is "to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." Oxford theologian N.T. Wright laments,
Plenty of people in the church have made up a "Jesus" for themselves, and have found that this invented character makes few real demands on them. He makes them feel happy from time to time but doesn't challenge them, doesn't suggest that they get up and DO something about the plight of the world. Which is, of course, what the real Jesus had an uncomfortable habit of doing.
Fact is, many of us are embarrassed by people who are so passionate about certain issues that they seem to have no other life. And we are rightly horrified by those who let their passions over issues lead to acts of violence. If that is what outrage leads to, we're happy to carry on our quiet, private lives of faith. We may feel a twinge of guilt or anxiety when faced with the massive urban problems of homelessness, illiteracy, hunger, and substandard housing. But it's like we've made a decision that, since we can't go around constantly outraged, we'll enter an "urban trance." We can deal with our anxiety generated by the homeless and the hungry by simply not focusing on them.
The more positive and proactive cousin of that bumper sticker is from the prophet Amos, who cried out "let justice roll down like waters, / and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Yet, it is one thing to affirm this majestic command, and quite another to DO it. Only recently have Western evangelical leaders begun to recapture the spirit of the early Christians: that we can wholeheartedly commit ourselves to Christ-motivated social action combined with the proclamation of the gospel without feeling that we are somehow abandoning the "real" gospel for a "social" gospel.
However, this does not mean the practice has trickled down to the church pews, where it is still assumed that Christian growth has to do with primarily internal/attitudinal changes. We hear verses like "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Rom 12:2) and assume the goal is merely a change in thinking. "We are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor 3:18) is assumed to refer merely to character. We hear "aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands (1 Thess 4:11) and take it as permission to live focused solely on our own lives, families, and jobs. Many believers don't like to think of becoming discordant, and can't imagine how to reorganize their lives in order to maximize their efforts toward kingdom transformation.
Transformed people can transform a society. The cycle of experience, reflection, and application can in itself lead to social change. As we engage in the kind of ministry that has the potential to bring transformation to a community, the effect on us is more than a desire for personal growth. In other words, our own transformation makes us avenues for transformation in the city.
After visiting Immokalee yesterday, this passage really seemed very real to me. I am reminded of the churches near Immokalee who donate a Thanksgiving dinner year after year for the farmworkers to eat for free, but yet these church members don't wonder why, though the people of Immokalee work hard labor for 12 hour days, 6-7 days a week, they still can't afford to feed their families. I am reminded of a Christian woman who won't help the homeless in her neighborhood because she sees the same people on her street year after year, but yet though these same homeless people have been around for 6 years, the woman does not know how they became homeless, does not know whether they have families... she doesn't even know their names.
When will Christians in the Western world see that there is more to following Jesus than simply developing character? Yes, character development IS important, but if that's all you get out of a relationship with God, then you are NOT following the Jesus of the Bible! When will the church see that band-aid fixes are not enough?? It is NOT ENOUGH to simply hand out food and clothing! It is our responsibility as people with privilege and an education to use our resources to enact real change! We need to not only feed the hungry, but change the systems that allow hunger to continue year after year. We need to not only hand out charity, but to develop real, loving relationships with those in need!
We need to offer our whole lives to God, and thus offer our whole lives to serving those in need. Yes, saying this scares me. I won't lie. I don't always WANT to give control of my entire life to God. I give this part, and that part, but never all of it. But it really is what is required of us if we want to truly love the poor... and, as Brian Sanders once said, only in loving the poor can we truly love God.
Thanks for reading the whole thing. I know it was long. Comments?
