Launch 150
As many of my regular readers know, my family has been spending time over the last two years or so in a government assisted housing project that we affectionately refer to as “The Neighborhood.” This housing project is actually one of a few near our home.
Last week, while we were helping some other friends work at a local food pantry (see my post, “Feeding People“), we met a lady who works in a different housing project on the other side of town. She and her husband have started a more organized ministry called “Launch 150.”
I like this (part of the description of their work on their “Current Ministries” page):
We try to be “here.” Ready to serve, help, whatever is needed. Sometimes that’s having a house/yard full of kids; sometimes it’s praying with a neighbor; sometimes it’s providing transportation. Sometimes it’s crazy busy, sometimes it’s not. God seems to time our activity pretty well, if we are listening to Him.
While there are several differences between what they’re doing and what we’re doing, I think it’s great that we’re all working toward the same goal. I look forward to getting to know them better, learning from them, and growing together as we serve others, demonstrate the love of God, and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
Feeding People
A few months ago, we met a couple who organize a food pantry with the help of one of the large churches in our area. This week, we had an opportunity to help as they provided food for over 300 families. They do this every other week.
They are well-organized, with bags of groceries and other items waiting for the people. The people are called one family at a time, and a team of 2-3 people carry their groceries to their car. They get a very personal touch, and the teams are encouraged to talk with the families and pray with them. My family made up two teams who helped walk with people and take their groceries to their vehicles.
While they are waiting for their turn to get groceries, the people wait in a large room. For part of the time we were there, I was asked to roam through the room, talking with and praying with people that I met. I “roamed” in this manner for just over an hour.
During that time, I met, talked with, listened to, and prayed with from 25-30 people… maybe more… I didn’t count. But, easily, there were ten times that many people there that I did not have time to talk to.
I think my new friends have a great ministry and a great opportunity to impact people’s lives with food (physical and spiritual). I’m hoping to enlist some of my friends to come back next time and “roam” through the crowds with me.
And sees his brother in need…
Frank at “Reimagining Church” makes an impassioned plea for “Helping the Family in this Economy: A Great Need.” He reminds us of how the early church helped one another during times of financial (or other) crisis. (Remember the great famine? Acts11:28-30)
Frank says:
In my country (the USA), we are facing an economic crisis. While the world looks to and waits for the government to solve our financial problems, I know many believers who are out of work. Some are struggling to put food on their tables each day.
Thankfully, the Lord has financially blessed some in the body of Christ today, and they are prospering despite the economic downturn…
All told: it’s on my heart today to say the following to every disciple of Jesus: If you are doing well financially, may I encourage you to seek the Lord regarding helping those who are hurting right now, especially those who part of the household of faith — your fellow sisters and brothers in Christ, members of the family of God?
Frank’s plea and exhortation reminds me of what John wrote:
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18 ESV)
I echo Frank’s challenge. Please consider giving to those who are struggling during this economic downturn (especially to your brothers and sisters). If you do not know of individuals or families that you can help, pray and keep your eyes open. If you still don’t know of anyone, let me know. I can point you in the direction of several hurting families.
Can you imagine the impact…
I’ve been outside the United States a few times. Twice, I went specifically to serve people in the name of Jesus – once to Nicaragua and once to Ethiopia. In each instance, the time spent serving people from another country/culture changed me as much as it changed the people there. In many ways, during those times, I was forced to take my thoughts off of myself and my “things,” and put those thoughts towards other people.
Now, Dave Black (November 11, 2010 at 7:26 a.m.) has written an exhortation that I cannot ignore. I hope, as you read it, that you cannot ignore it either. We must ask ourselves what we’re doing… really doing… in the name of Jesus, and what we’re doing in our own name. Are we completely giving of ourselves, or are we holding part back so that we can maintain our stuff?
Here is the quote:
I had been hearing about missionaries all of my life. And now I’m the GIF, the Guy In Africa, that eccentric person who can’t feel comfortable among opulence any more, who stays up half the night thinking about a sick child in Alaba or a suffering woman in Burji or a persecuted evangelist in Gondar. I don’t ever want to lose this feeling, this marveling at the world, this attraction to a country called Black-Faced (Ethiopia) filled with outcasts and dying people and babies suffering from malaria and women needing fistula surgery, this nation of 80 million people worshiping their trees or their saints or their false gods. I never want to forget how incredibly small you feel when you’re trying to bring medical supplies through customs or watching the heart-wrenching poverty or scooping up a half-naked infant or standing next to the graves of missionaries from past generations who went out to the field and never came back home (or was it ever “home” for them again?). Can you imagine what would happen if Christians in America were to grasp the principle of sharing what they have to meet the needs of the Gospel around the world? Can you imagine what the impact would be if we stopped spending 95 percent of our church budgets on ourselves? Can you imagine the change it would make if we lived a lifestyle that matched our responsibility to a lost and dying world? Seven years ago my lifestyle was up from grabs. Every thought and every action was tested by the simple teachings of Scripture. I decided, along with Becky, that I would lay up no treasure for myself on this earth. Suddenly I was free — free from my bondage to material things, free to allow God to use me — a nobody — to be His hands and feet and arms in Africa.
I can imagine the impact. I can imagine the change. I’ve seen a small sample personally, and I’ve read about it in the New Testament.
The question is… now that we can imagine it… are we willing to live it? What is preventing us (me and you) from living it?
Shifting Focus
A few days ago, I saw a short video (just over 4 minutes long) on Facebook called “Paradigm Shift.” (If you have Facebook, you can watch the video at this link. If you do not have Facebook, you can also watch the video on YouTube here.)
The video begins with the main character thinking only about himself. Each encounter with different people is viewed as an annoyance, a hindrance, a distraction, or a delay. He never thinks about the other person.
In the course of the video, he is handed a special pair of glasses. Now, when he looks at someone, he sees a problem that the person is facing. The man who cut in front of him at the coffee shop recently lost his job. The barista is fighting addiction. The woman who took his parking place is grieving her best friend. The boy who skateboarded behind his car just needs someone to care.
At the end, the man decides to talk to the boy, indicating that he is going to be the person to care.
Of course, we don’t have special glasses to tell us what is troubling other people. But, like the man in the video, we must begin by considering the other person. We must (as Paul would put it) think of others as more important than ourselves.
This means that in our day-to-day activity (yes, it’s not just on Sundays anymore), we must deny ourselves (our flesh?) and instead choose to honor others.
Then, since we don’t have special glasses, another step is required. Instead of simply considering others as more important and thinking about others, we must make the next step of talking to other people. That’s right… we have to step out of our busy lives and spend time conversing with the people that God brings across our path.
I know… you’re right… you have places to go and things to do. But, if we don’t make time for other people, then are they really important to us? If we can’t stop and talk to someone – and perhaps help them as well – do we really love them?
It would be great to have special glasses or know what’s in the heart of men like Jesus, but we don’t. We demonstrate that we love God and love others by begin willing to set aside our agenda and our plans, and spending time with the people around us, talking with them, listening to them, caring about them, and then caring for them.
The first step is the hardest, I think. What is that step? The first step is getting our minds off of ourselves, and thinking about and caring about other people. Yes, even that person that cuts you off in traffic, or breaks in front of you at a restaurant, or takes a long time in the checkout line.
Can we do that? Can we actually care about other people?
Naming the Marginalized
This post is part of a synchroblog on the subject “Seeing Through the Eyes of the Marginalized.” It’s been a long time since I’ve taken part in a synchroblog, but I’m excited to get back to it, especially given this topic.
First, what does it mean to be marginalized? Here are a couple of definitions to get started:
1) Marginalization is the social process of becoming or being made marginal (to relegate or confine to a lower social standing or outer limit or edge, as of social standing).
2) Marginalization – often used in an economic or political sense to refer to the rendering of an individual, an ethnic or national group, or a nation-state powerless by a more powerful individual, ethnic or national group, or nation-state.
We all know the groups that are marginalized. Sometimes, the groups change from region to region, and from culture to culture. But, in my area, there are many different groups of people who are marginalized by society.
So, I began to ask myself, “How can I see through the eyes of the marginalized?” I realized right away that it was impossible for two reasons. 1) As long as I am not marginalized myself, I will never truly see through their eyes. And 2) “the marginalized” is a nameless, faceless, amorphous group that does not have eyes.
If I want to begin to see through their eyes – to begin to understand the marginalized – then I muse begin by getting to know them, by getting to know their names, and by listening to their stories. Once individuals replace the label “the marginalized,” I can begin to understand them.
You see, it’s one thing to care for “the sick,” but it’s something completely different to care for Tina. It’s one thing to care for “the homeless,” but it’s something completely different to care for Charvin. It’s one thing to care for “the widows,” but it’s something completely different to care for Peggy. It’s one thing to care for “single mothers,” but it’s something completely different to care for Shonna.
We can say that we care for “the marginalized,” but never get to the point where we actually no someone who is marginalized. We can even give money to help “the marginalized,” but in fact, we’re actually paying someone else to care for individuals for us. And, unfortunately, from experience, I know that often that money does not actually help individuals, because they are often treated as a group. (Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that we should give money to help groups. I’m saying that we shouldn’t stop there.)
It is only when we get to know the person, to hear their story, to learn about their struggles and pain and hopes and fears… it is only at that point that we will know who to love them and serve them. We love and serve people when we are no longer caring for “the marginalized,” but we are caring for Benny, Belle, May, Creston, Cathy, and Jimmy.
If you want to begin to see through the eyes of the marginalized – to truly understand their life and their plight – then begin by getting to know their individual names, and listening to their individual stories.
———————————————
There are other bloggers posting on the subject of “seeing through the eyes of the marginalized.” Links to their posts are below. I’ll add more as they come in:
- George at the Love Revolution – The Hierarchy of Dirt
- Arthur Stewart – The Bank
- Sonnie Swenston – Seeing through the Eyes of the Marginalized
- Wendy McCaig – An Empty Chair at the Debate
- Ellen Haroutunian – Reading the Bible from the Margins
- Christine Sine – Seeing through the Eyes of the Marginalized
- Alan Knox – Naming the Marginalized
- Margaret Boehlman – Just Out of Sight
- Liz Dyer – Step Away from the Keyhole
- John O’Keefe – Viewing the World in Different Ways
- Steve Hayes – Ministry to Refugees–Synchroblog on Marginalised People
- Kathy Escobar – sitting at the rickety-card-table-in-the-family room at thanksgiving dinner
Gospel or Social Justice?
Two recent posts have suggested that our proclamation of the gospel must proceed along with social justice – that is, caring for people’s needs. Otherwise, the authors agree, we are not truly proclaiming the gospel.
The first post is from Arthur at “The Voice of One Crying Out in Suburbia” and is called “It cannot be one or the other, it must be both.” He says:
The problem is not an overemphasis on one or the other, it is that often the emphasis is on neither and it must be on both. The way we ensure that we don’t forget evangelism or mercy is to first, as Carson says, make sure we get the Gospel right. Second, equip all believers and give them the ability and encourage the inclination to do ministry in the world, to think outside of the church building for ministry opportunities. Third, be bold and clear that the life of a disciple of Christ is not one of insulated middle-class values and comforts but instead a self-denying, cross bearing life that will rub the world the wrong way.
The second post, which is like the first, is from Jared at “The Gospel-Driven Church” and is called “Why Social Justice is Necessary.” Jared gives us 8 reasons for including acts of mercy with gospel proclamation.
hmmm… the second is like the first… seems I’ve heard that before…
And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40 ESV)
Oh yeah, I remember that now.
Paid to Serve
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written an interesting post called “Robbed of Joy.” He is writing about paid pastoral ministry, which he has recently stepped away from.
Eric is concerned about being robbed of the joy that comes through serving. He writes:
When I serve those in the church as a salaried pastor, the deeds I do may be good ones (I certainly hope so). Despite this, I do not experience the same joy that I do when I’m not paid. I cannot explain it. It may be completely subjective on my part. Regardless, I know that service within the church – as a salaried pastor – loses joy precisely because of the salary.
So, who is robbing me of the joy of serving? Is it God? No. Is it the church? No. In fact, the church has been generous to us. So who is it? This may sound a bit self-centered, but I believe I’m robbing myself of joy by receiving a salary. By accepting payment for service, ministry then becomes a job/duty rather than a joy.
This is one of the reasons I am stepping down as a salaried pastor.
I’m tired of robbing myself of the joy that comes from serving brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, I’ll be completely honest here. I have never been in a paid (salaried) pastoral position. I have never experienced what Eric is describing. I can give testimony about the other side of things – serving without being paid.
But, I’ve often wondered about paying people to serve. Is this really service? I don’t know.
What do you think? (I’d love to hear from those who are in paid pastoral positions as well.)
May our zeal stir up others
When Paul was writing to the Corinthians for the second time (or third, or fourth), he includes this commendation (yes, he actually commended the Corinthians for something):
Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. (2 Corinthians 9:1-2 ESV)
Think about this a minute… The Corinthians’ zeal for serving the saints was so great that others heard about it. And, when they heard about that zeal for service, they were stirred up to serve others as well.
May our zeal to serve stir up others to service also.
Excuse me… are you busy?
It doesn’t get much better than this great reminder from Guy (at “The M Blog“) called “Interruptions are my ministry.”
It’s hard to pick just one excerpt from Guy’s post… so here are two. The first:
In the past fourteen days, I have only been able to cross off fourteen items total out of 40+ things needing attention yesterday. That averages to one item accomplished per day!
Why am I getting so little accomplished these days? I can answer that with one word. INTERRUPTIONS. And what is the definition of interruptions? PEOPLE!
And the second:
What if God also has “to do” lists? What if God has on his list today for Juán to call me and see about our getting together for coffee at 2:15 this afternoon and talk about his problems?
When I seriously pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…” am I not in effect saying, “Lord, your “to do” list has priority. Your agenda today takes precedence over my own.” While meeting Juán at 2:15 may not be on my list, I would be foolish to blow off meeting Juan at 2:15 if he is on God’s list.
What a great reminder! When people “interrupt” our schedule, God has given us an opportunity to demonstrate that we love him and love others more than our own plans. He has given us an opportunity to serve him through serving other people.