edikaiosen
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06:54:10 pm on June 19, 2008 | # |
I want to try to communicate this well so bear with me and my rambling. I hope my point comes through.
I feel that any standard of living that we lust for is, or can be, a god. And sometimes we try to force a standard of living on other people. For example Africans or Indians or American Ghettos. We say,
“Let us develop programs for you, let us provide homes for you, let us get you jobs, let us give you money, let us show you how to eat well.”
What makes our answer for their life so right? If all we do is teach the poor how to live like wealthy americans than all we will have ended up doing is creating more wealthy pagans who still will lust for more wealth and less of God. We’ve provided them the riches that they lusted for, but none of the true substance that they need to live, namely Jesus.
Now don’t get me wrong, we should care for the poor, the homeless, the widow but we must not forget EVER that there is a real danger of feeding their lust for more worldly wealth. In other words, I think we need to find how to provide for those people (material things) without spreading the cancer of Americanism in their hearts and minds even more.
What does it subtly say to a person when we give them something nice and new that they couldn’t buy on their own? First of all, they will like it. Second of all, they will like us for giving it to them. Third of all, I feel that it subtly says that we thought that they needed that thing. We thought they needed it so they might think everybody else thinks they need more things like this too. So now they have in their hearts a desire to live up to a certain standard. To lust after more. To try harder to get that next thing. And when they can’t do it (and they will never achieve it), they fail. They beat themselves up. They go to extremes (prostitution, drugs, alcohol) to try to attain it, or they simply give up (suicide) for if money is your god and you don’t have it… what is there to live for?
All this to say… I feel there is a unique way to reach the lustful-american-mind of the poor in america, and I want to find it. I want to provide to the poor, windowed, and homeless in way that makes Jesus known and their bodies nourished, but doesn’t proliferate their desire for more wealth. I know that if they truly KNOW the King Jesus that they will lust for only more of Him, but how can we provide for their current needs while we teach them about Jesus?
Maybe my answer is simply, the Gospel. Maybe it’s as simple as bringing them the good news with a meal and pray that they hear the message. I hope that is the answer, because that is the best one I can come up with.
K.B.
poopemerges 5:23 pm on June 20, 2008 | #
Real goods for real service. This is what you will hear from urban workers and ministers who have a clue. We need to get beyond our food truck messiah mentality… When we become those who give goods and others only those who receive what good have we done? Everyone has something to offer and it is not necessarily cash. But handouts seldom lead to lasting change, or in imbuing man with the idea that they are valued by God.
It is true that God himself has given with no strings that which we could never earn…but here in lies the truth of our way to fruitful ministry. The African, Indian, Filipino or American with no money dwelling in the ghetto is no more impoverished than we were before we met Jesus. We to at one point had nothing to offer. And we still bring nothing into our relationship with God…blessed are we when we realize it. Blessed are the poor in spirit…theirs is the kingdom of heaven. sola deo gloria.
When we remember this we remember that we are not “messiahs” Jesus is. When we remember this we can not only minister to, but we can be ministered to. Working in the city becomes not an issue of changing “those” people, but of true partnership…we are all those people…and together we grow.
Discussing the “Poor”… « Poop is Emergent Too 5:29 pm on June 20, 2008 | #
[...] June 20, 2008 Filed under: Urban Ministry — poopemerges @ 1:28 pm My friend has a post here [...]
amybaker 1:36 am on June 23, 2008 | #
This is something my spouse and I have discussed at length, and you are touching on what I believe is a misunderstanding in particularly evangelicals on how to serve the poor.
The standard “go-to” evangelical argument against spending time, money and resources on mercy ministriest is the silly adage of “give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” There are about a million things wrong with that philosophy, but I will just point out the two largest.. 1.) at some point, w/o the fish, the guy will die. Deadmen don’t learn to fish.
2. ) (this is what drives me nuts) While evangelicals love to throw that phrase and ideology around, the churches that actually “teach” someone to fish are few and far between. They will ardently argue against social justice & ‘Handouts” but their churches do nothing but a 30 hr. famine in youth group and hand out gift cards to grocery stores. These churches don’t actually want to disciple the poor, they want to keep them at arm’s length, especially if they are homeless and smell. I don’t mean that disrespectfully, that is a real-life example from christians i know very well.
You are correct in pointing out the error of feeding American materialism, but lets face it, it is much easier for us to
“hand” something to someone than do the long slow work of redemption, discipleship, and building a hunger for the gospel.
poopemerges 2:57 pm on June 23, 2008 | #
Amy,
1. I agree but there must be a way to give that does not destroy the soul of a man…and connects us rather than separates us.
2. John Perkins would say he neither wants you to give him a fish nor teach him to fish…he wants to own the pond.
3. Your number 2 above is exactly the point i think that I am trying to make…evangelicals do not truly want two way discipleship relationships that lead to community and growth…they just want to throw money at problems and feel better about themselves…