Made in God's Image

Once again, Robert Lupton completely blows me away. In this book, he shares in little vignettes how his experiences from inner city ministry completely exposed God's heart for the poor and transformed Him in the process. I've just begun this book, but I can barely put it down. Here's a chapter that will rub you in really good ways. I just had to share it.

THE IMAGE OF GOD
Behold, an infant. A normal man-child in most respects. A kind-natured child. A child with promise and potential.
Watch him as he enters a rancid, smoke-filled world that resounds with the shouts and crashes of parents in conflict. Listen to him as he begins to compete for affection and food, and finds both forms of nourishment in short supply. His cries and soon his words become demanding. He pushes and grasps for strong boundaries that will assure him he is safe and loved, but finds only weak indulgence. No clear limits. No consistent discipline. Just impulsive beatings and permissive disinterest from parents preoccupied with their own survival. He begins to question his own worth. School confirms his suspicions. He drops out. He roams the streets at will, disguising his fear as nonchalance.
Behold a young man. A kind-natured, strong, undisciplined young man. Watch him as he falls in love, marries, and starts a family of his own. See his dreams begin to crumble as he loses one job, then another. He is evicted from a string of dingy apartments. His neighbors and "friends" spread rumors of child abuse and deprivation. The county takes four of his children. His wife loses respect for him. He is falsely accused of beastiality, arrested, and thrown in jail. Watch now as inmates and officials violate him. Watch as the last glimmer of dignity is choked out.
Behold a man. A broken man, scarcely forty. Parents dead. Rejected by his family. He walks the streets alone, head bent, shoulders stooped, hair matted, teeth rotting, drool running down his unshaven chin. A kind-natured man now babbling foolishly a salad of loosely connected thoughts and phrases... He is prideless, worthless to his wife and children than the social worker that issues their food stamps.
Watch now as a miracle unfolds. A metamorphosis! The wind of the Spirit of God blows through and about Lester's life. A man made in the image of God and reduced to nearly animal form is slowly being restored. God begins to convince Lester that he has worth, that he is loved.
The message comes from many sources. A family who invites Lester and his family for a picnic. A businessman who continues to hire, fire, and rehire Lester on a job, insisting on a standard of responsible work yet holding on to Lester with firm love. People who notice and praise Lester when he is bathed, shaved, or wearing clean clothes. A person who accepts a gift from Lester without chiding him for "taking food out of his children's mouths." A minister who prays with Lester. A counselor who intervenes to cool flaring family tempers and helps Lester expose his festering hurt and anger to the sunlight of God's acceptance. The people of God, the Church, become actors in the unfolding drama of re-creation while the wind of the Spirit breathes in new life.
What potential is confined within this unattractive shell we know as Lester? Who knows save the Creator himself? But of this we are certain: when Lester prays or weeps with joy, when he caresses his baby boy, we see the image of God.


If we believe that each person is created in the Image of God, then it is the the ministry of the Church through the Holy Spirit to remind the poor of their dignity and their worth when the world reduces them to nothing.

For theirs is the kingdom.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:3).

A Few Guiding Principles for Community Development

This is a learning and growing summer for me. One of the many ways that I hope to do so is by doing a lot of reading, particularly books connected to Community Development. The most recent book I just finished was probably one of my favorites on the topic thus far: Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor by Robert Lupton. He is a genius. I found his thoughts to be challenging, articulate, easy-to-read, innovative, and smart. He clearly understands the long-range vision of community development, and provides the road map in how to get there. He address relevant issues that both urban and suburban churches will have to face in order to respond to the poor in their midst. I especially love how he includes all people from different backgrounds, socioeconomic status, skills, education to the the table and urges them that they have a vital role to play. The Church needs to respond, not just parachurch organizations to the issues of poverty and injustice that exist all around us. Go and read it!

As I was reading through this book, I was reaffirmed in the values that led me to this place. Since being introduced to the organization, Christians in Community Development Association (CCDA), I have been so encouraged by other urban practitioners who have dedicated their life to the same mission and calling: to serve the least of these in our cities. CCDA has coined a set of core principles which guide all that they do. I wanted to share these with you to give you a window into my world. I will do my best to summarize.

#1 Relocation: Living Among the People
Relocation is based on the idea of living "incarnationally" among the people you are serving. To desire the same thing for your neighbor as you desire for yourself. This posture allows us to share in each other's joys and sorrows. There are 3 kinds of people who live in the community: "Relocators" are people who are not born in the inner city but moved into the neighborhood. Second are the "returners." These are the people born and raised in their community who then left for a better life. Usually they return from college or the military. They are no longer trapped by the surrounding poverty of their neighborhood. Yet, they choose to return and live in the community they once tried to escape. Last are the "remainers." These are the ones that could have fled the problems of the inner city but chose to stay and be a part of the solution to the problems surrounding them (p. 125). Commuting in and being a migrant church which pops in and out serves a purpose, but not one of long-term community development.


#2 Reconciliation: Reconciling People to God and to Each Other
Our commitment to reconciliation is core to our faith as believers... or at least it should be. We all believe that people need to be reconciled to God. However, the concept of reconciliation doesn't end here. Rather, it is wholistic. It involves not only the importance of evangelism and discipleship, but it also involves social action. Community Development encompasses both and recognizes that we need to meet all of the needs of a person, not just physical and not just spiritual, because we are wholistic beings. In addition, the part of reconciliation that gets under-emphasized is reconciliation within the church. The most racially segregated time of the week in our nation is Sunday morning during church services... American churches are rarely integrated and thus weaken the gospel because of this practice. (p. 126). We must be intentional in pursuing reconciliation and committed to embracing the process for the sake of bringing glory to Christ's name and authenticating the message we are sharing.


#3 Redistribution: Just Distribution of Resources
When God's people who have resources (regardless of their race or culture) commit to living in underserved communities, seeking to be good neighbors, being examples of what it means to be a follower of Christ, working for justice for the entire community, and utilizing their skills and resources to address the problems of that community alongside their neighbors, then redistribution is being practiced (p. 128). Redistribution involves taking personal responsibility for restoring justice in your community by finding creative solutions to utilize the resources of the community to address broken systems (ie. unjust prison system, hiring practices, educational system, housing developments, etc).


#4 Leadership Development
Building up indigenous leaders within the community to lead their own communities is the ultimate goal of community development. However, this process is only possible when there is longevity of ministry. Quick fixes do not work in poor neighborhoods where root issues are not being dealt with. It takes time and investment in the youth of our cities. Encouraging escapism (an attitude of flight from inner city youth who make it out of the "ghetto" and never come back) can discourage the process of leadership development over time. Ministries must be committed to this process for the long haul in order to see organic leadership rise up within the next generation.


#5 Listening to Community
It is vital for community developers to practice listening to the community by hearing their dreams, ideas, and thoughts. In doing so, we learn what their felt needs are. It is important not to focus on the weaknesses or needs of a community.The felt need concept helps us as community developers to focus on the desires of the community residents... Asset-based community development focuses on the assets of a community and builds upon them. When felt needs are fused together with community assets, this can have extremely positive results (p. 130). Once those needs are identified, then the question is "What qualities, talents and abilities does the community have that can help solve these problems?" This allows for those in the community to take ownership and empowers them to help be a part of the solution.


#6 Church-Based Community Development
I am particularly passionate about this one. It is sad to say, but the church has increasingly become irrelevant in their surrounding community, and often can be seen as an unfriendly neighbor. So many of our churches have become commuter churches which take up parking spaces, but don't know their neighbors, much less the impact that their church is having in their neighborhood. Churches should be seen as lovers of their communities and neighborhoods (p. 132). There are many individuals and organizations which are meeting the needs of their communities, but they are limited. They need the church in order to be a spiritual hospital and family for the brokenness that exists in our neighborhoods. The church plays a critical role in the process of community development, and yet it is so rare to find churches who are committed to their neighborhoods.


#7 A Wholistic Approach
Christian Community Development must consider the whole of a person and the community because each carry their own spiritual, social, economic, political, cultural, emotional, physical, moral, judicial, educational and familial issues. Because we are limited in our resources and expertise, it is important for the church to build partnerships within their communities to address the diverse issues at hand.


#8 Empowerment
One of the greatest challenges in community development is to not settle for quick and easy solutions which foster an attitude of dependency. This is found often in mercy ministries which want to give a person a dollar or feed them a meal at a soup kitchen. This approach may meet an immediate need for the day, but it doesn't help them to help themselves for tomorrow. Empowerment of an individual doesn't just give a man a fish, but it teaches him how to fish. Empowerment of a community helps them buy a pond and creates jobs for fishermen (p. 77). Oftentimes, charity demeans a person and strips him or her of dignity. In contrast, empowerment affirms a person's God-given dignity (p. 135).

Finally, it all can be summed up in this short poem (p. 135-136):

Go to the people. Live among them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what the know. Build on what they have. But of the best leaders, when their task is done, the people will remark, "We have done it ourselves".

 Which of these principles feels most challenging to you? I would love to hear your thoughts.