"Many of our communities have been neglected and left to deteriorate for decades. Sadly, the church of Jesus Christ has at best sat back and watched this happen. In many areas, it has even contributed to the problem. A new generation of Christians are faced with a question about how they will respond to the troubles of the poor and under-resourced communities today. The desperate conditions that face the poor call for a revolution in the church’s approach to the problem. Through years of experience among the poor, many have come to see that these desperate problems cannot be solved without strong commitment and risky actions on the part of ordinary Christians with heroic faith.....There have been many attempts by “outsiders” to alleviate the problems, but most have fallen short of lasting change. Rather, the most creative long-term solutions to the problems of the poor are coming from grassroots and church-based efforts. The solutions are coming from people who see themselves as the replacements, the agents, for Jesus here on earth, in their own neighborhoods and communities." - excerpt taken from the CCDA website
I'm convinced that our calling (amongst other things) to live and do life (two totally different things) in Washington Park is because God wants to help us look more like the image of his Son, to advance the gospel and to create/ develop Christian Community in our hood. It has indeed been a great struggle to learn this and live it out. I must confess over the years I have either forgotten or chose to not focus on the mission of God in my community. Some of it has been because of my own selfishness, relationship expectations, disappointments and because I have failed to remember that we live in a fallen world. Relationships are NOT meant to be easy.
God never promised me that moving here would be a cake walk. In fact, no where in the scriptures are we promised that life under the Lordship of Christ would mean pixie dust and hot wings. In the scriptures we see both joy and suffering as a part of what we will experience in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We see that tremendously in Acts 14 ( read it in context when you find the time- specifically paying attention to verses 22-23).
When we helped kick off this ministry 12 years ago it was based off of relationships. This was the heart of all that we did because the gospel gave us a clear picture of it. Just like in our relationship with Jesus, we learned that time in a person's presence changes things. Over time we learned quickly that God uses relationships to change people not programs, not money and not behavior modification tactics. We fail to remember that proximity is important when ministering in an urban context (and outside). This reminds me of some of my points discussed in my last blog post.
In addition to making sure we are establishing gospel partnerships with other believers within the communities we are called to, we must always remember the importance of building relationships with the people who live within these communities. Relationship building is an important link to us fulfilling the Great Commission and developing Christian community.
Often times it always concerns me that we have far too many examples of people moving into and or attending churches in communities like mine and they decide not to enter into the messy lives of others. What are we trying to protect ourselves from? Why is it that we would rather start a program, host an event, or write a check than to build genuine relationships? Why do we find ourselves ministering to children, yet we don't want to invest time into getting to know the parents that birthed them?
I remember when my husband and I was praying through our move to Washington Park, I remember clearly the following passage being brought up in my Spirit...
“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they [do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” - Luke 14
I can't begin to explain all that happened in my heart after remembering this verse. It was then in that moment I looked at my husband and said, "we are called to this, let's do it." In addition, I also remember thinking afterwards this is going to come with a great cost, much pain, frustration and even some joys. I can't lie, those thoughts brought much anxiety. I didn't know what that meant specifically, but I remember reading over this next verse in my time with the Lord that following week and personalizing it in my journal...
It's easy doing life by hand picking a group of friends who look like you, act like you, raise their family under the same principals as you do, kids interested in similar things, personalities match yours, and even forming a circle with women who may be in the same season of life as you. We know this is easy and seems very wise at the moment; however, according to what we see in the scripture above, this is not how you help advance the gospel. Is it wrong to have these things in and of themselves, no. But I do believe motives are very important here.
So when we talk about following the verses mentioned, we know that means getting involved in the lives of others will come with a great cost. It will cost you your time, your resources and your comfort. It will cost you your way of life as you have always known it to be. It will cost you stepping out of the bubble of " safety" you have created for yourself and your children. It will force you to mature, it will cause you to put away your selfishness and this view of scripture being only about your personal sanctification. I believe we have created this version of Christianity for our families that is not biblical and I believe it has negatively impacted the church at large in many damaging ways.
The hood does NOT need another church that comes in to gentrify things to make them feel more comfortable. The church in the hood does not need more white nor black colonizers. And the hood definitely don't need another group of believers who come into their community to worship just so they can check it off of their list of things to do. Those of us who worship, live and or work in these communities must always ask ourselves WHY are we doing what we're doing and how does WHAT we're doing really benefiting the community and the advancement of the gospel?
We will discuss that in my next blog post.