I'm in the middle of reading Robert Lupton's 'Toxic Charity' and as read it I've found it full of challenges to my thinking and instinctive reactions but also lots of things which chime with our experience here at Grace Church. The area we serve is mixed, there are some affluent parts, but there are larger parts that are deprived (though that mix is changing thanks (?!?) to some new developments). As we've engaged in serving in this community it is striking how getting to know people challenges our preconceived notions of what such help will look like.
It is easy to come breezing in with an attitude that effectively looks to dish out help, advice, money, and support as if from someone who is sorted to someone in need. But the longer I spend with families in the community, the longer I look into the eyes of those we serve the more wrong our often glib view of what 'help' looks like seems.
As those who have gospel values; who believe that every ones greatest need is their eternal need and that they need to come to know Jesus, who value people as made in God's image, who want to love our neighbour, who believe we have been given much to give lavishly to the world, we want to serve others. But so often the way we do so is clumsy and can end up doing more harm than good. Lupton's book has solidified some of the things I've been seeing in and around our community as well as providing the stimulus to sit down and try and draw some conclusions about how we help those in need. Whilst these are preliminary and blurry around the edges, at best, I thought they'd be worth noting down here.
Too often we seem to switch into charity mode when we see those in need, be it a homeless man begging on the street, or a family in need - we have, they don't, therefore we give. But whilst the compassion behind it is right often our way of showing it is faulty. Charity emasculates people, it stripes them of their dignity, it undermines an often already battered self confidence or self esteem, it embarrasses them in front of their families and friends. What our deprived communities need are friends, people who will commit to knowing, loving, and staying. Friends who are committed to long term transformation not hit and run help or charity dispensed from a distance. We need to structure support in such a way that it enables people to change, to learn, to develop, teaching them to do for themselves so that they become thriving families and doing so in ways that reconnect community.
It has got me thinking about a few things and I'm aware I'm about to challenge some cherished ideas. One of our plans was to establish a food bank but I'm wondering now if that is the best, most grace filled use of resources. Would it not be better to establish some type of food cooperative where in return for a modest contribution we use the power of group buying to multiply the food we could then buy in bulk? Food banks are doing an amazing job, and tragically are necessary even in Britain in 2015. But they are also a symbol of having failed as a parent, of being unable to provide for your children. How much better if instead we can provide a system that multiplies the value of the little they do have enabling children to see parents providing and the value of community? Even better if we involve those in need in running such a scheme alongside church volunteers engendering a sense of community and pride.
Along similar lines I've been thinking about trying to establish a community allotment site. Where families can have an area of land to work to grow fresh fruit and vegetables. Giving them something to do together as a family project, but also enabling them to provide for their families much more cheaply than they can buy fresh produce. Again the community nature of such a scheme also has value and would enable us to buy seed, tools etc in bulk. The issue here for us is a piece of land on which to start such a scheme.
What we must avoid is charity which leaves the recipient unable to look us in the eye, or feeling indebted to us, or somehow lesser than the giver. That as far as I can see is far short of what the bible calls us to when it calls us to love our neighbour. There's loads more applications and implications of this and maybe I'll joy others down as thoughts and ideas solidify.
Showing posts with label poor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poor. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 September 2015
Friday, 15 May 2015
The election, the poor and the church: stop moaning and get loving
I awoke last Friday morning to a shock election result. No-one had seen it coming. Though when you look back now the outcome seems, in some ways, to have been inevitable and obvious. However, I also woke up to a storm of Christians bemoaning the outcome for the poor, marginalise and oppressed in our society. What would they do? How would they survive even more cuts? How could Britain have done this to them? Wake me up in 5 years because I don't want to watch... and so on.
Grace church works in just such an area, with exactly the types of people who have suffered most from the cuts that lets be honest have been needed. And yes it's tragic that the cuts have most savagely affected those who are worst off in our society, though I haven't come across too many people advocating for tax rises, or writing to protest that their child does not need the "free" school meal for under 7s available to all and offering that instead that money be redirected to those most in need, or advocating for means tested child benefit.
It is often areas without the voice to loudly protest that lose their services first, that are least well represented, that there is less fuss about because they simple aren't headline/campaign material. That is wrong but it is the way our society works, and we should be upset at such oppression and unfairness. But here's my frustration, all the venting and anger about what the election result meant for the poor, marginalised and deprived is not reflected in the churches involvement with those communities in Britain. The church in the UK is largely a middle class phenomenon, reaching middle class networks at the exclusion of the neighbourhood based poor and marginalised. So was it just so much arm-chair whingeing? Was it simply people expecting the government to do what they know should be done but which they lack the will power to do?
I look at it a different way. God is sovereign and this is a God given opportunity for the church to serve the poor and marginalised in our society, to love them as we are called to. To engage with these communities and help them have a voice, to provide services and relationships and networks through the church that are being lost elsewhere. In Leviticus the answer to poverty and marginalisation is always community based on the love God. That answer stands just as much today as it did then. I think the next 5 years provide an exciting opportunity for churches to connect and create communities of grace as we meet needs and serve those most vulnerable and in need in our society.
Grace church works in just such an area, with exactly the types of people who have suffered most from the cuts that lets be honest have been needed. And yes it's tragic that the cuts have most savagely affected those who are worst off in our society, though I haven't come across too many people advocating for tax rises, or writing to protest that their child does not need the "free" school meal for under 7s available to all and offering that instead that money be redirected to those most in need, or advocating for means tested child benefit.
It is often areas without the voice to loudly protest that lose their services first, that are least well represented, that there is less fuss about because they simple aren't headline/campaign material. That is wrong but it is the way our society works, and we should be upset at such oppression and unfairness. But here's my frustration, all the venting and anger about what the election result meant for the poor, marginalised and deprived is not reflected in the churches involvement with those communities in Britain. The church in the UK is largely a middle class phenomenon, reaching middle class networks at the exclusion of the neighbourhood based poor and marginalised. So was it just so much arm-chair whingeing? Was it simply people expecting the government to do what they know should be done but which they lack the will power to do?
I look at it a different way. God is sovereign and this is a God given opportunity for the church to serve the poor and marginalised in our society, to love them as we are called to. To engage with these communities and help them have a voice, to provide services and relationships and networks through the church that are being lost elsewhere. In Leviticus the answer to poverty and marginalisation is always community based on the love God. That answer stands just as much today as it did then. I think the next 5 years provide an exciting opportunity for churches to connect and create communities of grace as we meet needs and serve those most vulnerable and in need in our society.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Lulled into contentment
I'm always rebuked when I look at the emphasis the Bible places on believers seeking justice for the poor and marginalised in society, rebuked because I think our sense of comfort lulls us into inactivity. When the images come onto the TV screens what do you do? Do you reach for the remote to turn the TV channel? We can choose to shut out such images, we can choose comfort.
Where we live we are not often confronted with the startling reality of poverty in our nation or city or town. Because as a society we are good at hiding away the poor, destitute and homeless. We move them on. Why? Is it because they make us uncomfortable? Because they may us discontented?
Yet the Bible reminds us that as God's people our heart is to beat as God's does for the poor. In Exodus 23 as God establishes the Jubilee we see it is to provide for the poor. In Lev 19 we see that God provides for the poor in not harvesting a vineyard twice and not gleaning to the edge of a field (Lev 23), in Lev 25 God specifically provides help for the poor. Deuteronomy pleads for open handedness, or generosity to the poor. All to be done because God has made them and given them everything they are.
Similar as we move into the New Testament it is impossible to miss Jesus teaching about the need to love our neighbour rich and poor, religious or irreligious not because giving makes us good but because we are those who were poor and destitute before God spiritually, but whom he has made rich by his grace. As God's redeemed and dearly loved people we are liberated from possessions and living for now for living and loving as God has loved us.
Dear God save me from being lulled into contentment, give me eyes that see the needs of those around me and the resources you have lavished upon me to meet those needs I pray.
Where we live we are not often confronted with the startling reality of poverty in our nation or city or town. Because as a society we are good at hiding away the poor, destitute and homeless. We move them on. Why? Is it because they make us uncomfortable? Because they may us discontented?
Yet the Bible reminds us that as God's people our heart is to beat as God's does for the poor. In Exodus 23 as God establishes the Jubilee we see it is to provide for the poor. In Lev 19 we see that God provides for the poor in not harvesting a vineyard twice and not gleaning to the edge of a field (Lev 23), in Lev 25 God specifically provides help for the poor. Deuteronomy pleads for open handedness, or generosity to the poor. All to be done because God has made them and given them everything they are.
Similar as we move into the New Testament it is impossible to miss Jesus teaching about the need to love our neighbour rich and poor, religious or irreligious not because giving makes us good but because we are those who were poor and destitute before God spiritually, but whom he has made rich by his grace. As God's redeemed and dearly loved people we are liberated from possessions and living for now for living and loving as God has loved us.
Dear God save me from being lulled into contentment, give me eyes that see the needs of those around me and the resources you have lavished upon me to meet those needs I pray.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Perspective People
Its not often I sit and watch the news at 10 but last night I did and I was utterly appalled. One of the main stories was about Britain's commitment to pay for vaccines for pneumonia and diarrhoea for developing nations in the world, I was pleased that we were not cutting our commitments.
But what appalled me was the snippets of interviews with the public and the way people spoke of needing to look after ourselves first. It shows how tragically we live in a bubble that assumes we at the moment are not well off! I know the recession has had an impact on the lives of many, but lets not kid ourselves that Britain is impoverished; as many people feel the pinch they are buying cheaper alternatives when shopping, or they are cutting back their gym membership, or going to one car or whatever other measures they are having to take. Some people have been affected very badly and are having to make major adjustments and are experiencing real hardship but not the majority of us. And even so it will not put the lives of our children in danger from pneumonia or diarrhoea!
It illustrated again how ungrateful we are, how we assume that a high standard of living is our right, our normal standard of living, and the utter sinful selfishness that dominates our hearts and therefore our society and skews our perspective on justice and fairness. As Christians we need to have God's heart for the poor and support the giving of aid to help those less well off than us, it is a small beginning in easing need and sharing our plenty with those who have little.
But what appalled me was the snippets of interviews with the public and the way people spoke of needing to look after ourselves first. It shows how tragically we live in a bubble that assumes we at the moment are not well off! I know the recession has had an impact on the lives of many, but lets not kid ourselves that Britain is impoverished; as many people feel the pinch they are buying cheaper alternatives when shopping, or they are cutting back their gym membership, or going to one car or whatever other measures they are having to take. Some people have been affected very badly and are having to make major adjustments and are experiencing real hardship but not the majority of us. And even so it will not put the lives of our children in danger from pneumonia or diarrhoea!
It illustrated again how ungrateful we are, how we assume that a high standard of living is our right, our normal standard of living, and the utter sinful selfishness that dominates our hearts and therefore our society and skews our perspective on justice and fairness. As Christians we need to have God's heart for the poor and support the giving of aid to help those less well off than us, it is a small beginning in easing need and sharing our plenty with those who have little.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Our failings
We were looking at Luke 18v1-18 yesterday and the story of the persistent widow which Jesus teaches his disciples to show that they must never give up praying. As we were taken through it it struck me that Jesus is actual providing a critique of Jewish culture as well as teaching his disciples on prayer.
The judge does not care about godliness but neither do the people, God's law is trampled underfoot in their lack of concern and care for the widow and the fatherless. Its helpful that this story comes amid the growing conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus and the increasing way he teaches his disciples to follow him in contrast to the Pharisees.
The Pharisees know the law but find ways to wriggle out of it. So there were poor widows in Israel as Jesus walked Galilee and Samaria and even Jerusalem. For all their love of the law they were not loving according to the law.
Yet we have to be so careful in our critique of the Pharisees because we are more like them than we realise. How much concern do we have for the marginalised and cut off? How much of the underclass that there is in Britain do we see and serve? How much of the people trafficking and sex slaves which are present in our big cities are we aware of? How much do we cry out for them?
No we are not a Christian country, we are not the new Israel. But we as God's people are called to care for and love the marginalised and the cut off just as God tells us he does. We often think about imitating God by becoming more holy, but how often do we strive to imitate God by being more tender hearted to the marginalised and mistreated?
The judge does not care about godliness but neither do the people, God's law is trampled underfoot in their lack of concern and care for the widow and the fatherless. Its helpful that this story comes amid the growing conflict between the Pharisees and Jesus and the increasing way he teaches his disciples to follow him in contrast to the Pharisees.
The Pharisees know the law but find ways to wriggle out of it. So there were poor widows in Israel as Jesus walked Galilee and Samaria and even Jerusalem. For all their love of the law they were not loving according to the law.
Yet we have to be so careful in our critique of the Pharisees because we are more like them than we realise. How much concern do we have for the marginalised and cut off? How much of the underclass that there is in Britain do we see and serve? How much of the people trafficking and sex slaves which are present in our big cities are we aware of? How much do we cry out for them?
No we are not a Christian country, we are not the new Israel. But we as God's people are called to care for and love the marginalised and the cut off just as God tells us he does. We often think about imitating God by becoming more holy, but how often do we strive to imitate God by being more tender hearted to the marginalised and mistreated?
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
The Christian and Social Involvement
Last night we held the first of our Where the Rubber Hits the Road series looking at The Christian and... Last night it was social involvement.
We began with 3 questions:
We began with 3 questions:
- Is social involvement something we should do as well as evangelism?
- Is it a means of doing evangelism?
- Or is it a distraction from the main task of making the gospel known?
The case for social involvement
We begin, as we must Biblically, with the character of God (Ps 146:7-9). God is a God of justice and therefore opposed to those who commit injustice. God expects his people to mirror his justice (Deut 10:18-19, Prov 31:8-9, Lev 19:9-18). In OT God condemns Israel for their indifference to the poor and injustice they tolerate (Is 58:3-7, Amos 8:4-6, Mal 3:5). In fact social involvement was to mark out the people of God (Deut 15:11, 24:17-22).
As we move into the New Testament the emphasis is the same (Matt 25:31-46, James 1:27, Gal 6:10, Acts 4:34-35, Mark 12:30-31, 1 John 3:16-17). The believers in the new community are called to social involvement as part of discipleship. To show God's love and stand for God's justice.
The case for evangelizing the poor
One of the key questions we must answer as Christians is what is peoples most pressing need?
(Matt 6:19-20, 7:12-14, 10:28, 12:13-21) The Bible says it is to be reconciled to God and escape his wrath. Our eternal fate is more important than what happens to us in this life.
This is also the greatest need of the poor. It is never enough just to address peoples felt needs. They are a good starting point but no one articulates God’s judgement as a felt need. Without an awareness of eternal need we will find ourselves focusing on temporal needs. So proclaiming the gospel must be central as we engage with peoples temporal needs.
WE must be those who love God, marvel at his grace to us and magnify him by reflecting his concerns and love for others. Both as we engage in Social Action among our communities and as we share and proclaim the gospel to people.
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