The Risks We Take

One issue that has weighed heavily on my heart recently is that of accountability.
What do we require?
What is required of us?
In the priesthood of all believers we are all called to be representatives for Christ in the world.
So what does God require?

So often it seems as though we are unwilling to deal with the difficult tasks before us.
We try to push the problem off,
onto someone else,
further down the road,
away from where we are.
More often than not we use our religion as a crutch.
We use our churches as barricades,
walling ourselves in
and actively working to keep those who do not resemble us

Out.

The other day I was reading an article that described the business practices of the bulk goods store: Costco.
The purpose of the article was to talk about the stark difference in business practices between Costco and their largest competitor, Walmart.
Apparently, Costco has become known as a company that is significantly more friendly to its employees than most other big chains.
Their average pay is higher,
their health insurance plans are generally better,
and their average worker turn-over is significantly lower.
What surprised me about the article was what some analysts have begrudgingly said about their business practices:

It's better to be an employee than a shareholder.

Now I don't know who the analyst is that made that statement,
nor do I know their convictions or their faith.
So my thoughts about it are not directed at them.
However,
it does make me wonder what the Christian response should be.
What the response of the priesthood of all believers should be.

That one analysts's statement brings to mind a few others:
Proverbs 16:19
Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.
Psalm 84:10b
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

This is the disconnect for me. Something about that analysts's statement doesn't sit right in the light of these texts. It doesn't fit.
The message coming from the biblical texts is one that subverts our understanding of what positions of honor or respect look like. These biblical texts subvert what we might think is owed to us.


James Cone, in his work "Risks of Faith" asks an important question:
"Whose Earth Is It, Anyway?"
His response is Psalm 24: "The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it."
All of creation belongs to God.
That means that everything from the air we breath,
to the molten core of the planet,
to the germs that inhabit our bodies,
to the very next person we meet,
and even we belong to God.
Cone argues that we are held accountable by God in what we do with that.
Do we really listen to our sisters and brothers who look different from us?
Who think differently?
Who were brought up on the other side of town?
In my denomination there are people of many backgrounds,
from countries around the world.
And yet,
in the U.S. 93% of the church is white.
Do we really know our sisters and brothers who are different?
In talking about the Youth Lounge program at Broadway United Methodist Church in Chicago, Pastor Lois McCullen Parr describes what it's like to run a program that feeds and provides a "hang-out" space  in the church for 50-70 LGBTQ youth, many of who are without a home, two Saturdays a month.
When asked why other organizations aren't running the same program she says:

"The way we operate is, some people would say, risky. We don't have rules published at the door. We don't make people show us an ID or leave their bags anywhere. Some people would say: You're asking for trouble."-1 Windy City Times

But she also says that taking that risk is worth it because, "when you treat people with love and respect, they respond, and they rise to the occasion."-2 Windy City Times 


Rudy Rasmus outlines the Apostle Paul's understanding of accountability in his book "Touch."
He says there are three big points for Paul:
Attitude,
Activism,
And Authority.
Attitude is exemplified in Paul's instruction to be humble as modeled after the life of Jesus.
Humility is the surrendering of oneself in belonging to God.
Humility is coming to be committed to belonging to God.
Activism comes from the actual work of Jesus, in loving all that we encounter.
Activism is what we choose to do with our faith, how we live into our belonging to God.
Authority is what comes from the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God gives us the power that is necessary to be servants,
to care more for another than our own profit.

Rasmus says: "I warn people that following Christ might make their lives more complicated--at least for a while."(p.121)
There are risks to following Jesus,
because in doing so we render ourselves accountable to God and to all of creation.
When creation groans, we groan.
When we shut out others, we shut out ourselves.
When we put our profit margins above creation, we put wealth above God.
Following Christ is not easy because following Christ isn't about "me",
or what "I" want.
Following Christ is not easy because it doesn't fit neatly into a market or a government.
Following Christ requires taking risk,
being bold.
Following Christ is giving more than we've got,
receiving more than we can handle,
loving when we don't feel it,
hoping when we can't see it,
praying when there are no words,
and speaking truth even when it comes at a great personal cost.
What does God require of you?

Who will you actively love?
What pain will you heal?
How much will you surrender to follow Christ?


What risks will you take?



1 & 2. Erica Demarest. "Lakeview pastor talks 'love work' LGBTQ Youth Series from Windy City Times" Windy City Times 11 Nov. 2012

The Destruction of Ignorance

I had spent a lot of time struggling with my calling. Not in the sense that I didn’t want to be called by God, but in the sense that I wasn’t sure if I could reconcile the two very distinct lifestyles that I have grown up in. On one hand, my life has been surrounded by wealth, prosperity, and a kind and loving environment. On the other hand, my heart has grown to love those who are surrounded by poverty, despair, oppression, and a suffocating and subjugating environment. I had a difficult time seeing where I fit. I have always been inclined to follow my heart, because I believe that that is where God speaks to me the most clearly. So I grew to be agitated by the decisions and prosperity of the people and area I grew up with. Part of me knew that if I were to pursue a particular track in ministry it would lead me to be a leader to people that I increasingly could not identify with. However, my experiences in my education and in the work that I have pursued over the past couple of years has reconnected me with reality and restored my patience. The conflict still exists, but the feelings of frustration and anger are far less intimately connected with a particular income bracket and are now directed at specific situations and circumstances.
For example, the volunteers that come to us at Motown Mission are all unique but they all share a similar sense of the unknown. Many groups have had people drop out at the last minute out of fear of the city. The ones that do arrive do so for many reasons, but the struggle for me has been to recognize that each person who comes, comes bravely. I have learned to recognize that each individual has had different life experiences and many of those experiences have not been so blessed as mine. So I have grown to see my role in ministry as one that rights the wrongs of a life of privilege. So many people live in blissful ignorance of the struggles that surround them. For me that focus has been primarily on the struggles of the poor and oppressed, but I have learned, from my fiance, that that ignorance can extend to a great number of things, including the environment and rest of God’s creation.
At Motown Mission we focus on the “slow motion Katrina” that is the economic disaster that plagues the city of Detroit. Within that we try to show our volunteers that the people they are serving did not choose this. The city did not collectively decide to become one of the poorest in the nation. What many of the neighborhoods have collectively decided is to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. In my eyes the city is like any other oppressed group of people driven to the brink. It is taking what no one will give it. There are neighborhoods in the city that have decided that they are fed up with the current system that exists, because that system treats them like they don’t exist. So neighborhoods take charge. No grocer will move into the city to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, so the people grow their own. No bank will lend to give them money to buy a vacant house on their street, so the block maintains the yard to keep the crime down. So few people want to help out with the task of, literally, cleaning up the streets that the job becomes impossible to handle, so when people do come out to clean up, local businesses offer discounts and a helping hand. There is so little money available that people can't afford goods or services, so some local business owners will barter the skills that are available.
It is because of all of that that I have loved working for Motown Mission. This job has given me the opportunity, every week, to help right the great wrong of privilege. This job has given me the chance to open peoples eyes, to see the world a little differently, to walk away a little less afraid, and a little more angry for all the right reasons.