Fitting the Pieces Together

While preparing for a meeting with my Compass Group (my church communities name for what are often called “cell groups”or “home groups”) I got stuck on the beginning verses of our assigned Bible passage in 1st Peter 1:1-9.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

It's the “strangers in the world” phrase that caused me to wonder. Am I really a stranger to this world or am I living in the promised land, where I sense little tension between my faith and the values of the dominant culture? Have I somehow confused the language of the Kingdom with the language of consumerism, become accustomed to the gods of the land – accommodated the spirit of the times?

Sure, my friends pat me on the back for working at a faith-based organization. Many say it must be wonderful to be doing something that so profoundly changes the world. Without question, I work for a marvelous organization, one that is really helping bring the Kingdom to earth. However; even in this great environment, I can easily revert to the thought patterns of corporate culture. I can begin to assess things through a cost-effective model that often loses sight of Kingdom virtues and be lead astray. Just because I'm in this environment, doesn't mean I can't easily lose my way and begin to focus on my individual well-being and happiness – losing sight of community and the Kingdom vision of finding self-worth in service on behalf of others. When this happens, the pieces don't fit together.

To truly live as a convert, an alien or a stranger, I believe I must face the challenge of how to live in the world while living a Kingdom life. Living in a way that exposes, challenges, and yet may sometimes embrace and reaffirm the way of the dominate culture. The life I hope to lead doesn't withdrawal from the dominant culture or seek to change it through zealot action – advocating its violent overthrow. Instead, this life demonstrates extraordinary love, living out an alternative life that serves others while giving the world the means to see itself truthfully. When I live as an alien, I live in obedience to Jesus Christ and all the pieces begin to fit together.

A Storied Future

Over the last year, my journey has been influenced by a number of texts that I now realize all have a storied future theme. This post demonstrates - maybe annoyingly so - that my reading has been saturated by a series of books that, some would say, are a radical interpretation of Jesus' life, the story of the Kingdom of God on earth, and how our lives should become a part of this continuing story. In my mind, all this study has culminated in and prepared me for a Power of Full Engagement Course that I participated in this week.

What are these texts and what do they have to say about stories?

In Appreciative Living; The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life, Jacquelin Bascobert Kelm taught me a bit about the Anticipatory Principle. This principle suggest that the images we create in our minds about the future guide our present action and create that very future. As further explained by Copperridder and Whitney:

One of the basic theorems of the anticipatory view of organizational life is that it is the image of the future, which in fact guides what might be called the current behavior of any organism or organization. Much like a movie projector on a screen, human systems are forever projecting ahead of themselves a horizon of expectation (in their talk in hallways, in the metaphors and language they use) that brings the future powerfully into the present as a mobilizing agent.

In Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, Brian McLaren spoke about our framing stories. By this he means the stories that give people direction, values, and inspiration by providing a framework for their lives. It tells them who they are, where they come from, where they are, what's going on, where things are going, and what they should do.

The Power of Full Engagement course introduced me to The Power of Story: Rewrite Your Destiny in Business and in Life, by "story," Jim Loehr means those tales we create and tell ourselves and others, and which form the only reality we will ever know in this life. Our stories may or may not conform to the real world. They may or may not inspire us to take hope-filled action to better our lives.

So, this weekend my homework was to write My New Story. According to the course material my new story is to describe who I must become to achieve mission success in my life. It should communicate where I need to go in life to complete my ultimate mission. I took this assignment seriously and crafted a story that I believe will inspire me to take hope-filled action. If there was a grade, then some points would be deducted because my story is less about my ultimate mission and more about the kingdom of God on earth.

My new story is founded on the belief that the way to make our world a better place is to believe in and be active participants in a different story, the story of the kingdom of God on earth. This story incorporates many of the lessons learned while reading Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. In it Shane Claiborne speaks about the need for a new language. As the apostle James writes, the way we speak controls our lives. In the same way that you are what you eat, it's true that you are what you say. Our language changes the way we view the world. In my life, I hope to change the language of conversion. Conversion should reflect the best sense of the word - a people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying the world. Otherwise I would only be a believer, not a covert. And believers are a dime a dozen nowadays. What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but to enact it. My plan is to be a convert.

With this new story written, the path is clearer, but each step on the journey lies ahead and each step must be guided.

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,

but the Lord determines his steps.

Security Through Loving our Nieghbors

I just finished reading a section in Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw's recent book, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals, called "The Amish for Homeland Security." This section talks about how the Amish responded to the act of terror in their school, when a gunman killed five Amish children in 2006. It then asks the question, what would the world look like if we reacted to violence in that way?

On January 15th, the UCCS Center for Homeland Security, sponsored Greg Mortenson to speak at Colorado College. Greg is the author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time. His message was simple, it was as message about how to change the world by loving the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan by providing them an education. Greg's presentation also left me asking, what would the world look like if we sought security by loving others.

God seems to be speaking load and clear to me. The system changes and justice increases every time I react to violence with love or just love my neighbor.
Now the question is: Do I really believe this and do I have the courage to act like the Amish?

Lenten Journey with the Poor – Part Two

Charity = Social Service
Charity provides direct services like food, clothing, shelter.

Justice = Social Change
Justice promotes social change in institutions or political structures.

Reflecting on last Saturday’s journey, as we walked along - many of our discussions centered on the need to distinguish between justice and charity. Personally, I am more comfortable with charity because charitable actions are more immediate and somewhat measurable. Many of us were able to give examples of our charitable actions; however, we could recall far fewer demonstrated justice actions.

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17

Our visit with Bev Agnew, Co- Executive Director of Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), provided a poignant reminder that just one incident can place many of our neighbors in a homeless situation. When this happens, Bev and her team stand ready to intervene and IHN clearly provides direct services. In fact, partnering with IHN is a great way for a church community to help their immediate neighbors and I plan to encourage my church community to see what we can do to get involved.

But as we left IHN, I was faced with some questions;

• What am I doing to change the system?
• I’ve learned to do good, but do I seek justice?

Brian McLaren writes in Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, that “Jesus’ good news says we are neighbors in one global community, related to each other as fellow citizens in God’s kingdom. He calls us to seek justice for all so that God’s compassionate will is done on earth as in heaven”.

Saturday’s journey was very encouraging, because I believe the Church is reawakening to its proper role in – seeking justice – acting to change unjust systems and beginning to seek ways to bring God’s kingdom to earth.

The journey continues...

Lenten Journey with the Poor - Part One

Today, I joined a group of twenty people on a Lenten Journey with the Poor – a full-day walking tour with the poor to better understand the issues of homelessness, poverty, abuse and mental illness in Colorado Springs. This journey was hosted by Steve Saint in conjunction with the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission.

In his latest book, The Great Awakening, Jim Wallis speaks of three major obstacles when it comes to doing something about poverty. The first obstacle is the low priority of poverty on our national and international political agendas. The second obstacle is the debate over strategy that we quickly get into – about the causes and solutions of poverty. The third obstacle is perhaps the foundation of the first two. It is the lack of relationship with the poor. The vast majority of people in the richest half of the world’s population or in the top two-thirds of U.S. society have almost no relationship to the people on the bottom. Lack of relationship leads to lack of understanding, empathy, and urgency and creates stereotypes, myths, excuses, and passivity. It is the third obstacle that today’s journey was intended to overcome.

Our journey began by reflecting on two passages from the Fourth Sunday in Lent Lectionary, 1 Samuel 16 and John 9. In my notebook, I wrote that appearances are not always where it’s at and now that I claim to see, my guilt remains. These were the thoughts that set the context for the rest of the day.

In the coming days, I plan to reflect on this journey and then further elaborate on what I learned along the way and at each of our destinations. For now, I’ll just list the destinations and some brief notes on the mission of each.

Interfaith Hospitality Network
The mission of the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) is to give hope to homeless families with children. IHN realizes its mission by providing transitional shelter and supportive services to homeless families and those at immediate risk to experience homelessness. IHN's primary goal is to assist families with children to permanently transition into independent affordable housing; secondary goals include meeting community transitional housing needs in the most cost-effective manner possible and providing church congregations with an opportunity to put their faith into action.

Marian House Soup Kitchen
Since 1985, the Marian House Soup Kitchen has been serving people who are hungry in downtown Colorado Springs. Hot, nutritious meals are provided for an average of 400 - 450 every day.

Pikes Peak Public Library District – Penrose Branch
You’ll have to tune in later to find out why we stopped here.

The Salvation Army New Hope Center
The Salvation Army New Hope Center is Colorado Springs only 24/7 emergency shelter and can accommodate up to 210 people. Residents receive a warm place to sleep, meals and access to shower and laundry facilities where all necessary provisions are supplied.

Springs Rescue Mission
"To transform broken lives with the good news of Jesus Christ, serving the poor, homeless and addicted by ministering to the whole person. We purpose to change the quality of our community, one person at a time."

I’m indebted to Steve Saint for hosting this journey and to my good friend Ken for telling me about it. Please stay tuned...

The Story of Stuff

This 20 minute video really made me think. If you haven't seen it yet, it does an excellent job of exploring how our consumption affects us and others. It also does a good job of suggesting ways we can all make a difference.

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Personalizing the Poor

A few months ago, on the drive to my office at Compassion International, I was listening to Shane Claiborne's audible book , The Irresistible Revolution: living as an ordinary radical. Pulling into the parking lot, Shane read these words; “Faith-based nonprofits can too easily be the mirror image of secular organizations, maintaining the same hierarchies of power and separation between rich and poor. They can too easily merely facilitate the exchange of goods and services, putting plenty of professionals in the middle to guarantee that the rich do not have to face the poor and that power does not shift.”

Shane's words disturbed me and caused me to question; am I a professional in the middle? Does my work, at the office I'm about to enter, facilitate the separation between rich and poor? Or is what we are doing actually building a bridge between the rich and the poor?

To answers these questions seriously, I had to take a good look at what we are doing and what our actions produce. I've concluded that we are in fact building bridges. These bridges help “the rich” (people like me) discover the political, economic, and spiritual realities of children who live in extreme poverty. Our first step may be small and if we stop there, then Shane's words ring true. But through letter writing and other prodding, God continues to touch our hearts and we take another step. If we continue to walk this path, before we know it, we will be visiting a child face to face – a delighted face in an otherwise dreadful place. In this way we are sending ourselves into the world to join with others to experience the Kingdom of God in a personal way.

All these may be small steps, but I must commit to continue walking. As Shane says, my destination should lead to “spreading the Kingdom like a disease – through touch, through breath, through life. Spreading it through people infected by love.”