Exponential 2011: Best Practices in Social Justice & Community Development Preconference Day 2 recap

Mary Nelson and Kirsten Strand wrapped up our preconference today by discussing an article we read last night called Planting Churches in Justice by Roy Soto. This was the powerful story of a pastor called to plant a church in Costa Rica.  It was a powerful story and the biggest take-away for me was a quote where Roy asked the question, “What does shalom mean in our context?”  Their church “concluded that shalom would mean a holistic practice of the gospel incarnated in the reality of our neighborhoods.”  I think this is a great question for churches to be asking about their communities.

Mary and Kirsten then reviewed the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) Principals which are:

• Relocation: Living Among the People
• Reconciliation
• Redistribution (Just Distribution of Resources)
• Leadership Development
• Listening to Community
• Church-Based
• Wholistic Approach
• Empowerment

We then took time as a group to discuss a case study based on the forms we filled out the previous day about our faith communities, their mission and assets, and the community’s strengths and needs.  Each of our groups worked to practically make suggestions to assess the community’s needs and brainstorm how to address them.  This was a great time of collaboration and sharing of resources and skills.

The session closed with all of us reading a Chinese proverb that CCDA uses as a philosophical guide:

Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they 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.”

Exponential 2011: Best Practices in Social Justice & Community Development Preconference Day 1 recap

Today I attended the Best Practices in Social Justice & Community Development track which was led by Troy Jackson, Mary Nelson and Kirsten Strand.  Troy started the session by talking about how social justice has become a divisive term especially after Glenn Beck condemned churches that use the term.  As I pondered this, I thought: if the term social justice is uncomfortable, maybe we should say ‘Biblical justice’, because it is a mandate; not a choice.  I was left with a number of good questions we should be asking of our communities:

What are the big lies?

What or who is broken?

What or who is missing?

What is there? (assets)

What is not there? (needs)

What are the two best things in this community?

What are two things that need working on?

What are you willing to work on?

Ideas marinade in community…

I have been reflecting on this.  About a year ago, God birthed an idea within me and it has been amazing to see how it has developed from there.  It started as just a spark.  An idea that captured my curiosity and attention.  As it grew, it took over more and more of my thoughts and attention.  There became a practical side of it.  This was not just a great idea, it was something that could –no– MUST happen.  I was extremely overprotective of this idea in its first months and did not feel comfortable sharing it with anyone for fear of rejection or being laughed away.  Yet as it grew, it became more and more a part of me.  We became inseparable.  Then came the point where I pitched it to a few close friends and mentors.  After receiving their support, I continued to analyze it, test it, stretch it, explore it.  I met with others who had similar ideas, who had executed them in similar ways.  This was both exhilarating and terrifying.

And then came its birth into community.  This is where it dwells now and each day I am amazed at the way it grows, snowballs, with each person whom I share it with.  It is no longer mine (though it never was to begin with), but it is part of a growing community, a growing group of supporters.  And this is what it will take for execution.  Because I do not want this idea to die as an idea; I want it to happen.  It MUST happen.  For the sake of the community…

“And who is my neighbor?”

There is a difference between being nice to our neighbor and loving our neighbor.  Jesus commands us to love our neighbor.  In fact this command is only second to loving God with all of our being (heart, soul, mind).  He tells us that all of the Law and Prophets “hang” (NIV) on these two commandments.

Loving our neighbor is messy, difficult and hard.  It requires that we are much more involved as opposed to just being nice.  Being nice to our neighbor involves the standard pleasantries: waving, saying hello, asking how he/she is doing even though we really don’t want to know.  Loving our neighbor means being there for them when then their world falls apart.  It means helping them through problems.  It means celebrating with them.  It means caring for…no…LOVING them.

But it does not stop there.

We are not only called to love our neighbor, but to love him/her as ourselves.  How do we love ourselves?  We do not like to admit it, but we love ourselves an awful lot.  Don’t agree?  How much of your day is focused on providing for yourself/taking care of yourself?  Food, shower, clothing, comfort.  What would it look like if we committed that much love to our neighbors?

“And who is my neighbor?”  The lawyer, “wanted to justify himself.”  It seems he had ulterior motives.  In fact the ESV commentary says his intent was to exclude some from his responsibility to love by asking this question.  Jesus’ example of a Samaritan, forces us to answer this question by imagining  someone who our culture tells us we should despise and shun; even an enemy.  I hate to admit it, but often times I find myself in the shoes of the lawyer.  Why?  Because it is hard to love like this.  It is a whole lot easier to pull away before it gets uncomfortable or messy or difficult.  That is why following Jesus is not easy.  He calls us to tasks and gives us responsibilities that are above and beyond our natural abilities.  In order to follow Jesus, we need his help.  And he is willing to give it.  In fact he promised his followers that he would send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them, remind them of his teachings and helping them to be his hands and feet to a world in need.

As with most of my posts that are challenges, they start with me.  Please know that I would not challenge you/others to something that I would not challenge myself to.  This is no exception.  This is extremely hard for me, but learning how to do this and fleshing it out in community is so important.  We need to learn in community so we can support each other.  When we do life together, we can share all of it with each other.  The ups and downs.  The successes and failures.  And we can celebrate them together, because the more we reflect and learn from these experiences, the closer we can follow Jesus.

May we grow into this radical love.

cold weather vs. mission

Lately I have been struggling to actively live out my mission as a follower of Jesus in the winter.  This may not be as much of an issue in milder climates, but this is an observation I  have made recently:

In cold weather, we can be tempted us to live even further within our own bubbles.  It is cold.  I don’t want to be outside more or longer than I have to.  This negatively impacts living missionally.  I can’t live on mission if I confine myself to my office and my house where I am not intentionally interacting with others.   This wars against community and mission.  I am much more effective at living missionally when its nice outside.  I make the weather an excuse to stay inside and avoid interaction.

Part of this problem is evident even without the presence of winter.  In my community, it is partly a suburban problem.  We are more isolated in our suburban environments and tend to live from the car to the door with the occasional wave to our immediate neighbors.  Much more has been said of this struggle over at the Missional in Suburbia blog.  I encourage you to check it out if you struggle with these issues.  There are some good thoughts and dialogue going on there.

What are your thoughts?  Do you struggle with this?  Do you love the winter and this is not an issue for you?  Should I just move to California and quit complaining?

how much is enough?

This time of year we are bombarded with advertisements and commercials for the latest must have gifts or gadgets.  The lie of consumerism claims: the more stuff you have, the happier you will be.  I feel like Linus standing up and making a pronouncement on the commercialization of the Christmas holiday with all the aluminum trees and lights and then reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke.

Consumerism is a never-ending cycle.  The question that challenges this cycle is how much is enough?  If you have kids, surely you have had a conversation with them about wants vs. needs.  I am no exception nor am I any better at resisting these desires and temptations.  It is a constant struggle for me being immersed in a culture of consumerism.

Recently though, I have found the value of simplicity; less rather than more.  The recent economic situation in our country has left most of us in a much more precarious state.  Not only has it forced us to question how much is enough, but it is has also forced us to question whether security and comfort are our preferred idols.  Idolatry is simply placing something, anything of higher worth and value than God in our lives.  I am learning that it is in the trials, uncertainties and uncomfortable moments that we are taught the most about who we are and what we need.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 10:4 “and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”  This speaks of Israel during their time in the wilderness.  They were fed physical food (manna and quail) and physical drink (water from a rock), while they were also being fed and nourished spiritually.  In the verse above, Paul makes the connection between Christ and the food that sustained them.  This is similar to Jesus’ own declaration when He says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

So where does this leave us?  For me, I have come to realize more and more that regardless of what we have or do not have Jesus is enough.  The greater question though is why are some given more than others.  Why do we enjoy the luxury of abundance in comparison to those in other countries struggling to find clean drinking water, food and work.  I believe we are given more in order to redistribute our wealth to those in need.  It is not intended to terminate on us, but we are blessed to be a blessing just as Abraham was.  This is Biblical community.

In light of all of this, our church is participating in the Advent Conspiracy this year.  Check it out.

true contentment

The past few weeks have been trying.  My grandmother passed away two weeks ago and what ensued was the overwhelming grieving process.  Last week my son struggled with side effects of a virus that left him unable to put pressure on his one leg to walk.  On one hand these may seem to be routine events that occur throughout our lives.  But in the midst of them, while experiencing them, they can seem overwhelming and too much to handle.  Yet it is here that I am convinced that we feel fully alive.  What do I mean by that?  As a follower of Jesus, I believe that his sacrifice on the cross atoned for my sin (past, present and future).  With this sacrifice, Jesus atoned for death and sin once and for all.  Wrapped up in the message of the Gospel is the counter-cultural news that when we die to ourselves, we are released to fully live in Jesus.  We are also released from hopelessly facing troubles and trials.  In the midst of these trials, we can actually suffer with Jesus as he comes alongside us.  These experiences then, if we are willing, draw us closer to Jesus.  At surface value the concept seems strange, unusual, odd and even ridiculous, but once you have experienced this, it is the power of God!

What I have learned in these past two weeks is all things are temporary: health, wealth, possessions.  There is one exception.  Jesus.  He is unchanging and eternal.  When I feel like I have been kicked in the gut with emotion, sickness or the weight of a burden to heavy to bear, it is here that I can truly experience the beauty of the Gospel.  You see, when I realize that I have nothing left to grasp for in this life, nothing left to hold onto, it is there that I find Jesus waiting with open arms.  It is here that Jesus picks me up, dusts the dirt off of me and says, ‘now I can heal you.’  He is willing if we submit.  What I am learning is that all too often, we try to make it through life on our own.  We feel so empowered by our culture and society believing we can do everything for ourselves.  Yet it is in times such as these, we realize that we cannot.  I could not fix my grandmother’s health any more than I could fix my son’s health.  At times, it seemed my world hung on a doctor’s diagnosis.  But then I realized that our sovereign God and King is not surprised at all by any of this.  It did not catch him off-guard.  In each situation, we choose our response.  We can run from Jesus, caught up in the weight of the situation and trying to fix it ourselves or we can run to Jesus, pressing into him and allowing ourselves to be comforted, ministered to, and loved.

These past two weeks I also learned the value of community, particularly Christian community.  I was overwhelmed with support, prayers and love from our community.  As I experienced this, I realized that this is what true Christian community should look like.  I am blessed.  We are blessed.  We love and serve a loving God.  And the more I realize this, the more I am open to receive his love.  The more I receive his love, the more I am able to love others.  It is a beautiful cycle.

So what I have come to realize even more so after these two weeks is that I am content in Jesus because in all things he is enough.

Influencing culture or becoming lost in culture?

Last week, I drove along a highway past this home above (courtesy of Google Maps) that literally had its foundation on the edge of the curb.  Not the sidewalk, the curb.  This home had obviously been there for some time and it caused me to think about what sort of influence it had been on the community and culture for it to remain despite the construction of the highway so close to it.

It made me think of the continuing conversation about the Church and culture.  I thought of organizations like the YMCA, Goodwill and the Salvation Army and how they have become staples in our community and culture today.  All of those organizations were started by Christians.  Initially I thought what powerful ministries and influences these organizations had become.  They are now so threaded into our culture and community that most people know of these organizations and use their services in some way.  But then I wondered: have these organizations become so threaded into our culture and community that the current generation has forgotten what they stand for and why they do what they do?  In reality all of these organizations were birthed out of a desire to transform and redeem the community with the love of Jesus.  And today, despite the fact that many people use these organizations on a regular basis and they still do amazing work, I wonder if the message of the gospel behind them is as clear as it used to be.  I have had conversations with people who have no idea that any of these organizations were started by followers of Jesus in order to serve the community and world.  Have we missed an opportunity to share the reason we do these things and for the hope upon which we stand?  Are these ministries truly glorifying God if he does not get the credit?  I certainly do not think God’s glory is diminished by our neglect of him, but does this become a lost opportunity for us to point to him?

I am not denying or minimizing the excellent work all of these organizations have done and are doing, but this is worth thinking about and exploring a little deeper…

Idea Camp DC recap

Well, it’s been a week since I attended The Idea Camp DC and it was a crazy week.  I finally had a chance to let all of my thoughts surface since then.  Here are my thoughts/impressions:

1. My first impression was amazement at how this was pulled off so effectively by not using any marketing other than word of mouth and social networking media. My compliments to Charles Lee (@charlestlee) and his team.

2. I was impressed by the humility of all of the speakers and facilitators. This is a group of passionate, innovative and fully committed Jesus followers – accomplished pastors, authors and leaders and it was a privilege simply to be in the same room as them.  The beauty of this conference was that it wasn’t held in some extravagant venue, but a simple local church facility.  That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the conference.  The focus was more on the theme and the attendees than the speakers or facilitators. This wasn’t about show, but Jesus, honesty, creativity and collaboration.

3. I really enjoyed the pre-conference session with Mark Batterson (@markbatterson) and Dave Gibbons (@davegibbons) about The Origins Project. They spoke about their goals to focus on Jesus, innovation and humanity.  They used a lot of “re” words like re-think, re-imagine and re-discover.  For me this discussion was one of the highlights because God used it to affirm a lot of the seemingly wacky ideas bouncing around in my head lately.  This was an opportunity to listen to others share the same thoughts, ideas and desires which really resonated with me.  Dave Gibbons talked about how we have a tendency in our churches to focus on the things that make us comfortable, when in reality, we should be focusing on the things that make us uncomfortable.  He suggested that we balance our communities by honoring the past but also fueling the fringe.

4. Dave Ferguson (@daveferguson) told us “God birthed each of us with a dream.” Part of the process of our faith journey is figuring out what that dream is (the deep longing God planted within us) so that we can carry it out and fulfill it.  He spoke about how it is often directly linked to the pain or hurt we have experienced in our lives.

5. Another highlight was the opportunity to connect with others who are struggling to realize the ideas that God has planted in them. I attended a session led by Leroy Barber where we discussed how to go about being neighbors.  I loved this discussion because it was an honest and open chat among passionate and committed followers of Jesus trying to love their neighbors and their communities.  The relaxed and intimate atmosphere and tone of the conversation made me feel as if we all had known each other for years.  It reminded me of our early conversations years ago before we launched The Village.  I was very encouraged to hear the steps and actions other were taking.  It was also nice to be able to build up others who had either been frustrated by their results or were looking for answers and feedback.

6.  I had a great dinner with Atiba de Souza (@atibadesouza) and we shared our stories, passions and ideas with each other. My prayers are with him, his family and his church as they seek to serve the Columbia, Maryland community.

7. It was nice being able to attend this conference with my Dad. He and I have had the opportunity to collaborate in the past few years in different ways, and I certainly attribute a lot of my creativity and passion towards serving humanity to him.  We enjoyed our time to re-connect with each other and learn about the great non-profits committed to the cause of justice and compassion.

8. Finally, it was wonderful to join with everyone in the evening for a time of worship. It was simple, it was real, it was powerful.

Many thanks to the folks at The Idea Camp (@theideacamp) for doing such an excellent job putting this event together.   I hope to be able to connect with others to collaborate and sharpen each other as we live the servant lives we were created to live.

creativity, ideas and collaboration for compassion and justice

I have been thinking a lot the past month about creativity and innovation.  We spend too little time exploring creativity and harvesting its fruits.  I have found a solution.  A few months ago, I was introduced to The Idea Camp.

“The Idea Camp is a collaborative movement of idea-makers who facilitate free hybrid conferences and develop resources for people who desire to move ideas toward implementation. Facilitated by a growing collective of innovative thinkers and practitioners from numerous disciplines, participants gather around topics of interest to encourage and inspire one another, share practical wisdom from the field, and develop intentional networks for idea-making.”

This is brilliant.  What’s more is that they are leveraging social media and networking to facilitate the cause.  Check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

The Idea Camp’s latest free hybrid conference focuses on the topics of compassion and justice.  Here’s the details:

• Dates: August 28‐29, 2009
• Location: Mt. Olivet Methodist Church ‐ 1500 North Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22207
• Expected Number of Participants: 500+ in person and 2,000+ online
• Number of Organizations and Networks Confirmed to Participate: 40+ (see website for list)
• Conference Websites: www.theideacamp.com and www.theideacamp.ning.com
• Main Contact: Charles Lee (charles@theideacamp.com)

Our God is the God of  justice and compassion.  “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”  Isaiah 30:18.

Jesus calls us to be God’s agents of compassion and justice to those who are crying out desperately to him.  We must respond to the call.  There is a world of suffering and pain that God longs to heal and set free.

How can we use our creativity and innovation to collaborate for compassion and justice?  You can start by joining us at Idea Camp D.C.  Will you be there?