Book Reflection - Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life
Part One

This is a book by Robert Lupton, who is a Christian community developer in Atlanta. He has started a variety of organizations, businesses, and churches in the inner-city of Atlanta. The premise of the book is in rethinking ministry to the poor by the non-poor. There were a few thoughts that stood out to me in the first half of the book. The following is a collection of quotes as well as my reactions and thoughts.

Lupton states early on that he will always stand on the side of community building, even if it is standing against the church. He describes a story of a large church in Atlanta that was requesting a building permit to expand their already immense buildings when the community around the church spoke out against the church and stood in protest against them. Lupton states that he stood on the side of the community in the protest. He stated that his reasoning for actions like this is that "there remains a tension between self-interest and community interest" (12). The motives of the church might have been positive for their members, but there was no regard for the community surrounding them. This is a focus on self-interest, not on community interest. I would think that this is hard for many Christians to understand, because the church is viewed very highly (it is by me also), but the church can be very destructive also; and there plenty of examples of this being the case.

Another controversial topic in the American church (and western church for that matter) is the sin of individualism. "Sin of individualism" might seem overly harsh, but I feel very strongly that individualism is a deep sin of our culture and is not something that God intends. Individualism promotes competition and goes against community, grace and love for others. Our society, and unfortunately, our churches often promote this societal sin. Lupton states, "when our culture traded front-porch neighborhood life for private backyard patios, when we succumbed to the seduction of individualism and lost touch with our next-door neighbors, a viod was created in the spirit of our people that chat rooms cannot fill" (30). One of my favorite authors, Jean Vanier, writes much about community and the need for us to fight against individualism. For more of this, read From Brokenness to Community by Vanier (it is a very short book from two lectures at Harvard years ago).

Another section that stood out to me and which offers a challenge to traditional charity work is one describing a needed movement from betterment programs to development programs. Many of you have heard the fish analogy of giving a fish to feed a person to teaching them to fish for themselves, and on and on. The difference between betterment and development is the difference between giving a person something (i.e. the fish) or teaching them to get it themselves (i.e. teaching them to fish). The problem that Lupton states is that betterment views the poor as having nothing to give back, which promotes one-way giving. He states, "there is something about one-way giving that erodes human dignity.... One-way mercy, as kindhearted as the giver may be and as well intentioned, is an unmistakable form of put-down" (42). This is tough! I struggle with this concept even as I agree with what Lupton is stating. This really hit home as I was thinking about my experiences. I remember when I was working in the homeless shelter in Portland, we were asked regularly on cold nights if we had any blankets we could give out. When we had them available, we would give them. I would usually request the people to not throw them away the next day, but give them to another shelter that would wash them. I did this knowing that there was a high likelyhood that they would do just the opposite of my request.

Lupton challenges us with being imaginative in our charity work. It is true that someone places higher value in something that they purchase or work for than with something they are given. We need to be imaginative in how we can create better systems of giving where we stop this system of one-way giving and allow for an exchange system is created to place higher value both in the goods as well as in the poor themselves. I will end this reflection in a lengthy quote from Lupton on the need for a better way of mercy ministry to happen.

"Betterment is easier and it feels better. How heartwarming it feels to volunteer as a server for the Thanksgiving feast for the homeless! How right it feels collecting warm blankets to deliver to the shelters as a winter blast approaches! There is something in our spirits - something God-like - that causes our hearts to respond with compassion in the face of suffering and misfortune.
But as anyone will attest who has spent an extended time in such 'mercy' activities, there is an ugly side that inevitably reveals itself. Greed, manipulation, as sense of entitlement, resentment - somehow these darker instincts are never far below the surface among the recipients of one-way charity. And even in the best of scenarios, when relationships between givers and receivers appear to be genuinely thankful and gracious, the tendency toward unhealthy dependency is ever-present" (50).


*Please do not feel that I have this all figured out. I am just as deeply challenged with these thoughts as you all might be also. Thanks for reading.