Book Reflection - Cry of the Urban Poor

Part 2

In this second section of the book reflection, I will address some other themes and perspectives that Viv Grigg writes about in the second half of his book. First off, one section speaks about how compassion needs to be interconnected with intercession and incarnation. He summarizes, saying:

Compassion means much love, a little response, and great pain. Compassion is the heart of ministry. It is the source of identification. It is the wellspring of proclamation. Its multiplication is the heart of church growth. It is the motivation for seeking justice.
Compassion leads us into intercession. But there is a price to pay for the power that moves the hand of God and establishes the kingdom in the heavenlies. The price is incarnation among the poor (134).

Grigg argues for more than just compassion (which I say very lightly, because having true compassion is very difficult and rarely achieved), but intercession and incarnation also. Intercession is clearly about stepping into prayer on behalf of others and calling on God to intervene in thier lives. Incarnation is the process of humans becoming, for the lack of a better, more human, with those around us. It is building community, offering ourselves as servants to each other, and living as Christ did in his time on earth. The call Grigg and many others give is for Christians to step into a place of greater incarnation in their places of influence. This might mean that we should build greater community with our co-workers, neighbors or friends and take advantage of the opportunities to share the Gospel. Or it might be that God is calling others to move into impoverished communities to share life together in simplicity and community with the poor around us. Grigg's prayer, which is my prayer also, is that more people would follow God's calling in their lives to make radical changes to further the Kingdom of God in the slums.

Grigg gives us a holistic church growth model for churches in poor and needy contexts. In these he states four levels that build off one another with the desire to point others toward the Kingdom of God. The first level of need is survival, where the need for clothes, food, housing takes absolute priority over everything else. The second level is security. When people feel insecurity, they are much less likely to take chances and step out of a pattern they are familiar with unless they have trust in it being secure. This is the case with those we are trying to point to God. In speaking of God, Grigg asks, "How do you trust him if you are not sure he is faithful?" (181).

The third level is achievement, where the individuals have achieved survival and security and are now ready for greater development and those in leadership need to send them out to minister themselves. Once again, the focus must be on holistic movements. Finally, the fourth level is maturity. The people should not be dependent upon achievement for their identity or self-esteem, but they should be doing it for the joy of achieving and for the glory of God. Those in leadership must be willing to send these from this level into new settings to teach transformational development to others. This allows multiplication to happen in great extents.

Grigg mentions that incarnational living by Christian workers in the slums of many cities can "deal a death blow to the prevailing distrust of the church" (215). People that are willing to live incarnationally are on the front lines, where they are helping the oppressed learn to trust the church and lead the lost back into the arms of God. This helps the church to remember the commands of God to help the poor, the oppressed, the orphans, the widows (Deuteronomy 10:18, Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 7:6-7).