Lost Bike Ride of the Week

Alright, so I went to a Dodger game last night and rode up there from my house on my bike. It was no problem getting there, but on the way back I took the wrong exit out of the stadium and ended up in the above side-trip through Cypress Park and all the industrial area north of downtown LA at 10:30 PM. What took my 15 minutes to ride to the game ended with an hour ride home and an additional 10 miles to my bike ride.

At least I now know that area of town so much better!

Book Reflection - The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb

Alright, on to another reflection here! The title of this book is a bit ambiguous, so I will include the sub-title, which is "A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community." It's all clear then, right? OK, for those of you in need of more clarity, here is my general paraphrase of the book.

The title comes from the passage in Isaiah 11:6-9, which states,

⁶And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
⁷Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den.
⁹They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

The premise is that this model of these opposing animals living in harmony and peace should be the same in the church. This includes specifically in regards to multicultural churches and Christian communities. In these settings often the western Christians will be the dominant ones leading the discussions and controlling the direction of the meetings. The author, Eric Law, likens them to the wolves because of this tendency and those non-Westerners, who operate in vastly different ways are the sheep. The author challenges us Westerners to consciously give our power and desire for control away and encourage those without power to take the lead. This is obviously more difficult to do than it is to say, but Law offers a few suggestions.

First, though, I must include a clarifier which Law points out. Often those with power in a certain situation believe that to be inclusive of all people means that all people must be present at the table. For instance, when doing social justice work, there is often a push to make sure that the poor and oppressed are present at the table and that their voice is heard. Often their mere presence is enough for those in power to feel comfortable. Law says that this is not enough, he states,

The assumption is that everyone is equal to each other as individuals and everyone is expected to participate "fully" - meaning being able to speak for himself or herself. The truth is that not all believe they are equal to each other.... Another reality is that not everyone is an individual who can speak for himself or herself. Many people of color come from cultures that emphasize the collective over the individual. It is very hard for them to speak as individuals. They feel powerless without their community behind them (34).

We like to assume that all people are equal because we want to view them that way. This is not the case though. White westerners are very different than non-white westerners and the same for non-white non-westerners. Cultural and worldview differences create an imbalance of power. White westerners like myself must be conscious of this and chose to not take the position of power in some situations where these cultural and worldview differences are needing to be recognized.

Now on to the suggestions by Law on how we need to view these differences and address them in our actions. As Christians, we are called by Christ to take up our cross and follow Him. This offer is given to all people, but Law suggest that it is given specifically to the powerful. Those with power are in need to lay down their power to follow Christ, not the powerless who have no power to lay down. "Because the powerless are already on the cross, salvation comes from endurance and faithfulness in the hope of God's deliverance through the resurrection" (42). Additionally, Law points to the cycle of gospel living that they powerful and powerless must recognize. The powerless need to enter the cycle through the empowerment of the resurrection while the powerful must chose to give up power by choosing the cross.

Contextually, Law gives a case study from one multicultural setting he was observing. There was a group of around 50 people together addressing difficulties between ethnic groups. About 2/3 of the group was white. The white people were trying to include those of color in the conversation, but often the people of color felt forced to state their feelings and were not comfortable with the situation. Eventually the organizers separated the white people and the people of color to discuss how they felt the conference was going. The white people felt guilty and were not sure what to do to fix the situation. The people of color felt singled out and preferred to think collectively, not individually. When they returned together, the leader of the colored people spoke for the whole group and proposed a new situation. In order to counteract the more dominant white people, each side was given a change to speak alternately. The people of color were given as much time to collect their thoughts and say what they needed to say and the white people could respond to this and add any other thoughts. This back-and-forth dialogue continued and created a very positive environment of healing that brought everyone in the room to tears. What was done was the powerful (white people) set aside their power (took up their crosses) and the powerless (people of color) were empowered through the power of the resurrection.

Alright, some more food for thought! Feel free to add any thoughts or questions. And now more reading for me...

Book Reflection - With Justice for All

After a month of class each day, numerous papers, a midterm and two final exams, I have completed two of my classes this summer and now have taken some time for vacation in Portland with family and friends. I am back in the swing of things with another reflection here on a wonderful book. After this reflection, I will have another handful of books to read and reflections to write to complete the final class I am working on. I hope you enjoy them!

The latest book I have read is written by John Perkins, an amazing man with an incredible story of growing up in Mississippi in poverty until he left to California for school. After college he found a great job in the LA area, but God called him back to Mississippi to work among the poor black people in the area where he grew up. He has been a champion of community development and definitely someone I look up to greatly. He started the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) that works with Christian community organizers and local churches to improve their communities through his models of the "Three R's."

The "Three R's" are Relocation, Reconciliation, and Redistribution. I will speak about each of these and give some of my personal convictions/ beliefs about each of them. I have spoken at great length about relocation, where Christians are challenged to move into impoverished communities in order to live amongst the poor as they minister to them in sharing the Good News. The goal is to promote the breaking of the cycle of poverty in the community's life. Perkins describes this as choosing to "become a 'have not' in order to take my people the gospel" (60). Perkins sees that this is the model of Jesus which Paul describes in 2 Cor. 8:9, saying, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (NASB). For more information on this model, please read John Hayes' book, Sub-Merge.

The second "R" is reconciliation. I feel that this is a very trendy action right now to speak about, but not necessarily taken into action. The same feeling comes to me when I speak about social justice, specifically systemic social justice. But back to the point I am making here, Perkins is right on with his analysis of the necessity of reconciliation and forgiveness. Personally, Perkins has experienced one of the toughest paths to come out preaching reconciliation and forgiveness. In early 1970, Perkins was almost beaten to death by white police officers in Mississippi yet he came out of that saying that he wants to "preach a gospel that will heal these people, too" (108). He recognized that all people, whether black, white or any other are hurt and in need of reconciliation with each other. He sees that black people come with their blame and feelings of inferiority, while white people come with their guilt and sense of superiority (147).

John senses the antidote is reconciliation through shared community with those of all different colors. He states,

Reconciliation is God's way of bringing people to Himself and to each other. Reconciliation is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. Sharing in life together is us trusting each other. When we trust each other, we see the value in each other. When we see value in each other, we will partnership together. If we as a nation don't value reconciliation, then we as a viable, profitable economic entity are damaged, because we are hobbling along with an inferior system that produces less value than it could if we were all united (155).

Finally, Perkins addresses the third "R," which is redistribution. I think this is most likely the most controversial of the three, because is starts to challenge the basic tenants of the economic system this country is founded upon. Though, in our current global financial state, more and more people might be open to change. The biggest problem Perkins finds with a free-market system (and I completely agree) is personal greed corrupts the system. Originally the hope was for greed to be tempered by honesty. Perkins calls for a system of justice and love to be promoted by those who claim to follow Jesus. Perkins agrees with the vast majority of Christians who say that the free-market system is the most just, but he also qualifies this statement with saying that "[those of us living in this system] lack the moral will to distribute the fruits of our production in a more equitable way" (160).

I will conclude with a rather long quote where Perkins describes this concept in greater length. He states,

Achieving justice in America will require something more than "playing fair from now on." Economic opportunity in capitalism depends on ownership of capital. The free-enterprise system assumes that anyone can have access to capital through [their] labor and that banks and lending institutions will make investment capital available to anyone who has the will and the know-how to produce goods and services for the marketplace. There is only one problem with that assumption - it's not true.

The oppressed among us know all too well that the oppressive forces that created their poverty in the first place keep them trapped in it. The young black electrician, having never had an opportunity to establish a credit rating, finds it almost impossible to raise the capital to buy the tools and equipment to go into business for himself. The general rule is, "To get capital, you must have capital," and so the system perpetuates and widens the gap between rich and poor (181).

Finally, Perkins gives ideas for specifically addressing this need for redistribution. He suggests starting cooperatives, simplifying our personal and church's economic lifestyles, and organizing our communities to address the felt needs of the community. All of these are done in order to present the whole gospel to whole people.