moving out or moving in?

I asked my friend to make up this picture for me, as I've been visualizing and experiencing this so often lately, and I need to begin to net it out in words.  

The two pictures are a contrast in two ways of seeing and being and acting in the world, and the paradigm shift from left to right is fundamentally important as we consider serving others. 

For the longest time in my Christian walk, I saw things in the way of the image on the left.  Jesus was central.  Next, I saw myself and those whose lives basically seemed similar to mine, and finally, there were those on the margins; those I considered "other"or different than me.  I read the Bible as if Jesus commanded me to go 'out' to the margins and bring them into my circle.  I used to consider the 'margins' as people who were far away...whether that meant geographically, socio-economically, spiritually, racially, culturally, educationally...and needed to be brought in. Though I considered my view to be about Jesus-centered service, this view is really quite me-centered and centered in the world's power and values.  Phrases like "invest in others", "serve the poor", "bless a broken world" have come from a mindset that I'm less broken due to my position in the world. The book Walking with the Poor calls this my "god-complex".  

The more accurate Kingdom lens is on the right.   Jesus is central, and those on the margins are next.  Those who live on the margins of the world's power far outnumber those of us who have privilege and power.  Where did Jesus enter in? On the margins.  He invites us to also enter in and to come closer to His heart for the poor, the oppressed, the vulnerable, the forgotten.   Philippians 3:10.."That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings."   This view is more about the resurrection power of Jesus, not worldly power.  He invites us to share in the fellowship of his sufferings.  My blessing a broken world is more about me entering into the pain, the suffering, the need, so that I might more accurately see myself (and my own brokenness), more accurately see others, and more accurately see Jesus.  This movement in toward the heart of Christ is more about humility, dying to self, joining with, sacrifice, service, solidarity, the fellowship of the suffering.  This is the movement of transformation, centered first in Jesus, and then in others.  In this movement in, I walk the footpath of Jesus...presence, proximity, and powerlessness... into blessing and community and Kingdom power.