tied together

We must all learn to live together as brothers and sisters, or we will all perish together as fools.  We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.  Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.  For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.  This is the way God's universe is made; this is the way it is structured.  

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

with

I just returned from co-facilitating a day long CCDA intensive in Indianapolis at E91 Church. How energizing it is to dialogue with several churches and ministries about God's heart of compassion and justice!  To hear what God is up to in Indy and to hear the passions and work of Jesus followers in the room inspires me so much.   What a warm welcome Terrance and I received from Indianapolis host churches/ministries!  

After facilitating activities, conversation, and reflection over the 8 key components of Christian Community Development, we spent a little time hearing the learnings and takeaways from our day together.  One key takeaway that I heard from participants was to further examine what it means to partner WITH the community in development work.  How is our church or ministry an integral part of the community?  How are existing relationships and programs utilizing gifts from both the community and the church/ministry?  Are decisions about the programs/services to be offered being made with the community?  Is the ownership of the programs/services shared with the community? 

These are excellent questions to ask as we consider our ministry approach.  Christian Community Development is about harnessing and developing the WITH.

the gospel is the answer

Yesterday, I listened to a co-worker talk about how God's Spirit is moving through a recreation room at a training school for juvenile offenders.  Volunteers from Grundy Center's Orchard Hill Church are making and sharing cookies there, games are played, TV watched, conversations had, community built, and the thread of grace is being woven throughout.  The school's administration is taking note of something extraordinary happening there.  The visionary behind the rec room talks about this space as a "holy place", set apart for the young men, set apart by and with the young men, and set apart within the young men to experience something that will live on within them past this time and space.  

This conversation reminded me of a segment in the CCDA training that I facilitate.  In the first 3 times that the Gospel was shared after Christ left His disciples (Pentecost- Acts 2; Peter and John heal a man- Acts 3; Stephen- Acts 9) we see a similar pattern:

-The disciples were out in the community/streets.
-The Spirit of God was moving.
-People began to ask questions about something extraordinary that they were seeing and experiencing.
-The Good News of Jesus was the answer.  

Paul Tillich, theologian and philosopher, said, "It is wrong to throw answers, like stones, at the heads of those who haven't even asked a question."

Bryant Myers, author Walking with the Poor, writes, "If the people do not ask questions to which the gospel is the answer, we can no longer just say, 'Their hearts were hardened,' and walk away feeling good that we have witnessed to the gospel.  Instead, we need to get down on our knees and ask God why our life and our work are so unremarkable that they never result in a question relating to what we believe and whom we worship."  

May we live in such a way in our communities that people cannot help but to ask questions to which Christ's good news of the Kingdom of God is the answer.