In an effort to provide an advocacy for our local churches to reclaim a theology and practice for missional service to the homeless and disadvantaged in our communities, I will be posting a series of blogs. These will be somewhat a compilation of several papers and discussions over the last few years. I hope they will generate discussion in your sphere of influence and in our churches.
Reclaiming Missional Service with a View of Rescue Missions
~ © by Rev. Jim Lewis
CONCLUSIONS
What we need now is the people of God recognizing that being a provider of charity is an extension of God’s mission (missio Dei) and not merely a duty we must perform. The Church must be challenged that being fully engaged in service will require a knowledge of its purpose, direction, and task; all that remains will be for everyone to be on the same kingdom script (2008, 107).
New Missional Challenges
What will that role look like going forward as we consider Gospel and service? This tension requires examination of methodologies that allow us to extend the Gospel to those we seek to help. In Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, Robert Lupton challenges the church and organizations such as Rescue Missions to rethink their efforts in ministering to the poor. Implementation of new strategies will require cultural and philosophical change in the church and the community. Public acceptance of Rescue Missions as critical elements of a community’s continuum of care is no longer a given. The spiritual change that Missions focus on as their core purpose is not in alignment with the culture. The authority of a Mission’s programs may lack foundation, as homeless are inclined to services without a reciprocal response – or any personal responsibility at all. Some communities are now investigating, and investing in, “Housing First” initiatives that provide housing prior to any responsible action of the part of the homeless person.
Without addressing critical life issues, the homeless person just changes his or her location – they remain a homeless person in a house. What Lupton cautions, is that some of these services—and often much of what the church and government does—remove pride and initiative from the individual, resulting in not seeing himself or herself as valuable in the eyes of God.
What Lupton offers is the holistic redevelopment of the individual and the community. What is needed are “reciprocal and interdependent services” that protect personal pride and assist in returning initiative to the individual (2007, 52). What results is the development of the person, and the community in which these services are offered. An overall examination of how the local church can effect change in their urban centers through a focused reintroduction of its own relational and attractional community may be the answer; missional churches need to minister to their urban centers. Rescue Missions, who are already there, may become a critical element of that equation. Lupton challenges the church and community to develop community renewal with a view of justice (2007, 116).
However, only if this effort is seen as an incarnational mission that involves the church’s “real and abiding presence” in the community will this experience bear fruit for both the local church and the urban environment. One cannot become part of the organism of community unless he or she becomes intimate with its “cultural rhythms, life, and geography” (2003a, 39); as Ronald Sider shares, “Holistic ministry is incarnational ministry . . . It’s God fleshing out the truth of the Gospel.” Incarnational reentry into urban centers will not only help others in the community, but inspire the church member and stretch them outside their traditional sphere of influence (2002, 27). We should investigate this incarnational model to see if its sufficiency will match the changes in culture and polity we face in the new millennium.
Reclaiming Missional Service with a View of Rescue Missions
~ © by Rev. Jim Lewis
CONCLUSIONS
What we need now is the people of God recognizing that being a provider of charity is an extension of God’s mission (missio Dei) and not merely a duty we must perform. The Church must be challenged that being fully engaged in service will require a knowledge of its purpose, direction, and task; all that remains will be for everyone to be on the same kingdom script (2008, 107).
New Missional Challenges
What will that role look like going forward as we consider Gospel and service? This tension requires examination of methodologies that allow us to extend the Gospel to those we seek to help. In Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, Robert Lupton challenges the church and organizations such as Rescue Missions to rethink their efforts in ministering to the poor. Implementation of new strategies will require cultural and philosophical change in the church and the community. Public acceptance of Rescue Missions as critical elements of a community’s continuum of care is no longer a given. The spiritual change that Missions focus on as their core purpose is not in alignment with the culture. The authority of a Mission’s programs may lack foundation, as homeless are inclined to services without a reciprocal response – or any personal responsibility at all. Some communities are now investigating, and investing in, “Housing First” initiatives that provide housing prior to any responsible action of the part of the homeless person.
Without addressing critical life issues, the homeless person just changes his or her location – they remain a homeless person in a house. What Lupton cautions, is that some of these services—and often much of what the church and government does—remove pride and initiative from the individual, resulting in not seeing himself or herself as valuable in the eyes of God.
What Lupton offers is the holistic redevelopment of the individual and the community. What is needed are “reciprocal and interdependent services” that protect personal pride and assist in returning initiative to the individual (2007, 52). What results is the development of the person, and the community in which these services are offered. An overall examination of how the local church can effect change in their urban centers through a focused reintroduction of its own relational and attractional community may be the answer; missional churches need to minister to their urban centers. Rescue Missions, who are already there, may become a critical element of that equation. Lupton challenges the church and community to develop community renewal with a view of justice (2007, 116).
However, only if this effort is seen as an incarnational mission that involves the church’s “real and abiding presence” in the community will this experience bear fruit for both the local church and the urban environment. One cannot become part of the organism of community unless he or she becomes intimate with its “cultural rhythms, life, and geography” (2003a, 39); as Ronald Sider shares, “Holistic ministry is incarnational ministry . . . It’s God fleshing out the truth of the Gospel.” Incarnational reentry into urban centers will not only help others in the community, but inspire the church member and stretch them outside their traditional sphere of influence (2002, 27). We should investigate this incarnational model to see if its sufficiency will match the changes in culture and polity we face in the new millennium.
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