"Wouldn't It Be Neat If" as a Neighborhood Strategy

Wouldn't it be neat if ...
... the broken and wounded around me were healed;
... my friends who are estranged were reconciled;
... racism targets in my city were celebrated for their differences;
... racist hearts were opened;
... the poor of our communities emerged into stability;
... the outcast around us were included among us;
... the secretly low-esteemed undeniably saw their worth;
... the hopeless found faith?

Wouldn't it be neat if all these came true?
Neat, indeed. And tidy. Without spot or stain spoiling the neatness of my own illusion.
Wouldn't that be neat?
But what if ... ?

What if ...
... the broken and wounded are healed only by us being broken, too;
... reconciliation comes only after we bother to listen;
... differences are celebrated only if we throw the party;
... racist hearts are opened only when we stand with the "other";
... the poor emerge only if we fight for their jobs;
... "us" is created only by paying less homage to "me";
... worth is communicated only by loving without condition;
... invisible faith blossoms only after seeing faith at work?

What if all these are true?
What if "wouldn't it be neat if" was never neat?

Bad Water and Your Work

Perhaps you saw our demonstration of water filtration, able to take some of the dirtiest water and filter it 99.9999% pure from all biological contaminants. Perhaps you also were able to see how delivering water filtration kits to impoverished areas like western Kenya can have a huge impact on a family finally getting reliable, clean water to drink and wash with. And perhaps it's easier to see some of these basic principles when they are far removed from your personal situation.

Why are there water-borne diseases? These diseases are devastating, and able to wipe out entire populations - all from contaminants that are so small that we have to use kidney dialysis technology in order to affordably filter them out. Why do such things exist? Beyond the physical causes (improper sanitation, inadequate water treatment, mixed-use sources, etc.), what is the reason for these diseases?

Ultimately, because of the Curse. Because man rebelled against God, this Creation is fallen and in many ways, and conspires against the flourishing of man. Water-borne diseases are part of that conspiracy. So we can say that these diseases are collateral damage of an ongoing cosmic spiritual battle.

Therefore, we can also say that water filtration has a spiritual significance. The process is purely mechanical, fitting neatly within all the applicable rules of physics in a completely naturalistic process. But it is spiritually significant. Water filtration is part of the fight in the great spiritual battle of the Universe, fought on the battlefield of drinking water.

Believe it or don't believe it, it's at least easy to comprehend. This is not a hard concept to grasp. And so it's not hard to see how those who make water filters are part of the great battle (whether or not they know it). It's not hard to see how those who distribute water filters are part of the great battle. It's not hard to see how those who finance the distribution of water filters are part the great battle, even if it's a very thin slice of a much larger reality.

Now let's bring this home to your vocation and your work. Maybe it's not so obvious as water filtration, but using this as an example, can you look at your work through this lens? Can you see how your work could well be part of the great battle of the Universe? Is there some chaos that you bring order to? Is there some harm that you bring prevention or healing to? Is there some ignorance that you bring light to? Is there some brokenness that you bring wholeness to? Is there some rebellion that you contain? Is there some way you battle against the effects of the Fall?

Can you see how the work of your hands fits into the great cosmic spiritual battle played out in our Universe? If so, then you can see how your work is spiritually significant, even if it involves strictly physical processes. A mighty weapon in the spiritual battle can be as simple as a water filter.

Toxic Dresses

Our sewing team is close to shipping their second batch of hundreds of dresses for the female students of Benard’s Vision School in western Kenya. The dresses are intended to preserve their school uniforms. The students get only one uniform per year, and for many, it is their only change of clothes. You can imagine how difficult it is to keep one uniform in good shape for active kids when it is worn every day for a year.

These sew-ers have had fun together doing great work making colorful, culturally appropriate dresses. The first batch of dresses brought enormous smiles to our students' faces, and the gratitude of those who run the schools. They have my personal gratitude as they touch the lives of many students I've met.

This may be the last time we send dresses. Why would that be? If it's has been such a positive experience for students and sew-ers, why would we not do it again? Because if we keep doing this, eventually we will cause more harm than good.

There is quite a good number of books that explore these concepts, the most popular being When Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity. They clearly explain how not all forms of “help” actually do good for the ones we intend to help. Sadly, many of the things we’re accustomed to doing can actually do great, systemic harm.

The first danger is dependency, which eventually leads to entitlement. By constantly giving material goods, especially apart from any kind of reciprocal relationship, we can create a kind of dependency similar to an addiction. The dependent ones become less able to do the very things they should be doing to help themselves, because it is continually done for them. Eventually, a sense of entitlement takes over, with a demandingness put on the givers.

Another danger is identity. By giving too many material goods too often, we can communicate to someone that they are less than, incapable, beneath the norm, or as one impoverished soul once said, “like the garbage of society that no one wants.” Furthermore, we mess up our own identities, by thinking that having material goods to share means we are not impoverished in any way, and that by giving to someone “in need,” we are their saviors.

On a more practical level, making dresses for Kenyan students can take away jobs from Kenyan dressmakers. Most of the clothes that get donated and shipped overseas are wreaking havoc on the local clothesmaking businesses. We have checked with the leaders in Kenya to make sure we have not been doing that, but sooner or later, we would be if we continue.

So what do we do now? We still want to help! Using clothes as an example, a better way for us to help is to buy sewing machines for Kenyan women to make clothes with, to help them be entrepreneurs. Maybe we donate the money to buy the cloth, and then pay the dressmakers to make dresses, so that they make a profit and get a business started. That’s just one example.

The one thing that brings people out of poverty is work. Not charity, not free clothing, not even free food. Work, jobs, business, entrepreneurship. Historically, it’s the only thing that has ever brought a community out of poverty. We can do better than making dresses, as good as making dresses has been.

Helping those in need is not at all about “doing something” so that we feel good about ourselves for having done something. It’s about submitting ourselves to the needs of others for their good.

It Matters ... It Really Matters

Last week, we looked at the word "work" and how our theology of work comes from Genesis 1 (Creation) rather than Genesis 3 (the Fall and subsequent sentence of our labor made difficult and painful). This is crucial! If we don't get this, we'll look at work as a curse instead of what it was destined to be: co-laboring with God in His Creation. That's a huge difference!

Many people feel unsatisfied in their work because they don't see how it matters in the big scheme. It doesn't help that some of us have been taught that the only work that really matters is that which directly relates to the functions of a local church or a mission agency. Not only does that idea deny God's charge to Adam's race in Genesis 1, it also leaves 99% of believers with the deflating message that what they do most of their waking hours doesn't really matter.

I could go on, but the following video from Rightnow.org does a better job than I could. It is just a few minutes long.

https://youtu.be/m06DYIAeCtU

Your work matters to God, and not just when you can intersect it with the particular work of a church organization. Remember, Christ followers are the church, and so however we co-labor with God is "church work," for both the temporal and the eternal.

The Pastor Works Only 35 Minutes a Week

Ever since I switched from software development to pastoral ministry, I have been very careful to not call what I do "work" or a "job." It's "ministry," it's a "calling," but not "work." I don't "go into work," but I will "head to the church building to study" or meet with people or even "make progress" on ministries, plans, and projects. Whatever it is that I do (which is still a mystery to some!), it's not "work" like the rest of you do. I would never diminish the calling that way.

And I've been wrong this whole time.

In trying to show regard for church ministry, I accidentally have conveyed several things that aren't true:

A sacred - secular dualism. Since the Enlightenment, we've had a growing dualism that divides our lives into secular and sacred. My secular job and my sacred religious life, distinct and separate. My work, which has nothing directly to do with matters of faith, and my church life. Clergy and laity - some people who are religious for a living and then normal people. By refusing to call what I do "work," I'm refusing to use common, "secular" words to describe this "sacred" activity, which only furthers this harmful dualism.

Your work isn't ministry. The flip side of this is that I have denigrated the godly value of what you do, as if what you do does not minister to others. You engage people where they spend most of their lives, and you can demonstrate Christ by how and why you do your work. There may even be opportunities to appropriately talk about matters of faith. But if I elevate what I do over what you do, no wonder people don't feel like their jobs really matter in the big picture.

Distance where there should be proximity. By using different language for what you do and what I do, I only create distance between us, and that's the last thing we need.

What I do isn't work. Not calling it "work" makes it seem like I just spend my days floating in some spiritual high or engaging heroically in epic spiritual battles, and that I don't have to "work-y things" like plan, manage, shuffle papers, research, write, or handle salesmen. I don't do email ... I prophesy digitally!

The root of this problem is our theology of work. Work is not a curse from Genesis 3, but a holy charge for the entire human race from Genesis 1. God works, Jesus worked in the flesh and continues to work now, and the Holy Spirit works mightily within us. To work is to reflect God's character and to fulfill the charge He gave us. He created, and then commissioned us to colabor with Him in His creation to cultivate human flourishing. Therefore, all work can be sacred, not just mine.

And therefore, what I do is "work." It's a way to cultivate human flourishing, just like your work. So I should call it "work."

For me to refuse to use that common word has been an act of arrogance that also perpetuated bad theology. For that I apologize.