OK, so here goes…. I hope this is not to deep for my first post to our new blog… but after discussing this with others in our church community I thought I would put it in writing.
I read a recent post by Al Hsu, the author of The Suburban Christian (I am planning to get the book and read what more he has to say) but the post confirms much of what I feel the Lord is compelling me to have a better understanding of. That is, the issues of new suburban poverty. To me this poverty is even more insidious (I know big word) because of the way that our suburban context hides the poverty, isolates people in their poverty and leaves people in despair in ways somewhat different than in urban contexts. I would even argue that these new forms of poverty are taking over the suburbs as thousands have been talked into sub-prime mortgages and various other enslavements(car, Education Debt) which leave them with little or no money for other necessities despite having a suburban home to live in.This subarban context of poverty has been drawing my attention to the importence of a church structure in the suburbs where poverty is not dealt with through another program. Unlike in the Memphis inner city, where people mostly wear their brokenness on their sleeve, the suburban culture of respectability (or the myth of respectability, I should say(I lived it for a while) throws up walls that not only hide ones own suffering, but allows others a convenient means by which to avoid the uncomfortable feelings of seeing our neighbors suffering. People won't know or come to such a program in the suburbs. And the programs will not address anything but short term needs (which is necessary but not sufficient to be called God's true justice). I have felt the need to find ways of becoming a communities of justice in the suburbs,just as my friend JR said the Neo-Monasticism folks have been pioneering in the inner cities. It will look much different in the suburbs for the cost and structure of the burbs is completely different. Yet to me intentional suberban communities are just as important: communities that seek and teach the ways of simple living, loving people, sharing peace and restorative justice to those caught up in the cycles of suburban impoverishment and enslavement.
The last of my two cents on this…. I firmly believe that, especially in the Western Evangelical church, our future as authentic Kingdom building communities is inseparably linked to the marginalized in our society whatever that context might be. I found this quote from Lilla Watson, a Murri Aboriginal woman that sums it up a bit for me:"If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time... But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."
There are other people writing on this stuff . I think this is an important discussion to have in our Living Hope comunity. Any thoughts on what ways can intentional community in the burbs take up some of the same principles as neo monastic community in the urban contexts?
5 comments:
Cool that you guys are blogging and I loved the Lilla Watson quote - perfect!
I agree that the 'trappings of life' have become our spiritual bondage. Today it is required that good people quietly hide behind the false comfort of stuff/jobs/houses/cars/schools. I too have been wondering how we got to this point, my only answer is that our generation and the one before us have been greatly deceived. This is not just an inner city urbanite vs a yuppy or rich vs poor mindset. No matter what financial status or living situation, most of our lives have zero eternal value in daily operation. The truly sad part is that we dig in deeper trying to fit into a system that is so obviously flawed.
Changing what people value and asking people to choose right over comfort is the talk of revolution in todays burbs. We have become so callus to this 'safe and secure from all alarms' system that the idea of changing it is no longer even welcome in the church.
So how then do we begin to break down the insulation and fences that this plastic lifestyle is built upon? Imparting a love of things that have lasting value.. that is what we need. Now what retailer can I go purchase that at?
ps-Great to read your thoughts! Dead on target with a conversation I have been having for weeks with a number of people.
JR@ Thanks man for stoping by!
Shawn@ God is certainly stirring something in our Living Hope Community ….. thanks for the props….we need to get together soon…. By the way I so like the comment “what retailer can I go purchase that at?” Isn’t that so true of the way the gospel has been shared with allot of our generation in the suburbs. I think we all went through EE. Found this Quote on thesubtext.org “The evangescript is perceived as invasive and fake.
The unchurched can spot the evangelistic script before you finish that diagnostic question. It's not because they are religiously savvy, it is at least because living in a consumer culture allows them to detect a sales pitch with little effort.” How true and somewhat sad.
First of all, Jim, Jim, Jim..
it's @JR and @Shawn, not the other way around sheesh!!
Second, Shawn, if you have been having this conversation with folks for a while now, we are past the point of needing a larger forum for this. There are too many folks discussing stuff along these lines to not take steps to engage it on a more practical level. Let's gt together on this.
The central problem is how to help people deal with Truth, as they evolve all sorts of psychological defenses to help them avoid seeing the Truth about themselves, their neighbors, their children, their spouse... etc. They don't want to face those self-defense mechanisms and learn to dismantle them, even those those mechanisms form the walls of their self-created prisons.
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