Category Archives: Book excerpts

Dec 4 2012

vertical church: quotes to ponder

 

Following are a few quotes from James McDonald’s thought-provoking book Vertical Church (David C. Cook, 2012).

Maybe the greatest rationality of all is the recognition that rationality itself is incomplete as a way of knowing. (p. 50)

God forgive the church of Jesus Christ for trading its birthright access to the transcendent for the pot of stew that is horizontal helpfulness. (p. 56)

When we ask people what they want in church instead of giving them what they were created to long for, we play into the very idolatry that church was created to dismantle.” (p. 59)

May I ask what has happened in your ministry in the past seven days that would be impossible without God’s active engagement? (p. 71)

When people are taught that their ultimate purpose is reaching the lost or building a church or extending their hands to the poor, they derail during difficult times. (p. 109)

We must stop assuming God’s involvement and start inviting it. (p. 128)

If we think ‘business as usual’ will turn the tide in this tsunami of decline, we need to wear a jacket where the sleeves tie behind us. (p. 131)

When the people of God are not told the works of God, they lose the wonder of God, and everyone does what is right in their own eyes. (p. 133)

Placing evangelistic mission above the mission of God’s glory is the single most destructive error in the church today and the one from which many other errors fall. (p. 140)

Is the coldhearted husband who never loves or cherishes his wife but sleeps beside her with his back turned every night better than the philanderer? (p. 145)

Churches don’t die. God’s voice in them dies. (p. 200)

God uses the circumstances of life to ripen people to the gospel. (p. 257)

If you can’t pick the fruit, don’t bruise it. (p. 261)

The problem in the church today is that we treat God’s glory as a by-product and the missional activities of the church as the primary thing when the opposite is what Scripture demands. (p. 300)

Dec 3 2012

make poverty personal (7)

 

Make-Poverty-PersonalHas any generation been better at avoiding limits? Today when we face real adversity we can always find music, books, TV, or movies to help avoid the sense of that we have limits. Headache tablets, coffee, and energy drinks can keep us going when our body screams “enough!” We can e-mail everyone we know at once rather than spend face-to-face time with them. Mobile phones enable those we know to speak to us whenever they want. Dishwashers can take our dirty dishes and clean them in no time, giving us more family time – but family time is at an all-time low, time we used to spend washing and drying dishes together. All these “advances” should make our lives easier and enable us to do more. Yet, far too many of us have our worlds closing in on us. Like Gulliver in Lilliput, we tower over our tiny world, but don’t see that we are being tied up. Our world has shrunk, and our self-importance is out of proportion to who we really are. Have we missed the chance to understand our miniature role in the history of the universe under the “advance” of technology?

If we are to make a difference among the poor, we have to look at the barriers each of us faces in making our contribution. While new technologies can make a sense of humility and self-awareness difficult, the underlying causes of our relentless drive for them are an important issue.

Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does by Ash Barker (Baker Books, 2009); pp. 160-161

Dec 2 2012

make poverty personal (6)

 

Make-Poverty-PersonalThe Christian response to poverty … can be varied. Using the analogy of “fishing,” consider that Jesus and the early church:

gave fish – as when they responded to direct needs through healing or feeding the hungry. Today we would call this “relief,” which could include responses such as feeding programs, emergency development, health care, prayer, providing accomodation, and visitation of those who are in jail or sick;

taught people how to fish – as when they taught truths for people such as Zacchaeus to put into practice. Today we would call this “education,” which could include responses such as job creation, preventive medical care, teaching literacy and numeracy, and vocational training;

asked why there was no fish – as Jesus did when he turned the tables upside-down in the temple, or the apostles did when they confronted rulers and crowds who were oppressing people. Today we would call this “protest and advocacy,” which could include addressing political systems, campaigning, and changing laws that create poverty and oppression. Advocating population control and secure land tenure, and fighting unjust economic structures could also be included here;

modeled a new way to fish – as Jesus did when he became human, forming an apostolic community living in solidarity, “fleshing out” good news with those in need. The apostles lived similarly, serving in weakness. This could be called “incarnational modeling,” which could responses such as Christians relocating to live among needy neighborhoods, the starting of neighborhood churches of the people, and life-on-life discipleship with those in need;

saw a new way to fish, owned by the people – as Jesus and the apostles did when they so empowered a local movement that it could live on without them being physically there. Today we would call this “transformation,” which could include neighborhood transformations, church planting movements of the poor, and grassroots Christian political cells.

Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does by Ash Barker (Baker Books, 2009); pp. 146-147

Dec 1 2012

make poverty personal (5)

 

Make-Poverty-PersonalIn the Hebrew Bible, there are five different names for those facing poverty. Each gives a subtle variation on the identity of those facing poverty, with whom we all must engage if we are to obey Jesus:

chacer – those who lack or are inadequate in some way. For example, the chacer lack “food” (Job 30.3; Deut. 28.57; Amos 4.6), shelter (Prov. 6.32), or wisdom. This word is used thirty-six times.

ruwsh – those who are dispossessed of land, possessions, and dignity (2 Sam. 12.1-4; Prov. 18.23; 22.7). This word is used thirty-one times.

dal – those who are frail, weak, and helpless. For example, the oppressed dal need help from those with the power to provide help (Ex. 23.3; Lev. 14.21; 1 Sam. 2.8; Job 20.19; Isa. 26.6; Amos 8.6). This word is used fifty-seven times, most often translated into English as “the poor.”

ebyown – those who are in need and dependent. The ebowyn have no resources of their own and so depend on the charity and justice of others (Amos 4.1; Isa. 14.30; 25.4). This word is used sixty-one times, most often translated as “the needy” and often used with dal.

aniy – those who are oppressed. The aniy are exploited and crushed by the powerful (2 Sam. 22.28; Job 36.15; Ps. 9.18; 12.5; 14.6; Isa. 14.32; 26.6). This word is used the most of the five words in the Hebrew Bible; it is used eighty times.

These words describe the marginalization and oppression that the poor face and experience to the core of their very identity. The poor tend to internalize their marginalization and oppression. This affects their view of themselves and their place in the world; it makes them feel less than human.

Oscar Lewis, an anthropologist, did research into what he would call the “culture of poverty” that emerged from within migrant groups that were marginalized from the mainstream or oppressed in any way. Some of the characteristics that emerged include:

  • suspicion and apathy toward the institutions within society;
  • the production of little wealth and receiving back little in return;
  • unemployment and the resulting lack of resources of cash and food;
  • acceptance of middle-class values, but failure to live by them;
  • hostility toward and mistrust of government and police;
  • uncherished or unprotected childhood;
  • a strong emphasis on the present and immediate gratification;
  • preoccupation among men to prove their masculinity.

It is so easy for those of us not from a culture of poverty to be judgmental – of drug users, for example – and say they don’t deserve our help. Why don’t they just say ‘no” and make their choices like “us?” However, communities that are characterized by the above Hebrew words, and the resulting culture of poverty, are more vulnerable to violence and drug use than those free of such injustice and oppression. If life seems hopeless, living for the moment is all you have, and something to numb the pain is a relief.

Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does by Ash Barker (Baker Books, 2009); pp. 123-124