Eleven Radical Anawim Principles

Anawim is a Hebrew word which means, in context, “the poor who seek the Lord for deliverance.”  It is used frequently in the Psalms and book of Proverbs, including Psalm 37:11, “the anawim shall inherit the earth”, which is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 5:5.  The anawim are the focus of God’s acts of salvation, and the inheritors of God’s kingdom.

Anawim is also a community church in Portland, Oregon.  It is a church whose members are from a variety of denominations, most of whom are homeless, almost all of whom are desperately poor.  Within the United States, one of the most prosperous countries on the earth, is a huge population living in what some may deem third world conditions.  Without electricity, without easy access to toilet facilities, without showers, even if they have a job, this population struggles to survive.  And this same population is targeted by local governments to be assumed to be criminals and ne’er do wells, simply because they are forced to live their poverty out in public.   This is the population of Anawim: the homeless, the mentally ill, the desperately poor, the rejected, the outcast due to economic disadvantage.

As a community, we have a number of principles by which we live, which makes us a unique church, unlike most any others.  Here are some of the principles:

1.       We not only speak of our love of God and neighbor, we show it. 
It is not enough to talk a good talk if we do not live it out.  Theology and doctrine isn’t the primary indication of being a follower of Jesus, or a member of God’s kingdom.  Living it out is. “Faith, if it has no works, is dead”

Below each of the following principles, we will describe some of the ways in which we live these principles out.

2.       Our resources are for the poor

We are not building a “Christian” community, but a community of the poor and vulnerable.  Our buildings, our finances, our worship, our housing, our food are all primarily for those who lack these very things.  We seek those who need the most in our community. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.”
Our facility is used to shelter those who need a secure place to be, both day and night.  Our kitchen is used primarily by the homeless who have no facility to cook in.  Our shower is used by those who have no shower.  Our bathrooms are open to those who have no place to use the bathroom. Our community house offers rest to those who do not have a place to live.

3.       We are multi-cultural

One of the gravest problems in any society is monoculturalism, the myopic viewing of the world through only one point of view.  We seek to build relationships with people of different languages, different social groups and different ethnicities so that we might learn to get out of our own narrow-mindedness, and understand the breadth of God’s variety.  “Before the throne and before the Lamb are those of every tribe and all nations, peoples and tongues.”
Our church facility is used by four different congregations: One African, one Hmong, one Hispanic and one homeless.  We invite middle class people to both serve and participate in our meals, especially to relate to our homeless and needy.

4.       We live by faith

We don’t know where tomorrow’s meal will come from.  We don’t know whether we will have tomorrow the shelter that we depended on today.  We seek God to provide for us, knowing that God often provides in the very last minute.  “Give us this day our daily bread”

Our prayer is our means of survival on a minute-by-minute basis.  As an organization, we only occasionally ask for funds, allowing the Spirit to move people to give as He sees fit.

5.       We share all that we have

We cannot live without each other, because none of us have enough to live well on our own.  When one person has an excess, then he or she shares with others, so that we may all live in plenty.  When one is lacking in basic needs, they can go to others in the community to try to meet their needs, whether food, shelter or clothing.  “There was not a needy person among them because… they would lay good at the apostle’s feet who would distribute to all who had need.”

Our facilities are set up to be places of giving and receiving, where churches and individuals can drop off their excess so that we can give it to the needy throughout Portland.

6.       We sell nothing we are given

If we receive a donation as a gift, we do not sell it to receive the money from it.  Rather, we find those who could use the donation and give it to them freely.  “Freely you have received, freely give.”
All the clothing, furniture, food and other items that Anawim receives is distributed freely to the poor in the Portland area.

7.       We disobey any law that is in disobedience to mercy

If we come against an ordinance or law that commands us not to love or show mercy to those in need, we will try to go around the law, but ultimately we must openly disobey if that is our only option.  We will always obey the higher command to love.  “We must obey God rather than men.”
We will allow people to sleep on our property in emergency situation, even when that is in opposition to local camping or housing ordinances.

8.       We make peace

We go to where there is violence and create a community of peace.  We use peacemaking principles in order to subdue violent ways and create a community that not only is at peace with itself but will create peace in the community at large.  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.”

We hold biblical peacemaking trainings for the homeless and for other churches.  We constantly affirm the principles of peacemaking throughout our shelters, offering a constant training of the mind of peace.  We prevent and mediate conflict among those who come to our facility.

9.       We seek to convert the violent and immoral

We are not content to have a community of peace, but rather continue to seek the criminal and the mentally ill and the violent in order to give them an opportunity of a new life of peace in Jesus.  “Eating with the sinners and tax collectors.”
We invite anyone to eat of our food, to take showers and to get clothes, only asking that they refrain from violence on the property.  Those who attempt to bring drugs to the property or who attempt to do violence we offer alternatives.

10.   We accept suffering as our lot

We recognize that our calling is not an easy calling, and we face violence and difficulty daily.  This long term ministry (which we have been participating in for twenty years) wears on us, and we struggle to persevere.  Our neighbors, the local governments and even some of those we serve attack us and make our burden that much harder.  But we seek the Lord to give us strength and endurance.  “Without many tribulations, no one can enter the kingdom of God.”

When we are yelled at, we do not yell back.  When we are threatened, we do not threaten back. When we are hit, we do not hit back. Rather, we seek God’s mercy for all.

11.   We seek to convert the church

The church is lost, focusing on doctrine, focusing on myopic communities, focusing on the wealthy, focusing on middle class values, focusing on comforts.  We seek to remind the church of the radical message of Jesus, calling us to radical lives not just scandalous words.  Ultimately, we seek to transform the church from an entity compromised with the values of the world to step out and be truly unique in the image of Jesus.  “Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

We encourage and teach radical discipleship in our denomination, and on the internet.  We partner with local churches to join us in radical giving to the poor.

To see more about Anawim, please visit our website, Nowhere To Lay His Head

The Big Picture-- What is the purpose of humanity?

In the beginning, God created the ecosystem.

He made all things to fit together so that not a single aspect of creation loses out.  It’s described in Psalm 104:

He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever….

He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains;

They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst.

Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches.

He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth,

And wine which makes man's heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man's heart.

The trees of the LORD drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,

Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees.

The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the wild goats.

He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.

You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.

The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God.

When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens.

Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening.

O LORD, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all!

 (Psalm 104:5, 10-24)

The earth is one large community, working together to meet each other’s needs.  And human beings play an essential role. Human beings are supposed to be the fail-safe, the fix-it-guys, and they were supposed to improve on creation, filling it with creations of their own.  Mind you, humans couldn’t do it on their own.  They needed God’s guidance and power to make it happen.  But it was a good plan.

A community which is self-sustaining and meets the needs of all parts within it, both survival needs and social and security needs is a community of peace, it is Shalom.  God’s initial plan was for the world to have perpetual Shalom, and human beings were essential for that plan.

Of course, we know that this plan wasn’t fulfilled.

Mind you, humanity didn’t mess everything up, just enough for the whole planet to become ill, and every creature within it, including humanity, to be in a perpetual state of crisis.  Because we don’t really know what peace is, or how to achieve it.  We need God’s wisdom and power.

Okay, let’s do a huge fast forward.  To the end. If creation is the initial act of God, let’s see what the final peacemaking act of God is, how he completes his creation and what that says about humanity.  

At the very end, there is judgment.

No, that’s not fun to talk about.  Sorry.  No matter how anyone thinks it pans out, it involves separating humanity one from another, some will be a part of the ongoing process of maintaining creation and others will… not.  Or maybe they’ll get fixed, that’s not my place to say right now.

What I’m more interested is how humanity will be divided from each other.  How does God choose the good group from the bad?  The answer in the Bible is strangely uniform.  With all the differences in Scripture and the different wording and the different ideas, how humanity is judged is determined by one phrase used quite frequently:

Psalm 28:4—Requite them according to their deeds…

Proverbs 12:14—The deeds of a man hands will return to him.

Isaiah 59:18—According to their deeds, the Lord will repay.

Jeremiah 17:10—I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. 

Jeremiah 32:18-19—The Lord of Hosts… gives everyone according to their ways; every man according to the fruit of his deeds.

Ezekiel 18:26-27—When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die.  Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

Hosea 12:2—He will repay them according to their deeds.

Jonah 3:10—When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. 

Matthew 16:27—The Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay each according to his deeds.

John 5:28-29— An hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

II Corinthians 5:10—We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 

Revelation 20:12-13—And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

In the end, it isn’t how much a person believes, or how well they did on their doctrine, or what a great relationship they had with God… when the final test comes up, it all has to do with what we do.  The kind of actions matter as well.  For Jesus and the rest of the New Testament, it’s clear that if we are going to pass this final test, we have to do acts of kindness, helping the needy, supporting those who are in the greatest need.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you.  Luke 6:36-38

So I said all that to tell you this.

I know what the purpose of humanity is.  And it is revealed in God’s first and last acts in the human story.  First of all, we are to create peace on earth.  We aren’t to wait for God to do it for us, we have to do it ourselves.  And secondly, we are to create peace by means of doing great acts of support for those in need.  It could be we are helping birds in need or puppies or children or homeless people or sick people… but we are to be the kind of people that can’t say “no” to a fellow creature in need.  Peace through compassion.  That’s what God wants of us.

Yes, God wants us to love Him.  No question.  Because without God we don’t have the wisdom or the strength to obtain peace or to keep loving.  Without God, we get confused about what love really means, mixing it up with our own self-interest. 

God is interested in us in propping up the system of peace He originally created and doing this through acts of great love.  And He wants to help us do it, which means we need to connect to Him.  That’s it.  If we can remember this, it will all work out.

Sure, we’ll argue about what peace really looks like and about how to get there.  But if we remember the basics—peace means that everyone’s needs are met, whatever those needs are.  And the method to peace is through compassion and mercy.  If we remember those things, we’ll be okay.  We just need to stick to the basics.

And dream really big.

A Brief Biblical Theology of Generosity

Biblical theology is the ideas that the Bible itself contains.  In every section of the Bible, generosity is commanded, lauded and displayed.  Rare is such an ethical theme so consistently and regularly upheld.  Here is a sampling of this theme, and some of the strong affirmations:

1.       Creation—Psalm 104

Psalm 104 is a text about the creation of the world that offer different details than Genesis 1 or 2, and so belongs in the conversation with these texts.  Here, a picture is given of God creating an ordered world, in which every creature—even the sun and moon—are given what they need, food, water and shelter.  Human rule is seen as working to sustain this order of providing and preserving creation.  The wicked at the end of the psalm are those who deny this order, who hoard and keep for themselves resources which were meant to keep all of creation running.  In Psalm 104’s ideal creation, every creature is a part of the natural order of sustenance and amble resources.

2.       Patriarchs—Genesis 18-19

Abraham is seen as the ideal man of faith, who obtains wealth because of his trust in the One God, the Most High, the Creator.  But this wealth is also tested.  In Genesis 18, Abraham sees three men (secretly messengers from Yahweh), strangers, passing by in the middle of the desert.  Abraham insists on giving them “a little bread and water”, which becomes a feast of mutton and loaves.  This hospitality is seen as Abraham’s regular generosity for strangers.

Sodom, on the other hand, abuses strangers, harming both the immigrant and the one who offers the stranger hospitality.  Sodom is therefore destroyed for their abuse.

3.       Law—Deuteronomy 15

The law had in place a regular system of forgiving debts, which included restoring land back to the original family to whom it was given.  A warning is given with this to be generous to the poor, even if the time of forgiveness was nigh.  Generosity is tied to economic prosperity for the whole nation, because if they are generous then “there will be no poor among you.”  Generosity is always an option, and always a character trait that one should practice, for “the poor will never cease in the land.”  Or is this the Mosaic recognition that the people of Israel will not heed the law, and so economic disparity will exist as long as people withhold help from their neighbors?

4.       History—I Samuel 25

Nabal (“fool”, possibly a name given the man in later retellings) is a wealthy man having an annual sheering feast with his men.  David, an innocent homeless man with his men make a polite request to take part of the feast, as he has been protecting Nabal’s livestock.  Nabal refuses, choosing to insult David instead.  David wants to take vengeance on Nabal, killing him and his men, but Nabal’s wife, Abigail, offers gifts and generous words to David, causing him to repent from his anger.  The next day, Nabal dies of a heart attack.  Refusing charity is seen as foolish and resulting in death.

5.       Prophets—Isaiah 58

The later Isaiah is speaking to a nation recently re-settled into the land.  They wonder whether they should continue their practice of fasting each Friday, to request Yahweh deliverance from their oppressors, and restoration.  Yahweh replies that their fasting is pointless as long as they continue to oppress the poor by not being generous to them.  Once they have granted justice and peace to the poor, then God will give their fasting and prayers due consideration.

6.       Wisdom—Proverbs 28:8, 27

Proverbs has a theme about poverty and giving to the poor running throughout its pages.  We can see one theme in these two verses.  The act of charging interest on debts is a way of gouging the poor, and those who use this practice of oppressing the poor, as well as any other oppressive practices, will be judged by God to be unworthy of their wealth.  Those who will be blessed by God are those who regularly generous to those who are in need, and they will receive the wealth of the oppressor.

7.       Wisdom—Job 31

Job, like Abraham, is seen by many as a righteous wealthy man.  But what makes him righteous?  His actions of treating his servants well, and especially his generosity to the needy.  He adopted orphans and would never have a meal without sharing that meal with the poor.  His great wealth was matched by his great generosity.

8.       Jesus—Luke 12

In a lecture that is collected from various places in Q and Luke’s own source, Jesus warns his disciples against  a variety of greeds.  He gives a parable warning that preparing for one’s retirement without equal generosity to the poor, can lead to a premature judgment by God.  Wealth is not the answer to one’s problems, but God himself. The normative disciple is to surrender his possessions to the poor, in order to obtain God’s storehouse of wealth instead.  And the disciple is to be generous, not worrying about where one’s basic needs would be met, for God would supply the disciple with all he needs, even as He provides for all creation.

9.       Jesus—Luke 16

Jesus gives two parables (from Luke’s special source), speaking of the relationship of the wealthy to the poor.  In the second parable, the rich man ignores Lazarus, the poor beggar outside the wealthy estate.  The wealthy man is punished because he did not share his comfort with Lazarus who was suffering horribly.  Rather, Jesus says that wealthy people should be like the unjust steward, who sees the poor and suffering as those who will obtain God’s favor, and so should make friends with them by freely surrendering their wealth, which is not theirs to begin with, but God’s.

10.   Acts—Acts 4:33-37

The natural response to Jesus’ teachings about economics, is for many of the wealthy in the early church to surrender their wealth to be redistributed among the poor of their church.  This is the cause of God’s great blessing on the church.

11.   Paul—Galatians 2:7-10

Although Paul did not support the law being given to the Gentiles to follow, he did agree with James that one law should be commanded of all disciples, Jew or Gentile, which was generosity to the poor.

12.   James 5:1-6

The wealthy among the congregation is seen as worthy of God’s judgment because instead of sharing their ample resources, they were hoarding them, not practicing “true religion” or obeying “the royal commandment” to love their neighbor as themselves.

13.   John—I john 3:17; 4:20

The elder encourages the church to give to the poor.  If we have the ability to be generous, but do not, then we do not display the kind of love God had for us, and so we do not have God’s love or grace.  God’s grace is on display in those who meet the needs of those around them.

Throughout the Bible, the choice is clear.  If we have some wealth, money, land, estate, connections, food, livestock or other resources, then it is natural and loving to give to those in greater need than we.  If we do not do this, we are outside the system of God’s grace, mercy and generosity and we will not be partakers of God’s grace, but rather the focus of His judgment.  Even as those who do not forgive will not be forgiven, those who are not generous to the poor will not receive the generosity of God. 

The Gospel of the Comfortable: A Scriptural Guide

Woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Luke 6:23-24

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! …You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.  James 5:1-3,5

Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. Luke 16:19-25

He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.

He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses. Proverbs 28:8, 27

O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity. Daniel 4:27

I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Luke 16:9-13

When Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and I will bring a piece of bread, that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant." And they said, "So do, as you have said." So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it and make bread cakes." Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate. Genesis 18:2-8

If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves When they filed a complaint against me, What then could I do when God arises? And when He calls me to account, what will I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb? If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her), If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering, If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep, If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate, Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow. For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing. Job 31:13-23

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. I Timothy 6:6-11

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

Black Jesus and Rabbi Jesus

The latest version of Jesus is pleasant, jovial, friendly and weed-smoking.  And there’s a number of good Christians that are up in arms about it.

Senior pastor Kerry Buckly says, "It was horrible, disgusting and completely offensive. Down to a person, everyone in the youth group was offended. It just shows where we are a nation. … We have no respect for God.”  And that’s just after watching the trailer.

Certainly the first episode had a number of questionable activities.  Jesus is living a party life, living in a van, partaking in weed and he hosts parties where he’s not welcome.  He’s a moocher, he participates in illegal activity, and is arrested.  The first episode also diminishes Jesus’ death by having a character say, “Yeah, that was 2014 years ago, that's old.”

But if this portrayal of Jesus is problematic with the modern church, then I suspect that they wouldn’t much care for the original Jesus.

Because that Jesus travelled from town to town, going to one party after another.  He described the kingdom of heaven a number of times as a “feast” (which is just another name for party).  In Luke 14, Jesus uses a party as an illustration of the kingdom of God at least three times.  And he says this while at a party.

The original Jesus was homeless, of course, having “nowhere to lay his head.”  He was poor, and a mooch, because he held his parties in other people’s homes.  One example is Zacchaeus in Luke 19, where Jesus just tells him that he’s having a party at his home.  Often Jesus held parties in places where he wasn’t welcome, such as Simon the Pharisee, where Jesus insulted his host because he wasn’t fawning enough (Luke 9).

What about weed?  Jesus certainly didn’t smoke weed, did he? Some more religious cannabis users want to show Jesus smoking janga, but since weed didn’t grow in the Middle East in the ancient world, that didn’t happen.  However, Jesus was about drinking wine.  A lot of it.  The good stuff, which is the more fermented kind.  He was known as a “drunkard”.  My more conservative friends say that Jesus never got drunk, but there certainly isn’t any evidence for that.  He certainly hung around with people who were drunk.  And really, what is the difference between alcohol and weed except that alcohol is more likely to make you violent?

Sure, Jesus is a moocher in the episode, but he gives as much as he takes, sometimes more.  He is seen as a joyful, generous, miracle-working man, trying to encourage everyone to be kind, compassionate and at peace with each other.  The statement about his death is called into question by the end of the episode because in the end Jesus helps everyone

So what really is the problem with Black Jesus?  It’s the same problem religious leaders had with the original Jesus—he is on the wrong cultural side of the tracks.  Religious folks are naturally conservative, always trying to reach back to a better time in which people were more polite, less irresponsible, more moral and generally safer.  It doesn’t matter that this time never existed.  But in general, religious folks like order.  They want to squelch any attempt at chaos or irresponsibility.

But Jesus was irresponsible.  He quit his job, left his family (even though he was responsible for his widowed mother), travelled from home to home with a number of disreputable men and women(!).  Jesus had no regular income and encouraged his disciples to live off other people’s charity.

And Jesus was chaotic. Sure, he talked about God’s will, but he was always tearing at the institutions of his day, whether the priesthood, the temple or even the law.  He challenged the political and economic institutions of his day and encouraged a sort of anarchy.

Let’s face it, the original Jesus, just like Black Jesus is an affront to middle class, reputable morality.  Religious people just can’t handle that.  So they will talk about how “blasphemous” Black Jesus is.  When really what they find blasphemous is the original Jesus, just like the religious institutions did 2000 years ago.

As for me (and the people in my congregation), I’d much rather hang out with Black Jesus than the Jesus that they have in their churches.  Constantly dying, rule-making, stern and institutional.  Mind you, I would find Black Jesus to be a bit more like the original Jesus if he’d talk about sacrifice and humility as well as joy and love.  But I’m willing to give the show a chance.  It’s a pretty good start. 

In Praise of Segregationism

All church is culture.  Church isn’t primarily spiritual.  There are spiritual elements to be sure, but all of those elements are dipped, covered and sometimes overwhelmed by a culture of our choice.

And this is how it should be.  Even as Jesus became a human being he also became a cultural being and every word he spoke reflected the culture that he was drenched in from before the time he was born.  He spoke Aramaic, probably knew Hebrew and Greek, quoted the Hebrew Scriptures. He also was Galilean, which had a different perspective on Judaism than the temple/priesthood-oriented Judaism of the Jerusalemites.  He had a different view on Gentiles than the southern Jews.  His was not just a Jewish viewpoint, but a sectarian Jewish viewpoint.  That was the culture he chose in his incarnation.  And he was changed by that culture, he spoke both in and through that culture.  And he challenged the mainstream cultures of his day through the viewpoint of the culture he was raised in, as well as his unique perspective.

What mystifies me is the demand for cultural unity in the church.  Yes, I agree that we need to have a limited amount of doctrinal and ethical unity.  Jesus is Lord and love is the law.  But cultural unity? As if we should all be in the same worship service, worshiping the same way.  As if unity can only be accomplished if we are all in the same worship service, singing the same songs.

My first problem with that is that the Jesus who walked on earth wouldn’t be comfortable with any of our worship.  First of all, he didn’t speak the same language.  Also, his manner singing would be more like a chant than our modern melodic songs.  Some of the ideas might be familiar, but our theological language would be foreign to him. 

But in an ideal of a universal worship service, which culture will we be communicating in?  Some say that we will be communicating in all cultures.  But there’s too many cultures for a single worship time.  Thousands of languages, tens of thousands of people groups, each with their own style of communication, and a variety of rhythms and rhyme schemes.  Not practical.

Certainly we could have a service with a variety of worship styles but that’s just another worship style.  Multi-culturalism works for some, but not for others.

My real issue is cultural colonialism. Because when cultural unity is discussed, it is the minority cultures that get the back seat, that have to be relegated to a cultural ghetto.  African music is “special” music, not the normal mode of worship as it would be in an African service.  Whether Mennonite or Presbyterian, youth or seniors, Aboriginal or Indian, each of these groups have a mainstream form of worship, a cultural norm in which they can connect to God.  And they deserve to have their opportunity, not just to be relegated to a single song or reading.  For some cultures, worship needs to be three hours just to get going.  Others have lost the sweet spot after an hour.  And each should have their time with God, with others who appreciate that culture.

I am concerned about cultural colonialism when I hear a white person say, “Why do we have so few black folks in our congregation?  We are a segregated church.”  The reason you have so few black folks is because you have a white-culture worship.  And that’s fine.  Enjoy it.  But don’t think that having more “ethnic” folks in your congregation makes you more spiritual.  If an African American appreciates your culture of worship, great.  But don’t expect them to.  Don’t think there’s something wrong with your worship because it is mono-cultural.  Here’s a secret: all worship is.  Because all worship is embedded in culture, because we all are.  And different people are a part of different cultures.  And being multi-cultural is just one more representation of culture.

I have a church which is homeless culture.  I don’t expect you to be comfortable there.  People use foul language without thinking and take a break in the middle of worship for a smoke break.  We eat around tables in the middle of service. They interrupt the preaching, and the sermons often go on rabbit trails off the text, being more of a discussion than a monologue.  Sometimes a fight breaks out and we have to interrupt church to break up the fight. That’s our culture.  That’s how we connect with Jesus and show love for each other.  It’s not for everybody.  But it works for those of us who are a part of this particular homeless community. 

If you’d really like to experience multi-cultural worship, we’d be happy to have you come and join us.  But don’t think that we are participating in a more “spiritual” worship if you have us join you in your service.  Sure, your singing is nice, and your people are friendly, but you see, our culture is different.  We can appreciate your style of worship, but we have a hard time connecting with God there.  Frankly, some of you are too stuffy.  And some of you are uncomfortably loud.  And some of you think you should wear really uncomfortable clothing.  And that’s great, for you.  I’m not judging you.  The most important thing is that you connect with God, and give him what you’ve got.  We want to give Him what we've got.  In a way we understand and is emotionally resonate to us. 

But please don’t think that we’d be better off if we worshiped in your church, in your style. We’d be less distracted in your church, that’s true, but we can’t hear God above all the things that’s “wrong” with your church.  Of course, there’s probably nothing wrong.  But it’s different.  And we just want to get back home, in our own culture, where God speaks to us in our own language.  Maybe we’ll visit another time.  If you thought that if you made a couple changes for us so we could be more "comfortable", we really wouldn't.  We would just feel trapped in your culture.  Peddled in.

We will be unified.  We will serve together, we will support each other, we will stand up for our brothers and sisters who are outcast, no matter what culture, no matter what viewpoint.  We will mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice.  And we will also meet God with those who understand our way of meeting God.  That doesn't mean we don't love you, just because we aren't in your church.  It means you respect us enough to give us the opportunity to be ourselves. 

Simplicity: Lessons From the Homeless

Montana Dave (no, that's not his real eye)

The other day I was talking to my friend Dave.  He’s known as Montana Dave because, I guess, he came from Montana originally, but there are a few of the guys who I know were raised in Montana, but they don’t get the nickname “Montana.”  On the other hand, there’s a number of Daves or Davids around, so I suppose he needed some kind of nickname and Montana suits him just fine.

I think of him as “Mountain Man” myself because he’s a rugged guy and prefers to live on his own, out in the wilderness.  He makes regular trips into town to get food and other supplies if he needs it, and, I think, to just talk to people for a while because it gets lonely to just talk to yourself and you always say the same things back.  But he doesn’t stay in town for long.

So Dave and I were talking and I asked him, “How do you stay out there?  Why do you stay out there?  Do you really want to live apart from everyone? It can’t be easy.”

Dave took his hat off for a moment and looked me in the eye and asked, “Do you really want to know?”

I got the sense that he was going to tell me an earful, so I steeled myself up for a lesson and said, “Sure.  Yeah, I do.”

Dave didn’t say a word. He reached into his pack, took out his bag, laid out a paper, but some tobacco on it, licked it and rolled it up.  Only after he lit his smoke he said, “I go to the library, you know.  And I see there that there’s a number of books on simplicity.  I’ve looked at them and read what they have to say, just for a laugh.  These people don’t understand simplicity any better than that fellah Thoreau did.  And I don’t blame them.  Real simplicity is hard.  I’d say that for most of us, if we were going to learn real simplicity, we have to be forced into it. Being homeless is a good start to really learning priorities.”

“Well,” I chuckled. “Not everyone on the street is simple.  What about April who got a boyfriend just so he could carry her bags and boxes around town?  What about Andrew who filled his car with crap and then piled tubs and bikes on top of his car until it almost fell over?”

Dave laughed loudly and shook his head. “Well, those folks are special, if you know what I mean.  I’m certainly not saying that all the homeless are simple.  But I bet you that April is carrying around a lot less than the piles of stuff she had when she had her own apartment.  But I agree, they are still focused on stuff, and that’s a problem if you are on the street.  You know Tim and Sam?  Sam was forced out of her apartment and she was going to live on the street with Tim.  One guy… I can’t remember his name… made a big pile of things that Sam would ‘need’ when she got on the street.  When Tim got back to help Sam, she showed him the pile and he gazed over the pile and laughed. ‘You think that we’re going to be carrying this huge pile all over the city?  When you’re homeless,’ he told her, ‘Everything you need has got to fit in or on one backpack.’  Then he started pulling out the things she really needed that could fit in the backpack he brought.

Not Andrew's car, but close

“And he’s right, you know. If you leave anything in your camp you are just asking for people to rake through it and take what they like.  The first step of simplicity is being forced to give up on everything, everything except what you need that day.  People who write books like that in the library still have rooms, even houses, full of stuff they ‘need.’  That’s not simplicity.  At least that’s too complicated for me.  You say that prayer, don’t you?  What’s the part about bread?”

“Give us this day our daily bread,” I recited.

“Right.  Daily.  Not tomorrow.  Just today.  God doesn’t really want us to think about tomorrow.  That doesn’t mean I don’t plan.  I build my cabin, and it takes time and preparation.  And I come into town to get some food from you sometimes.  But I don’t worry about tomorrow or what I will have or not have.  I think after my wife left me and I had to live on the street, one of the happiest things I ever did was to cancel my insurance policies.  That’s a lot of tomorrows I don’t have to worry about anymore.”

I hesitated, “But if you don’t prepare for tomorrow, how do you care for yourself?  Don’t you starve?”

Dave chuckled as he said, “Well, I’ve gotten pretty hungry sometimes.  I suppose that’s those are the times I walk over to see you.  But for the most part I don’t save anything for the future.  I might think about how I’ll store some things so the raccoons and cougars won’t get them, so I can still wake up in the morning.  But for the most part, I just wake up and see what’s available.  I don’t think about ‘what if I can’t eat.’  I guess if I don’t eat, then I don’t eat.  But almost all the time it works out.  If it doesn’t, and I’m stuck, then I pray.”

“Huh,” I grunted.  “I didn’t think of you as a praying man.”

“Why?  Because I don’t attend your services?  I don’t know that I need to bother God with my questions all the time.  I do stop in on occasion to give him a thank you… but generally I pray only when I really need to.”

“And when is that?”

Not Dave's real cabin

“Last winter I was in my cabin and I got snowed in.  I had wood for fuel, but if I lit it I was taking a chance on burning my whole house down.  I took my shovel,” he pulls out his portable spade from the outside of his pack and unfolds it, “which is one of my essential tools, I’ll tell you.  Anyway, I took this shovel and dig through the snow.  It took me three days.  I’m surprised I didn’t get frostbite.  I’ll tell you, I prayed up a storm on those days.  And He saw me through.  And at the end, when I got to the church, you were open and warm and there were ninety people here, but there was some warm soup.  I gave an extra thanks to God that day.”

“So, basically, simplicity is only getting what you need that day and trusting God for the rest?”

“Well, it’s a bit more than that.  After all, I don’t live out in the woods just because I don’t want to have too much stuff. It’s really about avoiding drama.  That’s why I don’t live with my wife anymore.  Too much drama.”

“I thought she kicked you out?”

“It was mutual, I suppose.  But for the most part I got the worst end of the deal.”

“But you’re living the simple life, right?  No drama?”

“Yeah, and I almost froze to death last winter.  That wasn’t so great.  But no drama is good.  You guys have a lot of drama around here.”

“True.  I wish we had less.  Far less.”

“Well, I think there’s a time to just walk away from it.  Walk away from relationships, from the anger, from the demands…”

I was skeptical.  “You mean that you should just give up on relationships?”

Dave looked up and backtracked, “No, not just give up on all relationships. Tim and Sam, they’re good for each other, you know?  And they’ve had some rough patches, but they are working on them and they care about each other.  That’s great.  But look at most of the relationships on the street.  Craziness.  You can’t hear the love past all the yelling.”

“I understand that, but many relationships, if you really work on them, you can make it.”

“I wonder if you can really have the energy to work on relationships when you are struggling to survive.  Relationships mean you are thinking how the other person thinks.  That’s tough when you don’t have enough food.  In time of survival, it’s best to just think your own thoughts.”

“But even when your surviving don’t you have to care about other people?  Help other people?”

“Absolutely.  And when you are surviving, helping others is simple.  You need food, so do they, so you both share what you have.  You need water, so do they, so you share.  If one of you has got shelter and the other doesn’t, you share your shelter.  But if you go deeper than that, it’s tough.”

“So how do  you think people like Mark and Diane do it?  They’ve been together for a while.”

“I don’t know how they do it.  Just compatible, I guess.  They have their arguments, too.  I bet they take breaks from each other sometimes. But for me, it’s just simpler to live without a relationship.  Fewer rules.”

“I’m sure you have some rules you live by.”

“I try not to.  As few as possible.  It’s easy to stack up rules like firewood, but they are a lot harder to get rid of.  It’s simpler to live without rules.  I know that you say you have four rules around here, but you have more than that.  You have this complicated system of who can sleep overnight and when.”

“Well, generally we aren’t supposed to have anyone here, but I make exceptions.”

“And everyone is trying to figure out your exceptions because everyone wants to camp on this property.  It’s safe. Or at least safe-er.  So you have these hidden rules that drives everyone crazy.  I know you let some people stay and others can’t.  But that’s the thing, it complicates it.  For me, it’s just about care and respect.  Just care for people that really need it and respect everybody.  That’s all.”

“Well, I’d like to do that, but there’s hundreds of people needing care around here…”

“So you make your own complications.  I live out in the woods.  The traffic’s a lot lighter out there. Sure, I come back around.  I’m not a hermit.  I want to talk sometimes.  As you can tell.” He grins at me. “but I don’t live around all the people all the time.  There are times to be with people and times to be by oneself.  You’ve got to balance it for who you are.”

“That’s what Thoreau did as well.  He was out in the woods for much of the week but spent the weekends with his mother.”

“Huh.  Well perhaps he knew what he was talking about after all.”