Manana

Manana: Christian Theology from a Hispanic Perspective
by Justo L. Gonzalez
Abingdon Press (1990)

Author Justo Gonzalez presents many different lenses for the study of God with his words that challenge readers to unpack their paradigms of theology. The author captures the tension between a religion of the powerful and the powerless, and of mainstream society and the edge of society. The Hispanic culture in the United States represents a deep history of working out a cumulative relationship with God based on the tension of that premise. Gonzales summarizes this book by saying that “the experience of being a part of the ethnic minority has led me to reinterpret the meaning of the Bible, which I still cherish as a result of my previous experience of being part of a religious minority.” (26) He outlines the concept of manana, which means “tomorrow” in English, but he uses it as a theological term for hope in God’s economy for Hispanic people who have been oppressed and lived in poverty for generations. The Holy Spirit empowers people living in struggle to embrace God’s hope for a brighter future tomorrow.

This was a very challenging book for me to read because I come from a background of a position of power and privilege in America due to my skin color and where I was raised. The author brings a prophetic voice to the concept of what it means to be a Christian. I was very impressed by the depth the author went in which to strip down my biases, but I would have liked to have had more content about proactive measures that mainstream society can implement to participate in the process of manana. The book seems to be written to Hispanic minorities and other people who experience oppression. It is not necessarily intended to outline strategies for how persons in positions of power and privilege may participate in the reconciliation process. Then again, a book about how people can choose to give away power and privilege might not exactly be a best seller in the United States!

I am reexamining how I interact with people in Homewood. How often do I offend people by being insensitive to the complexities involved in one person’s struggle to overcome systematic injustice and oppression? I repented often when reading this book because I have projected so much of my cultural and spiritual biases onto the young people I mentor. I am not alone in this. Gonzalez points out that, “In every denomination, power and prestige in society at large translates into power and prestige in the church. It is as if a higher understanding in the social hierarchy were an indication of a closer connection to God. Thus while we do not lift up our eyes to the holy places where the baals are worshiped, we are often invited, by the church itself, to lift up our eyes to the stories of success where today’s baals are worshiped.” (119) As North Way Christian Community continues to expand our influence in Pittsburgh, and specifically in Homewood, it will be important for our large, mostly middle class or affluent, church to grasp the concept that we are not trying to pull people out of poverty into our definition of success. We should seek to bring the hope, or manana, of Jesus Christ and nothing more. We are not able to fix any person or any neighborhood. We simply need to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all of our outreach efforts.

Fire From Heaven

Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the 21st Century
by Harvey Cox
Da Capo Press (1995)

The Pentecostal movement is shaping much of modern Christianity in the world. In Fire from Heaven, Harvey Cox attempts to study and explain Pentecostalism because it is one of the fastest growing movements in the world. He attempts to provide a neutral perspective for outsiders who are interested in understanding how the church is growing globally at such a fast rate. He describes the symbols of the Pentecostal church, which include such things as “high-amperage music, voluble praise, bodily movement including clapping and swaying, personal testimonies, sometimes prayers ‘in the Spirit,’ a sermon full of stories and anecdotes, announcements, lots of humorous banter, a period of intense prayers for healing, and a parting song.” (6) Interestingly, he confirms the fact that Pentecostalism is mostly an urban phenomenon, so it has implications for people who are involved in urban ministry. A historical context, dating back to Azusa Street, is provided early on in the book, followed by chapters emphasizing the importance of mysticism and hope to the religion. The author also touches on certain dynamics of the global expansion and the future of the movement in the United States.

Nobody can deny that the growth of the Pentecostal movement throughout the world has been amazing. One of the things that I struggle with most, and the author also pointed this out, is the seemingly overdone focus on demonic activity, or exorcisms, in the church. Much of it seems trivial. Cox writes, “What annoys me about the experts who catalog and chart the different devils today, and who are sure the demons are at work in their opponents, is that they are making a very serious religious question seem trivial and ridiculous.” (286) Spiritual darkness and demonic activity are clearly present in the world today, but the sins perpetuated by world and the flesh are also to blame for many of life’s fundamental difficulties. I do see many signs of hope in the movement. Cox pointed out that many young Pentecostal ministers “believe that the fact that their movement started among the disowned and dispossessed is not a mere historical memento, but a decisive indication of what the Spirit wants them to be doing today.” (318) God is moving in the lives of the poor around the world through the movement.

From what I understand, several forms of liberation theology and Pentecostalism exist in Homewood. I can completely understand why some people in the community have grasped on to certain aspects of the Pentecostal movement. Cox discovered that, “The movement started from the bottom. A partially blind, poor, black man with little or no book learning outside of the Bible heard the call… He was a son of former slaves who had to listen to sermons through a window and who undoubtedly traveled to Los Angeles in the segregated section of the train. Yet under Seymour’s guidance, a movement arose whose impact on Christianity, less than a century after his arrival in Los Angeles, has been compared to the Protestant Reformation.” (119) The Pentecostal movement may appeal to many residents of Homewood because it is such a profound shift in Christianity with roots growing from a person reflecting the demographic make up of much of the neighborhood as it is today. Pentacostalism could help to bring a profound sense of hope to the neighborhood, and I intend to keep learning about this form of Christianity so that I can be more effective with the young people with whom I have been called to serve in Homewood.

City Walks

As a part of the research I have been doing for my most recent BGU project, I have gone on several city walks through Homewood. The basic concept is known as exegeting a city. One biblical model for this is in Acts 17 when Paul is in Athens for the first time. He walked around the city, observing and reflecting on a new urban context. Then, he was able to "translate" the good news into Greek culture using various symbols and characterizations (such as the unknown god).

Cities are often very different at night than they are during the day, so I made sure to take city walks in Homewood at both day and night. To be completely honest, I felt very comfortable during the day and very uneasy at night. I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable walking around my neighborhood at night, but I know as a Christian I can do my best to have God equip me to be a part of the process of transformation that may one day lead to safer streets. Walking the streets helps me to understand the context of Homewood, and what good news might look like to the people who live here.

Have you taken the time to get to know your neighborhood? Do you know your neighbors? What cultural clues, symbols, and characteristics are important to your context? What signs of hope do you notice? What signs of need do you notice? What would good news look like to your neighborhood?

From Principles to Lifestyle

Since our move to Homewood, many people through conversations have asked us about our rationale for the move. I must admit that my initial responses involved "applying incarnational leadership principles" or "the theory that shared experiences yield more effective urban ministry results" and so on. I have felt that I need to justify myself for what may be perceived to be irresponsible behavior. Julie often asks me for "the right kind of language" to describe our countercultural life.

Now that we are settling in, we have noticed that lately we have stopped attempting to deliver on theoretical language based on principles and philosophies. We are now describing our move in terms of our lifestyle. We want to live closer to the people in Homewood. We want to be good neighbors. We enrolled Kyra in Faison because we believe we can contribute to the improvement of that school. We believe in the staff at Faison. When something bad happens in our neighborhood, we feel it. When something good happens in our neighborhood, we feel it. We just want to be available to people. We want to demonstrate Christ's love to the community. We want to be present.

This type of mindset has been freeing to Julie and I, because this transition has definitely had some challenges. We have been under a great deal of spiritual attack lately... enough for us to know that it is not coincidence. Thankfully, God has been coming through for us (as always). It's such an amazing feeling to take risks for God and step out onto a ledge that seems crazy to the world, only to have God show up and rescue us. God is a rescuer. He believes we have what it takes. God strengthens and equips us for this battle. And... God can definitely take care of the "language" that is needed to explain our move to Homewood.

Soggy Ice Cream and Sloppy Joes

A couple weeks ago we had a boys overnighter for LAMP mentors and mentees at the LAMP Post. I picked up four of the boys in Homewood and East Hills on the way to our first event, which happened to be the Back to School JAM at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in the Hill District. We made a pit stop at my house before leaving for the event, and while we were there I told the boys they could help themselves to freezie pops (alluded to in a previous post) in our freezer. We left in such a hurry that I did not discover the fact that they had accidentally left the freezer door open. Julie had gone to visit her parents in Ohio with the girls, and I spent the night at the LAMP Post, so the problem was not discovered until late the next day. By that time, everything in the freezer had melted. The frozen sloppy joes were ruined, among many other things. Sadly, we lost five gallons of ice cream that had leaked down the front of the fridge and all over the kitchen floor.

Julie had a bit of a "melt down" when she saw the mess, followed by giving me "the look" (most husbands know this look very well... we're instinctively trained to make up a response as soon as possible in order to redirect the negative attention onto something else). As Julie was burning a hole through me with her eyes, for some reason I blurted out, "Julie, just think of it this way. Because we reached out to these boys this weekend, there's always a chance that we may have played a small part in helping them to experience God and be with us forever in eternity. Julie, will your sloppy joes and ice cream be with us in eternity? I don't think so. Think about it."

I know... I still can't believe I said that. But in a way, it's a simple theological truth. The things of this earth will all eventually fade away (or melt away as the case may be), but God has designed all of us for eternity. We should all be living with an eternal mindset, and holding on loosely to our stuff. My response did get a chuckle out of Julie, successfully changing her anger into laughter. And yes, I did clean up the mess. But the point is... do you have an eternal perspective? Also, mentoring LAMP kids can be messy (literally). We need to be willing to put up with messiness in order to advance the kingdom.