Many people talk about how they want to get involved in helping widows, orphans, homeless, older adults, the poor, and so on. Causes are a very important part of life it seems. Everybody needs to have one. "Bob supports kids in Africa... Jane wants to help inner city kids... Jim wants to rescue orphans..." People want to go to work for a cause. We want to contribute to the greater good. We just want to live a life that is real. Step out of the matrix. The problem is, there is a HUGE gap between good intentions or ideas and seeing those intentions come to fruition. Often people do not know where to start, or they give up because they tried and things just didn't work out. The following are some suggestions I have for anyone who is interested in serving others, but seems to be lost or stuck. I'll present some common errors, and present some solutions. I hope not to offend, but if I do it's OK because maybe that will light a fire that is needed!
If we build it, they will come - the Field of Dreams mentality: I know some people who designed a program to help inner city children. They designed the entire program from scratch, and they even purchased a building and built it out for their purposes. There is only one big problem... they don't actually have any inner city kids to take part in their vision. It's starting to become a problem. They are stuck. What was my advice to them? Stop planning and go hang out where the kids are. Start building relationships with them on their turf, and maybe kids will start getting involved in your program. God gave us all brains and creativity. The Holy Spirit often puts the needs of others on our hearts. So what's the problem with coming up with innovative ideas that will help others? The problem is, often those ideas are developed apart from the people the ideas are intended to help. The people in need are given no opportunity to speak into what might be helpful to them. How does one overcome the Field of Dreams mentality? Relationships, relationships, relationships. Did I mention relationships? If you are not involved in deep, meaningful relationships with the people you are intending to serve, then stop designing your program, stop writing your grant, stop setting up your board of directors for your new nonprofit, stop designing your curriculum, and go where the people you want to help are and start building authentic relationships with them. Soon you'll find that your planning will flow out of those relationships. Also, don't design anything without the input of the people you are planning to serve. The top-down practice of outreach does not ordinarily lead to transformation of individuals and communities. It is better to operate from a bottom-up perspective, engaging others from the grass roots level.
I'll get started when I retire - the some day mentality: The American dream concept of retirement, or saving up a bunch of money so that you can live comfortably in your golden years, is not biblical. I have no problem with saving for the future and embracing solid, biblical financial principles. But, much of the American dream is a lie of the world that American cultural Christians buy into. Many people who buy into that lie do not do anything to serve marginalized people in our society from age 18 to 65, and then they think that some day they are going to flip a switch when they retire and suddenly know how to help others. I hate to say it, but it just won't happen. To be effective at reaching out to others, one needs to have lived that out as they raised their families, as they worked, as they played, as they lived. It is not something that one can just turn on and off. The irony is, some may have stepped on the shoulders of the poor in order to reach those lofty heights of financial comfort as a retiree, then they'll turn around and think that they now want to give back after years of oppressing others. How many slum lords... um, I mean, people who invest in 'real estate' in broken communities and then don't take care of those properties or the people who pay the rent... are going to church on Sunday to pay tithes from that 'rental income.' I don't know much, but I know God is not pleased with that. So how do you overcome the some day mentality? Get started right now. With your family. At your job. In your community. Don't wait! Get started right now. Build service into your lifestyle now.
I'm going to the rain forest - the adventure mentality: Often we think that God is calling us to work in a rain forest in the Amazon when he may be calling us to work right across the street or in our own city. The rain forest sounds like an exciting adventure! The homeless man down the street sounds like... not so much of an adventure. That sounds more like a long term, messy relationship with a person who may have overwhelming problems that you may not be equipped for. How can you overcome the adventure mentality? If God can equip you to survive in the Amazon, he can equip you to minister to the homeless man down the street. Cities are set up in such a way that you do not really need to come into contact with brokenness. For instance, you can live in a nice neighborhood with people who all look like you and act like you, you can work in that same kind of environment, the freeways will happily commute you right past the neighborhoods with those pesky and unpleasant signs of brokenness, and you can even eat lunch or sip lattes in pleasant oasises during work breaks downtown. You can overcome this by intentionally going to and spending time in different neighborhoods, even 'broken' neighborhoods. Stop taking the freeway to work. Take some risks and introduce yourself to new people. Consider living in a 'broken' community. Did you know that white Americans make up less than 2 percent of the world's population? White people in general are a minority in the world. If you are raising your family in a neighborhood where just about everyone is the same color and socioeconomic status, you may not be giving your children the gift you think you are giving them by raising them there. When they leave home, they are going to discover that they are a minority in a globalized world and they are going to be behind socially. Consider raising your family in a neighborhood with many different types of races and socioeconomic backgrounds. Then you'll be giving your kids a great gift. And, please, if you are raising your children in a homogenous bubble, don't take them to a broken neighborhood for a visit or send them on a short term mission trip to a third world country for the purpose of "showing them how the other half lives." You'll be reinforcing a top-down, superiority type of complex and sending a message that there is something wrong with people who are not middle class or affluent Americans. Most of the world lives on much less than the American income level, and they are completely fine with it. They don't think there's anything wrong with them.
Compassion without justice - the bandaid mentality: All I'll say about this one is that it is important for Christians to engage in mercy and justice. There is no either/or. We are called to both. How can we act compassionately and justly? The best example of this is that we can give someone a fish (mercy) and we can teach someone to fish (empowerment). But what if there is a barbed wire fence around the pond? Then we, as Christians, are called also to act powerfully to remove the barriers to the pond (justice). We can act powerfully, although most Christians are not comfortable with that concept. Be intentional about how you are planning to interact with others. Think things through before you act! Consider mercy, empowerment, and justice.
Leadership without integrity - the hypocritical mentality: I meet many young Christians in their twenties who want to save the world. They get involved in some great causes. The problem is, their personal lives are in complete shambles. They drink too much, sleep around too much, they are enslaved by sin and temptation, and then they think that they can be effective at helping others. The problem from this standpoint is, you can be a participant in helping others but you will get stuck. You will not be able to move into effective leadership in a cause without living a life of integrity grounded in a relationship with God. How can you overcome the young and misguided mentality? Embrace a deep, meaningful, authentic, transformational relationship with the God of heaven and earth. Humble yourself and allow Jesus to work in your life. You can't lead others if you can't lead yourself. You cannot lead others to spiritual transformation if you yourself are unwilling to be transformed by God. Stop leading from your flesh, and start letting Jesus lead. Understand that God works through us, and people should see Jesus when they look at our lives.
As I said earlier, these are just some suggestions for folks who may have good intentions to make an impact in the world for God, but who may not know where to begin or how to get unstuck. I hope that these words help. The most important part of anything I wrote was that we need to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ in order to be an effective leader of any cause which the Holy Spirit may place on our hearts. Then, our lives and actions have eternal consequences.
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