practical dreaming about changing the world

One of my classes this semester is 'Mobilizing for Justice', where we discuss many of the injustices that exist in the world today (not all of them...there's not enough time for that). We talk about the brokenness in the economic, political, social, and even religious systems that exist today. Sounds like a depressing class, doesn't it?

But we also look at how we can transform the world. Yes, we take a close look at the twisted, sick, toxic, unjust aspects of our current reality, but we do not (and cannot) stop there. We start envisioning how those problems and issues can be attacked and rooted out. We study and discuss how transformation has already occurred. We talk about why, as Christians, we need to care about these things. In a society that feeds us these mistruths/deceptions: everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, that goodness, hard work, and virtue will surely result in personal wealth, that charity is always enabling, that sharing resources is communism (heaven forbid), that poor people are poor because they're lazy, that racism has disappeared and has nothing to do with economic inequality today.....we need to take a good hard look at injustices in our society and figure out how to tear them down.

I recently read a book for this class titled Building a People of Power, by Robert Linthicum (2005) and wrote a brief reflection on it. I wanted to share part of that writing here, as the book's theme of empowering people to bring about change struck a deep chord within me. Here's a little of what I wrote:

In a world where it often seems that most of the power is held in the tight fists of the elite, Robert Linthicum’s book is a timely reminder that it does not need to stay that way. His book was written for the church as a praxis manual in which theory – explaining the biblical understanding of power and why we must wield it to bring about the shalom of our communities and cities – meets practice – demonstrating how this can be accomplished through various methods. His central thesis is that in order to truly transform communities into the kingdom-inspired shalom communities that God intended, the church must seek to empower and walk alongside the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized of society.

The concept from Linthicum’s book that stuck with me the most was his Iron Rule and how this plays into his vision for building up powerful people. The Iron Rule states, “never do for others what they can do for themselves,” and it is a key concept for any type of community organizing (regardless of if they use the “Iron Rule” name for the concept). Community organizers understand that in order for a community to be transformed, it must ultimately be the people of the community who take ownership of solving whatever problems they are facing. There are many well-meaning, compassionate, do-gooders who have seriously harmed people and communities by doing things and providing things for people that they simply should not have done. They took the easier, shorter route of directly stepping in and trying to ‘fix’ something quickly, while the best solution was the long-term route of empowering and building up the people themselves. The Iron Rule reminds us to keep in mind the extraordinary capabilities people have for learning, growing, stretching, and rising up to meet the challenges they face. The church is called to walk alongside those struggling people in solidarity and support, helping them cultivate and channel the power they contain within themselves.

However, most churches have yet to move beyond compassion and mercy ministries towards advocacy and justice. Many churchgoers hardly understand the biblical mandates behind social justice and the call to work for the shalom of the city. Churches that are still stuck in engaging in only compassion and mercy ministries must be taught about God’s heart for justice and the commands in his Word to strive for it. This cannot be taught simply from the pulpit or in formal classroom-style lectures or trainings. The need to work for justice should also be taught through dialogue – such as storytelling – and experiential learning in or near their community. Before they learn the definition of ‘Iron Rule’ and other concepts necessary for empowering people, the Iron Rule must be applied to them. The church’s leadership cannot impose the need to seek justice on the congregants; the congregation must take ownership of their call to strive for justice in their communities. As they begin to grasp for themselves the understanding of the injustices that plague our world and our society, then they can begin to learn how to stand up against the powers and principalities. The church itself must be empowered to seek justice and live into that before it can go out to its community and effectively build up the marginalized and the oppressed.

the snow globe starts to calm down

The last three months have been packed to the hilt with newness, challenges, and a myriad of experiences. It's often felt like I'm standing in a snow globe, and God just picked it up and started shaking it til all I could see was the swirling white flakes, spinning frantically around me. Each flake was something new, someone new, someplace new, a new piece of information, a new observation, a new thought, a new feeling, a new connection.

I think God made us all - even the people who love adventures - so we seek out stability, peace, and solid ground in something, someplace, or someone eventually. That rooted, at-home feeling is something we all desire at the end of the day. Excitement, variety, adventure, and newness are all wonderful, but we eventually want to find our niche and start digging in with our roots.

Near the end of this semester, I'm still being hit in the face sometimes with new flakes, but the spinning has slowed down. Picture after a blizzard when the frozen, sparkling snow is softly settling to the ground. The torrential wind has died down, and you can start to discern the landscape around you again. You can start to pick out familiar landmarks, and you're back to comprehending your environment.

My surroundings at North Park, in Chicago, maybe even in the Midwest (..maybe that's a bit of a stretch) are starting to make sense and feel familiar. I'm beginning to gain a glimmer of understanding and focus on where I fit in the midst of this community, this neighborhood. There's still plenty that will change and evolve over the rest of my time here, however long that is, but I have begun letting down some small roots into this new soil.

faith-rooted organizing

This is a blog post I wrote for my Mobilizing for Justice class. I attended a Faith-rooted Organizing conference this February, and this is my reflection on it. Enjoy:)

“See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Matt. 10:16

Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Alexia Salvatierra, facilitator of the 2-day Faith-Rooted Organizing conference I attended at South Loop Community Church in February, continually referenced this scripture throughout our time together. Community organizing can be a handful; trying to connect all sorts of diverse people in a community to advocate for change in an organized fashion is quite a feat. Alexia has been involved with faith-rooted community organizing (specifically the Christian faith, just to clarify) in many different facets over the years. Over just a couple days, she managed to lay out a solid foundation regarding how the faith component is so essential and valuable in efforts to organize. Some people argue that approaching organizing from a faith perspective can compromise the effort, as Christian values (of loving your enemies, of doing all things with righteousness and integrity) can make it tricky when choosing to attack an unjust system or structure. How do you lovingly confront someone who is perpetrating an injustice? However, her constant reminder to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves serves as a model for how Christians can boldly, wisely, strategically – yet still lovingly – live out our biblical mandate to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

As someone who wants to work in faith-based nonprofit organizations, the material and strategies I learned from this conference were exceptionally relevant. The talks and discussions insightfully demonstrated how faith-rooted organizing has much to offer in the struggle against the unjust systems and structure we face today. I learned the basic components of organizing [goals, analysis, strategies, recruitment, leadership development and leadership sustaining] in addition to the essential components the faith factor brings to the table.

Instead of inhibiting the organizing effort, faith-rootedness ultimately enhances it in huge ways. The faith perspective has a lot to offer a group of people who are working together against an organization, corporation, or system that has markedly more financial resources and hard power than the community organizers will ever have. Faith offers an entirely different understanding of the situation when the odds seem stacked against you. For starters, its definitions of wealth and power differ from the standard definitions of those words in our culture. In the Christian context, wealth does not have to do with just money, and power is not exclusively in the hands of those at the top. Faith-rootedness helps community organizers see the potential power that exists in the hands of the poor and the oppressed. The voices of those who have been systematically wronged and abused hold much power, as they have the right to call out those who have oppressed and harmed them. Those at the top of unjust systems and structures (who appear to be the primary power-brokers) in reality have some severe vulnerabilities, as they reached their position through the exploitation of the weak and the poor. People of faith within the community not only value the oppressed and the marginalized in society, but are called by God to actively stand up for them and empower them to rise up. The rich do not hold a monopoly on power; the people of God bring this understanding to all organizing efforts they engage in.

Overall, the values and visions that spring from faith are pivotal in any community organizing setting. Christians can bring hope, power, love, strength, vision, fearlessness, righteousness – as well as faith itself – to the coalition. In fact, they have already begun to do this. The most memorable parts of the conference were undoubtedly when Alexia revealed what an impact faith-rooted organizing has already made in various campaigns against injustice. She brought the principles she was teaching to life by weaving in and out of rich narratives throughout the conference, giving us inspiration and reminders that God is very much alive and well in our efforts to break down corrupt systems and structures. He does not just command us to go out and do the impossible; He comes alongside us and helps us achieve these ‘impossibilities’. Community organizing may seem to be an overwhelming task in light of all the obstacles in its way, but in the light of faith, it is a very different story.