Jesus the Beggar

Sometimes we forget that there were celebrities during Jesus' day and that he was not one of them.

You might say, "But wasn't he well-known throughout Jerusalem and Galilee?" Well, sure.  That's not exactly what I'm saying...

Look at what American Christian culture has done to create religious superstars.  Elevating pastors as a "pop-culture" christian celeb is (absolutely) dangerous, (perhaps) anti-gospel, and (surely) harmful (just look at the easy targets, Mark Driscoll and/or Rob Bell).
This phenomenon is fascinating because it is as if we are doing the exact same thing people of Jesus' day hoped to do with him.  They wanted to thrust him into the limelight, take charge, use his influence for fame, fortune, and overthrowing the secular state (you think it's extreme, but look at your motive for voting republican).

The good news is Jesus didn't write a new controversial book, build a big church building, or start a new non-profit ministry.  He did things that no Christian today would elevate or support.  As Shane Claiborne says in The Irresistible Revolution, the miracle of the gospel is not that Jesus healed people (because they all eventually died later) it's that he touched the people that no one else would touch.  He sat with people no one else would sit with.

The most Christ-like things we do will end up being the things we receive no applause for, no award for, and will probably go unnoticed.

It takes time

I have worked with the homeless in Norman, OK for two years this January 4th.  During this journey one principle stands out among all others.

It takes time.

I am amazed by and have pity for my culture that assumes programs and machinery are what it will take to bring people out of poverty.  Welfare is not the answer.  Bigger government is not the answer.  Clothes Closets, Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens, Salvation Armies, transition houses, none of these are the answer. In fact, there is no silver bullet, panacea, magic blue pill that I know of.

Just when you want to throw your hands up in the air and say, "Well, what the heck is all this for!?"; I do know this.  While there is no easy answer, the journey towards the solution is paved with committed healthy relationships.

Any program put forth by society or church that does not weigh heavy on long lasting healthy relationships is a failure.  

The fabric of society's future is woven with the everyday choices that promote and cultivate healthy relationships.  Relationships that beat with Christ's heart of love and sacrificial commitment.  His is the highest form of love because he is the example and source of such love.  His Spirit is what lives on in us today and gives us strength and patience, determination and stubbornness, because the journey with broken people towards healing takes time.

Voting With Your Dollar

I've been reading a lot about creating and using sustainable businesses to bring about social change.  Jason Saul's book Social Innovation, Inc.: 5 Strategies for Driving Business Growth Through Social Change has allowed my liberal arts brain to get a dose of economic business stimuli.  Here's what I've learned so far...

-Businesses are more powerful (and wealthier) than government (hello, Apple).

-Businesses cannot merely be "philanthropic" as they continue on towards their goals.  The social change we hope for must be the inherent goal of the business itself 
(e.g. McDonalds cannot simply boast about how much they give to certain charities every year.  Through changing their business goals and strategies they must seek to bring systemic change to problems like obesity and low-wage jobs).

-The most influential vote we have is not at the polls in November, it is our dollar and where we choose to spend it.
Because as a customer, citizen, and contributor to society you earn credit/influence in the form of little green slips of paper.  And wherever you deposit those slips of green paper is where you are allocating your support for different companies.  You say, "Target, I like the feeling I get when I go to your store and purchase your merchandise.  Keep it up." Or, "Starbucks, I like the way you treat third world coffee farmers.  Keep doing what you are doing."


Businesses of our economy want our money (our vote).  It's our job to buy responsibly, carefully, and with integrity.  Take note of two final things: the best way to empower the poor is to provide work so that they can have influence and a vote, and the government cheats in a way because through mandatory taxes they can bypass the need to make the customer happy.


Just some thoughts from a wannabe economist.

Good Samaritan Style

A few months ago one of our ministry workers came running in the office saying that a man was lying in our West covered stairwell.  She didn't know if he was alive or dead, conscious or unconscious.  I was called to the scene, opened the door to the outside steps, and approached the extremely thin man checking for signs of life.  

He awoke in a fluster and said, "Hey Joey."  I was taken aback because at first I did not recognize him.  Through the haze of inebriation he explained that he attends our Sunday Lunch every week.

I found myself feeling extreme compassion for this individual.  He stays in a tent within a wooded area of the city and he is a slave to the substance of alcohol.  In his drunken stupor he found his way to our church, a place where I think he subconsciously knew he would be safe.  

Instead of calling the police (which would have gotten him nowhere but deeper in debt with fines he cannot pay) I sat with him, gave him crackers and water to sober him up, and one of our secretaries came out with a first aid kit to dress the gash on his forehead.  After our secretary left, he and I had a candid conversation about his addiction, his current life situation, and the truth of Jesus' gospel that calls us to a life of freedom and love.  I told him how important he was.

By sitting with him I hoped to show that he was not forgotten in society.  By giving him food and water and dressing his wounds we hoped to show we care for his physical situation (a new earth).  And by speaking the Truth in his life I hoped to remind him of who he is as a child of God (a new heaven).

We cannot separate the physical and spiritual needs of this world.  Jesus never did, so why should we?

Revelation 21:1  "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer."

The old leprechaun with a lot of money

Some people choose to be nomadic.  "Transient" is another word for it.

Last year I had the privilege of booking a train ticket on the Heartland Flyer for a gentleman who is 67 years old, walks with a cane, sleeps at the river, and speaks through an electrolarynx (yeah, that's right, click it to learn more).  He didn't need any money; he could afford the ticket.  He simply needed someone to make the phone call for him to book the trip.  I forgot to mention that this guy had side burns (mutton chops, really) that would put Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley (combined) to shame.

This week the old very short man returned, with his chops, cane, and electrolarynx.  It took me a few seconds to remember him, but I did.  I never forget an electrolarynx.

He needed the same thing, not money for the ticket, but someone to make the phone call to book it.  So I did.  Afterwards I gave him the receipt with his confirmation number on it.  He pulled out his wallet and took out two hundred dollar bills! I did not expect that to happen so (of course) I reached out my hand ready to accept this generous tip for my telephone call skills, only to see him embed the receipt within the bills and tuck them safely back in his wallet.

I said, "Whoa!  You better be careful with all that cash."  To which he proceeded to show me how he would use his cane as a weapon if anyone got too close.  He then said in his robotic voice, "I keep another three hundred in a secret compartment in my cane handle just incase."

I couldn't believe it.  I had never met a real leprechaun before.  But here he was, with his gold stashed secretly away and ready to defend it at all costs.

Maybe there is some spiritual lesson in all of this.  Maybe not...

Does anybody really believe in coincidence?

Just a small story about the way I choose to see the world...

On Sunday afternoon I was leaving the church and walking down the long hallway away from my office.  As I approached the end of the hallway I noticed something bulging up from the carpet.  As I got closer it took on the appearance of money that was folded up.

Seriously, the first thought in my head was "Oh my goodness, someone dropped one of those tacky dollar-bill tracts!"  I wanted to take on the persona of a super hero, my name is Joey and my super power is being able to smell the stench of Christian clichés and cheesiness while being able to eradicate it with a single blow.  So I stood there triumphantly with the wind blowing my cape, fists on my hips, and I said, "Not in my church!"

Then I picked up the money tract and when it was in my hand I realized it really was money and the threat of Christian cheesy propaganda was over.  So, I reassumed my civilian identity and proceeded to decide what to do.

It was only two dollars, surely that's too insignificant of an amount for God himself to have placed it there.

Monday morning came around and a gentleman showed up right on time for his 10am appointment.  I just met this white mid 30's year old homeless male the day before after the church service.  He had walked in to the building as a last resort for his desperate situation not knowing where else to go.  We spoke together for a while and he decided that the best option for his situation was to get back to OKC where he had somewhat of a supportive community.  I said, "Oh, I think God put two dollars on the floor of the church yesterday for you to have.  Combined with this quarter (I had in a drawer of my desk) this will get you on the bus from Norman to OKC."

Responding with sincere gratitude and shock, he smiled, eyes big, and we walked out of the church together.

I don't look for God's workings constantly.  I wonder what miracles I've missed being a part of because of my blindness...