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Articles
Learning to be a Missionary (Dan Sheffield & Joyce Bellous)
Theology of Mission for FM World Missions (pdf)
The Church in God's Plan (Howard Snyder)
Sorry... The Frontier Has Moved! (Viv Grigg)
The Phnom Penh Declaration (APFFMA)
Sacrament for the City (FM Urban Ministries)
Sharpening our Social Conscience (Dan Sheffield)
Practical Steps for Local Churches
Ubunye Church Case Study (Dan & Kathleen Sheffield)
Sharpening our Social Conscience
by Dan Sheffield, 2001
"What is God saying to the Church through the millions of people in the cities who are trapped by the tyranny of poverty, filth, illiteracy, hunger, unemployment, overcrowding, violence, bureaucracy and helplessness? How can faith in the Risen Jesus break the cycle of deprivation, conflict, devastation and failure to develop? It begins with the people of God bringing the presence of God into these environments." This statement comes from Ben Beltran a minister in Manila who serves Communion on the largest rubbish dump in the world!
Free Methodist Social Concern in Perspective
A similar kind of statement came from the pen of B.T. Roberts, the founder of Free Methodism, in 1865, when he wrote: "My special mission is to preach the gospel to the poor.... The work is progressing and I expect to live to see free churches all over the land -- especially in the cities where the poor are congregated. This is a blessed work!"
John Wesley's vision was "to spread scriptural holiness throughout the land and reform the nation." Wesley believed that personal growth in godliness is impossible without exercizing our "godliness-in-development" in the midst of a social environment in need of the presence of God. Do we still believe that God can not only transform individual lives but that He is interested in transforming our communities as well?
David McKenna, author of A Future with a History, asserts that when BT Roberts was put out of his leadership role in 1890, "for generations to come, the keen edge of social conscience in the Free Methodist Church seemed to be blunted." In his conclusion, McKenna notes that "If Free Methodism is to be known as the church that cares, the spirit of compassion must be activated at every level, not as a token of guilt or a low-risk venture into missions, but as the pervasive influence of a deep-seated biblical conviction."
In conversation with various pastors and laypeople throughout Free Methodism it seems to this author that, while concern for social issues is being expressed, there is little foundation being taught and virtually no direction on how to go about developing social ministries. The Agenda for Compassion, adopted by the church in 1995, says that "every local church is challenged to get involved in some significant intentional social ministry to its community." But we need a foundation upon which to build these ministries and we need tools for implementing practical concern.
Developing Biblical Conviction
Let's begin with examining the biblical foundations of God's concern for the wholeness of our communities.
When God called Israel from amongst all other nations, he had a purpose for them. In Exodus 19:5-6, at Mount Sinai, he says "now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." God goes on to outline the nature of that kingdom and what it means to obey him fully. There are two points we need to focus upon. Israel was to be "a kingdom of priests", or mediators. Not one high priest, but all ministering to one another and in turn, Israel as a nation, ministering to the nations around it. But beyond priests, they were to be "a holy nation." Not just holy individuals, but their collective holiness would have an impact on the nations round about them. Israel reflecting the presence of God in their midst to the nations. Israel as leaven in the earth. Ezekiel repeats this theme: "Then the nations will know that I am the Lord...when I show myself holy through you before their eyes" (36:23).
Israel, of course, struggled for centuries to reflect the character of God as a nation, never quite making it. But God kept reminding them what it was that he required. He was as angry with their betrayals as with their pious religiosity. In Isaiah 58 he says: "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of unjustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for the poor wanderer -- when you see the naked to clothe him..."
If we think these are all Old Testament sentiments, let us listen to Jesus himself. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat... I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me... I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25). And in Luke 4, Jesus claims: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed..." Those words have the same flavour and intention as the Old Testament passages. But why do we separate the meaning of these words into spiritual and temporal? Is God truly as concerned about the social conditions in which people live as he is with the condition of their souls?
A little word study. Are we aware that the Greek words for physical healing --soteria and sozo are the same words we translate as "salvation"? Christ's redemptive work is fundamentally to bring healing, to bring the whole of creation back to God's original intention. Redemption can be defined as restoring the elements of creation to fulfill the purposes for which God created them. This restored creation most accurately reflects the glory of God. Do we doubt that God's creation encompasses both the physical and spiritual aspects of life? Therefore, if we work to provide housing for the homeless we are in the process of bringing about social holiness; that is, reflecting the holiness of God through introducing the homeless to God's intention for them -- comfort, care and health. As the love of Christ is demonstrated in tangible ways, those without hope will ask us to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15).
Shalom
If we do not want to separate soul salvation and body salvation, where do we go? We go to shalom, the Hebrew, biblical, word for wholeness. This is the word in our Old Testaments that is usually translated peace. But the concept of shalom means so much more than just the cessation of violence. Shalom communicates a sense of human welfare, health and well-being, in both spiritual and material aspects. In fact, we might say that the conditions found in the Garden of Eden typify shalom: human beings in an open, free relationship with God, humans in unhindered fellowship with one another, and humans and creation co-existing in mutually interdependent harmony. One author suggests that "from the disruption of shalom in the Garden to its total renewal in the new Jerusalem, the object of all God's work is the recovery of shalom in his creation." God desires a return of the relationship he had with human beings -- spiritual renewal. But he also desires a renewal of the physical and social harmony that was present as well.
The faithful ones in the Old Testament era understood the connection between physical, social and spiritual harmony in our relationship with God. To separate these and say that the spiritual relationship is more important than the physical and social would have been a foreign concept to them. They would see the inter-relationship in much the same way that John does when he says: "if anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" This brings us full circle to John Wesley whose understanding of 1 John became the foundation of his theology. Sanctification is the release of God's love in our lives, that overwhelms us and compels us into contact with those who need the love of God in their lives. The love of God in us must be demonstrated, in effect, to prove that it is there! If we are not touching the lives of people who need the love of God, how else will they find it, and how else will we demonstrate what has been given to us?
Translating Conviction into Action
Ubunye Free Methodist Church, in a large city in South Africa, identified a need affecting the lives of many people in our community: safe, clean, affordable housing. We asked ourselves, "is this something God is concerned about?" We couldn't deny that he probably was concerned about the conditions in which these people were living. We asked ourselves, "what can we, as a local church, do about this?" We set up a not-for-profit company to supply accommodation for low-income families. Was our motivation to get these people to come to our church? No. Was our primary concern to see people come to Christ? That's a tricky one, but the answer is still, No. Our primary concern was to demonstrate the love of Christ in our community, with the certainty that the Holy Spirit would be doing his work of drawing people to Christ.
Recently we celebrated the arrival of government funding to refurbish the old hotel that we bought to provide housing. This building formerly housed several beer halls, drug addicts and dealers, and prostitutes. At our Celebration, residents talked about the transformation that had happened over a two year period; clean toilets and healthy environment for small children, rents that they could afford, water and electricity that was never shut off, safety and security that is hard to find elsewhere in housing for low-income residents. We felt this was a time to celebrate the presence of God and the grace and transformation that He is bringing to this community.
Down a broken, lumpy driveway, past piles of building rubble, garbage dumpsters and laundry lines. A couple of nylon tarps are thrown up between two buildings. Sixty plastic chairs; bricks and planks form seating for another eighty people. People of many colours and languages; different economic levels, political parties and social positions -- a street hawker and a university lecturer. At the front is a small table with a makeshift cross leaned against it. On the table are the elements for serving the Lord's Supper.
In the parable of the sheep and the goats, those who entered into the kingdom on the judgment day were those who demonstrated the love of Christ (within themselves) by feeding the hungry and caring for the sick. We become involved in ministry to the community, fundamentally, because we are ministering to Christ. As Christ is revealed in the community through the presence and actions of the people of God, he is able to do his redemptive work. "If you lift me up, I will draw all men unto me."
Extra Reading
Arbuckle, G. Earthing the Gospel, Orbis, 1990
Bradshaw, B. Bridging the Gap, MARC, 1993
Snyder, H. The Radical Wesley, IVP, 1980
Yamamori, T. Serving with the Urban Poor, MARC, 1998
originally published in Light & Life (January 2000)
Practical Steps for Local Churches (sidebar)
Once a congregation comes to the realization that they should be involved in the issues affecting their community, there are several practical steps to be taken.
1. Community Needs Assessment
A comprehensive assessment of needs in the community should be conducted. This involves drafting a survey and going door-to-door asking residents, in a focus area, to identify issues of concern that are not being met. Also surveying welfare organizations and regional and local government departments will allow the church to see what is or is not being done in response to those needs.
2. Identify a Need
Once a realistic picture of community needs has been produced, church leadership need to do an assessment of the local congregation's gifts, abilities and resources. What are perceived, or real, strengths and abilities within the congregation? Do any of these strengths correspond with a particular need(s) in the community? This might be a concern for strong families, with teachers and healthy family models within the congregation. Are single-parent families a high need factor in the community? There's your match.
3. Reflect
However, before leaping to the task at hand, congregational leaders need to do some reflecting on the redemptive work that could be accomplished by responding to this need. What is God's desire for families? Does God love single-parent families as they are? What are the spiritual, practical and emotional needs of single parents? of the children? What is the role of the church in the lives of families? What does it mean to be successful in working with single-parent families; what are the goals?
4. Form a task team
The next step is to form a task team of interested/burdened, gifted persons. A Task Team should include one mature, respected congregational leader with a burden for the particular ministry. Otherwise the risk-taking involved in outreach ministries will not even get a hearing from the church "powers-that-be." The Task Team should also include some people in the congregation with similar life-experiences to the targeted ministry group. A valuable step is to include someone from the community who is not a believer, but knows intimately the issues as hand. This kind of credibility is very important in building bridges especially if the church has never been involved in the community previously.
5. Develop a sustainable ministry plan
The first job of the Task Team is to develop a plan that will be supported, that can be experimented with, and will ultimately lead to self-sustainability. Developing a plan that will have to be supported by the church ten years in the future, when all the original leaders are gone, and no one has a vision anymore, is not acceptable. The plan needs to include: listening to those being served so that responses actually affect people appropriately, developing an initial response that can be modified as time goes by, on-going training of all persons involved in the ministry, being realistic about financial needs and where finances will come from, and being realistic about goals, objectives and results.
6. Implement a ministry plan
Now to take the plan and put it into practice. There will be a need for risk-taking behaviour! When Christians move out of our comfort zone into the real world with real hurting people, it can be frightening, discouraging, and sometimes unsupported by other Christians. Maintaining unity and comraderie in the Task Team is very important and must be given focused attention. If your team falls apart for one reason or another, the ministry fails and thereby the Church's credibility in the community.
7. Evaluate effectiveness
As the ministry develops there is a continual need for evaluation. Are we actually meeting the needs we set out to meet? Are we seeing results? Do we need to redefine our purpose or objectives? Do we need to modify our expectations? Do we need to shut the ministry down? Do our staff have enough training to do their part well?
author blurb:
Dan Sheffield served as a missionary pastor/church planter of Ubunye Church in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He also served as an adjunct lecturer at the Evangelical Bible Seminary of Southern Africa. He holds a BA in Biblical Studies and a Master’s degree in Religious Education. He currently serves as Urban Ministry Facilitator for Free Methodist World Missions.
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2002 - The Global Cities Network |