Justice

Josiah had his first soccer game today. Grandma and Grandpa came down from Brownwood to be part of it, which made him feel like a star. He did great, and even scored a goal. He's a great kid.

I went to a conference this week on Christian Community Development. It was challenging to me. The basic premise of the speaker, Bob Lupton, was that the inner city neighborhoods are going to be redeveloped and turned back into nice neighborhoods, but the big question is will it be done with justice. He was trying to convince us and train us to begin with a specific end in mind. Basically the ideal neighborhood would be self-sustaining economically, but with poor people included. So instead of a big developer just coming in and buying the land to build high rise condos, the community would map out it's objectives and develop a diverse, healthy neighborhood. It seems like a great idea as we think about what needs to happen in Como. In fact, I think they are doing some of that development planning already. The hard part came when he said that "betterment" (just giving people a temporary fix) is not what we should spend our time doing. He said we should always be working on development. The most striking statement was that in the ministry he runs (which has been around for 35 years) they never give anything for free. They felt like that stole the dignity of people and in the end didn't really help anyone. So instead of giving away clothes they started a thrift store with community members as the employees. Instead of doing a food pantry they do some sort of a co-op. When people ask him for money he has them mow the lawn or sweep the floor or wash windows. His premise is that there is almost noone who has nothing they can contribute. It has got me thinking. I'm not sure what to do with it because it seems to contradict some of what Jesus said. But I also know in my heart that most people getting handouts aren't getting helped. The balance is how to have a "developer" mindset and still keep a soft heart.
Just a few thoughts. Have a great Spring Break everyone.
Randy