America - Day 11
It was good to see that Willow Creek were doing something about what Willowians might call the 'social gospel'. We had a quick tour around the Willow Creek CareCentre, which can be reached down and left from the rest of the Church, in the same building complex but separated by stairs and a doorway. Church folk are discouraged from going down there to the Care Centre unless they need something themselves, because it is rude to look at people who are needing help; it is seen to be disrespectful to gaze on the poor and make them feel uncomfortable.
I didn't see everything that the Care Centre is providing, but it looked impressive. I could see 60 - 80 individuals and families waiting patiently - apparently, a foodstore which operated as a food bank, with numbers being called out for people to go in and collect groceries. I could see advice desks and computer terminals, information points and people having one-to-ones. Employment services were a central feature, with help being offered to fill-in job applications. Classes were being offered in literacy and numeracy and support provided to access healthcare. All good 'service delivery' in the Willow Creek style - good, professional and well-ordered. All of this in a brand new extension to the Willow Creek Church building - and paid for with church money.
It would be good for the Church to see it's work with the poor as simply its mission; not a practical outworking of the Gospel, but a living of the Gospel. It is incarnational, which is the only way for a disciple of Jesus to live - post resurrection.
The idea of a social gospel in addition to some other aspect of the Gospel which is recognised as Christian, is not real to me. There can only be one Gospel - that which is 'good news' and is of God. The Gospel is freedom to those who hear it. Freedom to be a full human being - I have come so that you shall have life........This includes having food to eat and the means to live and to be loved - by fellow human beings. This is not freedom to choose. It is freedom to love and be loved.
Everything that is characteristic of the Gospel should be celebrated within the the Church's worship, upstairs and right upfront, not downstairs. When we as the Church do something which enables another human being to be more fully human - then it is incarnational - of God. To feed the hungry is to worship God. To raise our hands in offering and to use those hands to enable others to be more fully human, is to worship. To receive the Gospel of God is to receive the love of God, which is freedom - to be a full human being - compassionate and loving,
Jesus did not tell people to order their lives or conform. He himself did not order or confirm - he turned over the tables. If Jesus was to give someone a blessing - he did not set pre-requisites - he only asked if they were ready. Social climbing, social transformation, social improvement is not synonymous with receiving the Blessing of God. Jesus did not require people to get a job, require them to improve their health or to improve their social acceptability. He simply asked them if they were ready to receive Him. The hardest thing for human beings to do is to drop their arms, open their hands and receive in powerlessness. We have to stoop low and give ourselves up to receive God, and give up ideas of climbing into a socially acceptable world. Jesus had some harsh things to say about those who built big places to worship in. That's not to say that churches should all be small. But we can't bring God's Blessing upon us by being better or more ordered in our worship. Jesus came into a messy chaotic world, and left us with a messy chaotic world - but with the miracle of how to receive God's blessing, how to live a resurrected life.
I recognise that some excellent 'social' work is done by Churches of different traditions - very excellent work which is beyond criticism in terms of what it delivers in social care. But a Church should also be a place without barriers, where there is free-flow to receive and to give, where it is acceptable to be poor and broken or neither. Where the ugliness of humanity is not left outside.
It was good to see that Willow Creek were doing something about what Willowians might call the 'social gospel'. We had a quick tour around the Willow Creek CareCentre, which can be reached down and left from the rest of the Church, in the same building complex but separated by stairs and a doorway. Church folk are discouraged from going down there to the Care Centre unless they need something themselves, because it is rude to look at people who are needing help; it is seen to be disrespectful to gaze on the poor and make them feel uncomfortable.
I didn't see everything that the Care Centre is providing, but it looked impressive. I could see 60 - 80 individuals and families waiting patiently - apparently, a foodstore which operated as a food bank, with numbers being called out for people to go in and collect groceries. I could see advice desks and computer terminals, information points and people having one-to-ones. Employment services were a central feature, with help being offered to fill-in job applications. Classes were being offered in literacy and numeracy and support provided to access healthcare. All good 'service delivery' in the Willow Creek style - good, professional and well-ordered. All of this in a brand new extension to the Willow Creek Church building - and paid for with church money.
It would be good for the Church to see it's work with the poor as simply its mission; not a practical outworking of the Gospel, but a living of the Gospel. It is incarnational, which is the only way for a disciple of Jesus to live - post resurrection.
The idea of a social gospel in addition to some other aspect of the Gospel which is recognised as Christian, is not real to me. There can only be one Gospel - that which is 'good news' and is of God. The Gospel is freedom to those who hear it. Freedom to be a full human being - I have come so that you shall have life........This includes having food to eat and the means to live and to be loved - by fellow human beings. This is not freedom to choose. It is freedom to love and be loved.
Everything that is characteristic of the Gospel should be celebrated within the the Church's worship, upstairs and right upfront, not downstairs. When we as the Church do something which enables another human being to be more fully human - then it is incarnational - of God. To feed the hungry is to worship God. To raise our hands in offering and to use those hands to enable others to be more fully human, is to worship. To receive the Gospel of God is to receive the love of God, which is freedom - to be a full human being - compassionate and loving,
Jesus did not tell people to order their lives or conform. He himself did not order or confirm - he turned over the tables. If Jesus was to give someone a blessing - he did not set pre-requisites - he only asked if they were ready. Social climbing, social transformation, social improvement is not synonymous with receiving the Blessing of God. Jesus did not require people to get a job, require them to improve their health or to improve their social acceptability. He simply asked them if they were ready to receive Him. The hardest thing for human beings to do is to drop their arms, open their hands and receive in powerlessness. We have to stoop low and give ourselves up to receive God, and give up ideas of climbing into a socially acceptable world. Jesus had some harsh things to say about those who built big places to worship in. That's not to say that churches should all be small. But we can't bring God's Blessing upon us by being better or more ordered in our worship. Jesus came into a messy chaotic world, and left us with a messy chaotic world - but with the miracle of how to receive God's blessing, how to live a resurrected life.
I recognise that some excellent 'social' work is done by Churches of different traditions - very excellent work which is beyond criticism in terms of what it delivers in social care. But a Church should also be a place without barriers, where there is free-flow to receive and to give, where it is acceptable to be poor and broken or neither. Where the ugliness of humanity is not left outside.