Doing Justice and Mercy for God's Sake

Well I just finished a book on urban missions by veteran pioneer, Bob Lupton. He's been in the business of mercy ministry for about 30 years and shares a great deal of wisdom from Christian Life: Rethinking Ministry to the Poor. He makes some heavy, thought-moving and real-sense statements like "all people are not created equal" and "you (the poor) need to get a job." These are hardly the words you would imagine coming from an inner city minister and servant. But they are spoken with a right wing perspective in mind. On the contrary he urges the would-be Christian suburbanite to take responsibility for his resources and use them for the kingdom of justice and redemption. And he's not simply talking about residual income given at every guilt trip turn, but using business savvy and politcal accumen to be incarnational, not merely outsourcing volunteerism. The book is written with short stories and devotional thoughts that are intended for the reader to reassess his ministry to urban communities. It begs the question of me..."when can I get out there and start listening to the city?" Reading Lupton's book made me all the more aware of the need for team development and a well-planned proposal. It takes just a year to be among the people to assess the "felt-needs" in the community. It takes at least 15 years to experience the kind of transformation that is community development (different from ministry) according to Lupton. 15 years is a long time...