Word, Deed & Spirit

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT AL TIZON

When in Doubt, Reminisce

laugh. It made me feel good inside. But now I ask, how would I be different today if the Lutheran Church (the creator of the show) didn’t believe in evangelism enough to create Davey and Goliath?

I remember how, amidst family upheaval and the eventual divorce of my Despite its political incorrectness in the parents, this cute girl named Janice gave postmodern age, I believe in evangelism. me a big green book called The Way as Despite some of the embarrassing ways a gift. I knew she was a Christian, so I of street preachers, televangelists, mass figured this thick green paperback was tract-distributors, and well-meaning some kind of Bible. Her overt, yet nondoorknockers, I still believe in the prac- judgmental excitement about the faith tice of sharing with others the good news compelled me to accept this gift, which concerning Jesus so that they may come I began to devour when I became a to faith in Christ and join the new Christian about three years later.

Incidentally, around the same time I started community.

I make this affirmation amidst sen- to read it, I called Janice to thank her timents to the contrary. Evangelism is for the gift. It’s a longer story than this outmoded and ineffective, many say. Let our column can contain, but the short of it is actions speak, and if people become Christians that we got married two years later. How as a result, then fine. But let’s not try to con- would I be different today if Janice didn’t vert them. Others outright reject it as believe in evangelism enough to give me wrongheaded, immoral, and even evil. a Bible and share her excitement?

Evangelism violates peoples’ culture, faith, How can I believe in and dignity. Practice compassion and justice on behalf of the poor and advocate for the evangelism in this day and age? oppressed and the marginalized instead.

In light of my own journey I affirm evangelism loudly and clearly to faith, how can I not?

— sometimes because I am so ready to I remember at the mature age of 14 agree with my fellow social activists! After all, I believe in compassion, justice, and — a freshman in high school — declaradvocacy, too, as indispensable ways to ing myself an atheist. How can there be share the good news of the kingdom. But a God of order and love, I argued, amidst each time I get ready to make the jump such chaos, not only in my own family onto the social justice-only bandwagon, but in the world? Truly believing that a profound sense of pause wells up from humanity was on its own, I indulged in within, as memories from my own faith self-medication (drugs), popularity and parties, sports and academics, all in order journey come to the fore.

I remember getting up every Sunday to make sense out of life and to ease the morning at 7:30 to watch Davey and pain.

At 17, still in the thick of adolescent Goliath, that old hokey television “claymation” program, which I credit now angst, I was invited by a girl I liked to a for opening my eyes to the possibility youth gathering called Son City. On the of God. As a child living in a faith-free, strength of my crush, I agreed to go to dysfunctional home, that silly little show the gathering, and there for the first time actually provided an alternate, desirable I heard the gospel in a way that I could narrative of life for me. Of course, I respond to. After an hour or so of sports, wouldn’t have described it that way back games, and music, some guy named Ralph then; I just liked the show. It made me in blue jeans and T-shirt got up and shared PRISM 2010

7

a message about God’s love being made real in Jesus Christ. In my desperate state, I responded to the call to “invite Jesus into my heart.” How would I be different today if Ralph and those other Bible school interns in my hometown didn’t believe in evangelism enough to organize that youth outreach called Son City?

The cumulative effect of these and other no less significant experiences led to my becoming a new creation in Christ.

Grace, forgiveness, peace, purpose, hope — after an initial taste of such things, I never looked back. With Christ at the center, I have experienced things I don’t deserve — a happy marriage, well-adjusted children, a fruitful ministry, strength amidst trials, deep joy and peace of mind, to name just a few grace gifts. I have been a Christian now for over 30 years, and it was because certain people were faithful to share the good news with me.

Al, how can you believe in evangelism in this day and age? In light of my own journey to faith, how can I not? How can I not also be the bearer of good news for others? How can I not possibly believe that the transformation of the world does not also include the transformation of the heart?

There is a mantra that has served me well through the years in keeping my faith alive and personal. I say to myself quite regularly, “When in doubt, reminisce.”When God begins to feel distant; when life’s circumstances cause me to forget my first love; when my hope begins to flag that Christ is the answer not only to the world’s problems but also to my problems, I simply need to remember how up-close-and-personal I have experienced the living God. By reminiscing in this way, doubt recedes, vitality returns, and passion for the lost resolutely remains on the agenda. Q Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT A l T i z on

Paul’s Secret

in need I grumble, and in plenty I get uncomfortable. It seems that I have learned, unlike Paul, to be discontent in all things!

The word that pins me down as I In his old age, Paul told the Christians wrestle with Paul’s contentment is joy. in Philippi that he had “learned to be Although the word does not appear in content whatever the circumstances,” this passage, Philippians has been called that he had “learned the secret of being Paul’s epistle of joy. As such, I interpret filled and going hungry, both of having “the secret” in these verses as the secret abundance and suffering need” (Phil. of joy — that which buoyed Paul amidst 4:11-12). I’ve been pondering these the ups and downs of life’s unpredictwords in the last few months as my able waves and that which enabled him family and I have been going through a to be content whether he had food or rough financial stretch.Who hasn’t, right? not, abundance or not. So, I ask, “Could The economic crisis seems to have hit joy hold the key in getting people everyone and everything one way or through today’s economic crisis?” As the another. Churches, organizations, com- power of God’s Word invites me to perpanies, and educational institutions have sonal reflection, I also ask Paul, “How all had to tighten up their budgets, cut did you learn the secret of this thing called joy, which leads to contentment?” programs, and/or cut staff.

The impulse is to whine about it.

With inane talk show hosts leading the way, we grumble away: “What’s wrong with this country? ‘W’ did it to us. Obama’s not doing enough, fast enough, or he’s not doing it right. Look at what those greedy, careless lending institutions have done to us.”

And as I have personally felt the crisis, I have joined in the cacophony: “It’s so From his place of captivity (he was hard to make ends meet. Forget about saving for a rainy day. Forget about that family under house arrest when he wrote this vacation. It’s just not fair. Blah, blah, blah.” letter), I imagine him responding, “I Clearly I have not learned the secret of stopped trying to figure it out; I decidbeing content in need (if these com- ed to just do it. I found that joy comes by simply resolving to be joyful and plaints constitute real “needs” at all).

But I don’t think I have learned the then relaxing in the presence of God, secret of being content in plenty either. trusting God to provide, and believing My kingdom sensibilities compel me that Christ is truly sufficient.”

“So much easier said than done, to keep in check the material wealth that I possess — for starters, a fully fur- Paul!”

“Indeed. But if I — chief among nished house, stocked cupboards, two cars, an education, job security, and sinners, who has shown more intensity, health insurance, not to mention elec- drivenness, and hotheadedness than tricity, running water, heat for winter, you all — can learn to trust God to the and air conditioning for summer. In point of experiencing joy amidst any global perspective, I join the ranks of and all circumstances, anybody can.

“And furthermore, hope. Along with the rich, and that makes me nervous. So

It seems that I have

learned, unlike Paul, to be discontent in all things!

PRISM 2010

7

trust, I cling to the bright and glorious hope that is found in Jesus Christ.”

I imagine Paul at this point looking up and fixing his gaze upon a reality that can only be seen with the eyes of faith — a reality in which the riches of this world pale in comparison, in which God reigns in peace and justice, where tears and mourning and death are no more.

“You see that, Al?” says Paul, pointing to the heavens beyond the ceiling of his captivity. “In light of the secure and beautiful hope that we have in Christ, what need do you have that you cannot bear? And what riches do you possess that can possibly hold your attention?”

Trust and hope then unlock the secret of joy. But Paul is not done yet.

In our imaginary conversation, he adds, “And compassion. I have found that living for others is also a key to joy. So let your gifts, skills, education, prestige, material wealth, and whatever else you have serve the lost and the poor in the world. This is the meaning of giving everything away, which completes joy.”

How else can I respond, but with silence in the presence of the apostle, an exemplar of compassion as he forsook everything, even his own freedom, for the sake of others? Indeed selfless, sacrificial compassion puts the “economic crisis” in perspective.Who is truly hurting in this crisis? Who is truly hungry?

Who is without heat; worse, without shelter? Who is sick without health insurance? Who is without employment?

Who is despairing and without hope?

To the extent that I can trust in God, hope in Christ, and show compassion to the poor, joy is within my grasp. n Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT A l T i z on

I Am Asian, Hear Me Roar!

My friend Soong-Chan Rah’s The Next Evangelicalism (InterVarsity Press, 2009) recently hit bookstores across the country (see the review on page 36). A deeply significant book, it exposes and calls into account the continuing Western captivity of American evangelicalism.

“In February 2005,” Rah reports,“TIME magazine profiled the 25 most influential evangelicals in the United States.

Only two of those slots were occupied by nonwhites.” This blinding white list, claims Rah, points to the ongoing captivity of the church to a dominant Western worldview. In light of the rapidly diversifying face of evangelicalism, Rah warns that “this…cannot continue if we are to move toward the future of the next evangelicalism.”The significance of this book at this moment in the history of the American church cannot be overstated.

But that didn’t stop us from having a good laugh over it at the Asian North American Consultation on Theology and Ministry held recently in Chicago. One participant had us all in hysterics when he said, with a straight face, “I don’t know why, but the publisher rejected Soong-Chan’s preferred title. He wanted to call it I Am Asian, Hear Me Roar!”

A mighty joyous roar in fact erupted in the room. Soong-Chan himself, who was there, laughed along approvingly.

But jokes aside, can I tell you how exhausting it is to be nonwhite in a predominantly white world? Say what? In light of the Obama era, what right does anybody have to wave the racist victim flag?

On one level, this would be a totally understandable response. But I mean to wave no such flag, nor to provide social

commentary on racism, nor to bash America. I just want to share some personal thoughts, prompted no doubt by Rah’s book, on what it’s like to live and work in America as a person of color, more specifically as an Asian.

For one thing—and let me just get this out of the way—I’ve struggled with my appearance through the years, secretly wishing for the impossible: more height, longer nose, less slanty eyes — and where were the Filipinos when God was handing out chest hairs? Of course, such angst about my physical self is no longer as torturous as it was, say, during adolescence; but even as an adult, I still have to fight off feelings of physical inferiority. I’ve had to train my mind to say, as I look in the mirror, “You look fine, despite….” A minor thing, I know.

But flexing that mental muscle day after day, albeit subconsciously (and unnecessarily in light of God’s good handiwork), can be tiring.

It goes beyond vanity, however; it’s more than not meeting the Western standard for good looks. My small stature, smooth brown skin, and baby face— basically, my Asian-ness—also do not match the look of someone in leadership or authority. I remember the first day of class as my seminary teaching career was about to begin. I arrived at the assigned classroom 30 minutes ahead of schedule like the eager rookie professor that I was and took my place at the front. As students trickled in, I welcomed them with a smile. One student who arrived was a middle-aged woman who, upon spotting me, stopped in her tracks, put her hands on her hips, and said, “You’re the teacher?” Nervous giggles escaped a few of the students standing there, and fortunately I had the impulse to respond, “You’re a student?” and we all laughed our way out of it.

The point is, because I don’t embody the look of leadership—large physical presence (read: tall), white, gray-haired, and

PRISM 2009

7

whatever else—I often find myself having to prove that I deserve to be standing at the front of the class.

Encounters of this sort occur regularly. For example, despite 12 years of pastoral experience in urban and suburban churches, 10 years of missionary community development experience among the poor in the Philippines, a PhD, a few books under my belt, and the fact that I am now even a grandfather, I am still most often described as a young, up-and-coming, and aspiring minister and/or scholar. And I can’t help but wonder — If I were white and looked more the part, would “young, up-andcoming, and aspiring” be the descriptors?

I’ll never know.

There is much more to say about life as a nonwhite person living in America, but space will not allow further reflections on, for example, the feeling of being a perpetual visitor in someone else’s country, or the ongoing identity crisis (I’m a coconut—brown on the outside, white on the inside), or the media stereotypes of Asians (nerdy, geeky, speaking broken English, and running laundromats and donut shops).

I repeat: This essay does not attempt to make any definitive statements about church, culture, and/or race in America; Rah’s book does a fine job of that already.

It merely reflects my personal experiences, the sum of which amounts to a psycho-emotional strain that I have simply learned to live with. Such thoughts reside in the subconscious most of time; although it was probably not Rah’s intention, his book caused me to go to neglected places of my being. In this way, sharing my thoughts with you here has been therapeutic. Thanks for listening. n Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT A l T i z on

Ted Haggard and Other Whole Persons

crystal meth and who sought sexual pleasure from men.

Newspapers continue to discover fresh tidbits of basically the same scandal and make front page news out of them.Talk show hosts are having a heyday at Haggard’s expense. Larry King interviewed him recently and asked him to comment on yet another young man who had gone As one who is committed to the vision public with Haggard’s inappropriate of holistic ministry, I cannot think of a behavior toward him. And I haven’t even more compatible place to “do my thing” mentioned the sound bites, the comthan Palmer Theological Seminary of mentaries, the judgments, and hate mail Eastern University. Consider, for example, clogging up the blogosphere. Dear predits mission statement: “The whole gos- atory media, we get it: Leaders—be they pel for the whole world through whole actors,politicians,or preachers—are human, persons.” Simple, profound, even melodic, too.They make bad mistakes and fall just it is at once inspiring (as it excellently like the rest of us.

I just watched The Trials of Ted Haggard, captures the holistic vision) and challenging (as it raises high the bar of Christian an HBO special documentary that, with Haggard’s permission, followed the fallmission).

For me, the meaning of “through whole persons” poses the most challenging part.

As whole persons we see It certainly makes sense to acknowledge our brokenness, beat our chests, the integral connection between our and cry out, “Lord, be merciful personal wholeness and the wholeness of the gospel that we attempt to preach, to me, a sinner.” implement, and model throughout the whole world. But I confess that I have en leader and his family.The film showed considered “whole gospel” and “whole them sticking together and trying to pick world” much more than I have “whole up the pieces of their shattered lives. It pulled no punches as it allowed viewers persons” in my theological reflection.

That has been changing over the past to feel the gravity of his hypocrisy, the few years, as I’ve begun reflecting more depth of the moral hole that he dug for and more upon the importance of “soul himself, and the consequences of his care” among those of us who are prone to actions for him and his loved ones. But overachieve in ministry (read: Christian the film seemed different from the other workaholics). This has only heightened attention-grabbing, scandal-sniffing expoof late, thanks to the ongoing saga of sés on his life. After seeing the film in its fallen evangelical leader Ted Haggard. entirety, I saw neither a hypocrite nor a In case you somehow eluded the media loser; I saw instead a humble, honest, and swirl around him, Haggard was the enor- repentant man—a broken man. It moved mously successful mega-pastor of New me to tears. I’m a crybaby anyway, but Life Church in Colorado Springs and the thought of the incredible pain and president of the National Association of humiliation that this brother and his famEvangelicals, who fell hard in the face of ily have endured since the fall made me a sex and drug scandal. It turns out that profoundly sad. I felt genuinely sorry behind his powerful preaching against for them.

And yet,ironically enough,in Haggard’s drug abuse and homosexuality (among other things) was a man who secretly used utter brokenness before God, church, PRISM 2009

7

and the American public, I see a man who is on his way to true wholeness. I realized, as the film allowed me to peer into the depth of a contrite heart, that part of what it means to be a whole person is to see our brokenness, to beat our chests, and to cry out, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”The documentary intermittently showed clips of Haggard before the fall.

The charismatic, articulate, problem-free, invincible, and successful leader magnificently fulfilled the roles of the wellrespected pastor to thousands and the president of an association that represented millions. He seemed so very together.

But in light of what we all now know about him, the pre-fall Haggard was but a veneer of a whole person. With the disguise stripped away, there stands but a broken man…en route to becoming a genuinely whole person.

For what it’s worth, I forgive Ted Haggard, and I truly pray for his restoration. I pray that the church at large, but especially the church that he founded and served for many years in Colorado, will forgive him, embrace him, care for him, and restore him and his family to full health, and thus show the world a true glimpse of the outrageous grace of God. But enough about Brother Ted.What about you? What about me? Are we on the road to becoming whole persons?

At this point for myself, I only have more questions to address to such a question: How much do I truly trust God with my life? How wide is the gap between my private life and my public persona? Do I have any unresolved issues from childhood? Am I hiding anything? How afraid am I really of what people think? How judgmental am I of other people, and why?

Do I have even an ounce of real humility as I go about trying to change the world for Christ? n Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT A l T i z on

On Novels, Music, and Holistic Ministry

got lost. What a travesty!

Something is not right when we allow the creative, artistic side of ourselves to lie dormant in the name of ministry preparation, because I’m convinced that effective ministry requires as much empathy and creativity as it does intellect and strategy.

Both the artistic and analytical sides of the brain need to be firing on all cylinders if I recently finished reading Sara Paretsky’s we want to do ministry well.This is espeFire Sale, a novel that, on four different cially true of holistic ministry, because occasions, happened to place Ron Sider’s what it takes to integrate word and deed book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger —as well as to get church and commuin the possession of the story’s protagonist. nity on the same page—is the ability to By implication, Ron’s book was one of think outside the box, to take risks, and the forces that made the “good guy” to meet unpredictable challenges that the good guy. For a bestselling mystery invariably emerge. It takes this kind of novelist to use Rich Christians in this innovation because no effort in commuway testifies to the unpredictably strange nity transformation is exactly transferrable and wonderful places that Sider’s book from one place to another. Furthermore, has found itself since its publication it takes a creative, human approach to develop meaningful, purposeful friendin 1977.

While this fact alone warrants column space, what I really want to share here is that I read a novel—you know, a book with character development, creative license, and a plot instead of principles, methodologies, and a thousand footnotes.

Moreover, right after finishing Fire Sale, I picked up another novel—Susan Howatch’s Absolute Truths, which chron- ships across cultural and class boundaries, icles the life of fictional bishop Charles an essential skill for effective holistic Ashworth—and I’m enjoying it immensely. ministry. Further still, an inventive, artistic (Who knew that the Church of England outlook is what enables us to experience in the 1960s could have had so much steady joy in the often hard work of drama?) I discovered midway through this transformational ministry.

Based upon the recent rejuvenation one that it is the last in a six-book series, so I plan to go back to the first and read of my right brain, I would say that readthe series all the way through. And my ing fiction develops this essential creativity in a way that no airtight argument, set cup runneth over.

Please excuse this seemingly out-of- of principles, or surefire strategy can do. place excitement, but understand that Creativity—that which engages story, prior to these books I hadn’t picked up appreciates beauty, thinks unconventionanything marked “fiction” for years. I’ve ally, and sees the human face of issues been too busy reading “serious books” in and problems—is needed if we are to theology, sociology, anthropology, eccle- present the whole gospel (at once a prosiology, and missiology, as the pursuit of foundly simple and beautifully complex ministry degrees necessitated an outra- thing) in a desperately lost and drab geous quantity of scholarly reading. And world. So I hope to practice what I preach along the way, the ability to engage fiction here and maintain a steady diet of mys-

tery, science fiction, and whatever else stimulates the creative impulses within.

Music has also served me in this way, but unlike novels, I’ve never allowed it to recede from my life. Music has always kept me dancing and singing, and it has enabled me to go about life as a minister with heart.Whether it’s putting on a Bob Dylan record after a hard day’s work or picking up a guitar and writing a song, music has kept me emotionally alive, inspiring me to love, act, think, cry, and care. Indeed, without music I’m not sure if I would still be engaged in holistic ministry today. To be sure, brilliant books like Rich Christians may have catapulted me to try to make a difference, but without the “holistic ministry soundtrack”— whether the existential angst of Mark Heard or the quirky voice of Victoria Williams or the magical harmonies of the Indigo Girls or the divine inspira-

Something is not right when we allow the creative, artistic side of ourselves to lie dormant in the name of ministry preparation...

PRISM 2009

7

tion of U2 or, more recently, the rockin’ ukulele of Jake Shimabukuro—I’m honestly not sure I could have kept the momentum going.

If this meditation makes no sense, or you find it just a little too touchy-feely, perhaps it is time to put your favorite CD on and cuddle up with a good novel, or to do whatever it takes to get your own creative juices flowing. For I believe the needy and broken whom we serve will greatly benefit if we are in touch with that which enables us to see beauty in the ashes, hope amidst despair, and redemption from the ruins. n Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT A l T i z on

The Cult of Family “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 26).

Did Jesus really say this? Say it’s not true! Was he just peeved at his family, or did he really call us to hate our parents, spouses, children, and even ourselves as a general life rule? We can try to dismiss it as an isolated case, but here’s another one. When Jesus’ family sought to save him from embarrassment, they interrupted his sermon and called for him via a messenger—“Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you”—to which he responded: “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!

Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33-35).

Take these verses as 30-second sound bites on aYouTube clip, and you can make a case that Jesus was anti-family. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.

But what do we make of these seemingly harsh words?

Shortly after my wife, Janice, and I married, we began to redirect our goals toward a life of mission. As we did so, we often heard from well-meaning family and friends: “Why don’t you just go for a couple of weeks and come home? No need to go overboard with this mission thing.”

Some came at us a little more forcefully with words like,“Are you nuts? Don’t quit your jobs.What about your future?” And with the birth of each of our four children, these sentiments only intensified. I still remember receiving a stern letter from one of our supporters shortly after the birth of our third child, reprimanding us for contemplating relocating to Vietnam

to work with the persecuted church.

I hope our responses to these sincere folks were kind and humble but also clear that our commitment to God’s call to serve the poor for the sake of the gospel compelled us. I realize how revoltingly super-spiritual this could sound; but what choice does any of us have who strive to live out the radical demands of the gospel in the world? Could the call to “hate” father and mother and so on be basically saying that the family, at best, should be a distant second compared to genuine discipleship? If so, then to cease pursuing the radical ideals of the kingdom because we got married or because we have children, to make the family the new center of one’s universe, is to perpetuate the cult of family, i.e., when our spouse and children—or when the hope for these things, if you’re single—eclipse the desire to be Christ’s faithful disciples in the world.

I am keenly aware of the other side of the coin: pastors and missionaries who neglect their marriages and their children for the sake of ministry. The list of dedicated Christians who were absentee spouses/parents is way too long. And I applaud groups such as Focus on the Family for their courageous affirmation of the family as part of what it means to be a healthy church as well as a healthy nation.

This is actually one of the few places where Focus on the Family types and ESA types have stood together. But I wonder if an unforeseen side effect of the Christian profamily movement has been the elevation of the family to that high place reserved only for God himself.There is a difference between upholding the family and participating in the cult of family. Jesus taught that we need to avoid the latter if we want to be disciples.

Janice and I have undoubtedly made unloving choices as husband and wife, and we have certainly made stupid mistakes as parents. But one thing that we are thankful for in retrospect is our agreedupon resolve not to change our missionPRISM 2008

7

ary course even as our family grew in complexity and in numbers. Our children simply joined in the work as they came with us to the slums of Manila; they joined us in handing out emergency relief goods in those rural places devastated by disaster; they joined us in loving, befriending, bandaging, and serving street kids at the clinic in Olongapo City; they learned how to be hospitable as we opened our doors for the poor and the stranger to live with us. They grew up knowing that our little family was not the center of the universe, that abundant life has something to do with submitting to a greater purpose being played out in the world. At least, this has been our hope; the first therapy session of any of our kids would be telling, I suppose!

As I look back, this way of being family has worked for us. In fact, I’ll even say that it has deepened our love for one another. Janice and I recently celebrated our 27th anniversary, and our years together as partners in life and ministry have been exceedingly fulfilling, as we’ve experienced both joy and pain, laughter and tears, rewards and challenges, till death do us part. We have four incredible children, two of whom have already flown the coop. Our oldest daughter and her husband recently made us grandparents! Yes, life would feel very thin without the rich, invaluable experience of family.

But the moment I become overpossessive of them and lose sight of the prize, the words of a classic Keith Green song come to mind: “I pledge my wife, I pledge my [kids], I pledge my head to heaven for the gospel.”

May this be the mantra of a people who love their families with all of their beings—but who love their Lord and Savior more. n Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT AL TIZON

That Fine Line between Loving and Pimping

has just been done for the poor. While conferences are certainly not a waste of time, I do wonder about the expense and energy that are put into them in proportion to what they really accomplish.

I fear that a vocation intended to serve the poor can easily slip into one that depends on the poor, i.e., “If God abolishes poverty, I would be out of a job.”

“This is my fourth conference this year; God, forgive us for pimping the poor!

I don’t have time for the poor.” Upon A bit crass, I suppose, but that is exactly overhearing this statement at a recent what we do if we replace caring for holistic ministry network gathering, I orphans and widows with charging laughed out loud. After all, it was said in people to sit around to talk about carjest, and it was funny. But over the past ing for them.

I point my finger (at myself primarseveral months, it has lodged itself prophetically in the center of my soul.To the ily) not to condemn but to warn. What extent that this jest spoke the truth about can we do to keep from becoming mere those of us in the Christian community conference hoppers for the Lord? development biz, we have crossed that fine line between loving the poor and pimping the poor.

I have no doubt that what got me into this kind of work in the first place included a gospel-inspired, Spirit-filled love for people, especially for the underserved and underprivileged. Love drove me to spend quality time in the slums, it inspired me to form friendships there, and it motivated me to think and strategize with community residents, grassroots community organizers, pastors, and fellow First, being aware of the danger missionaries to transform communities for Christ. And every once in a while, I can help. God often uses strange means would attend a conference or a seminar to communicate. In my case, he used a in order to pick up some new ideas, net- joke from the mouth of a fellow holiswork with others, and be refreshed and tic ministry advocate who happened to encouraged. I would come away with new be walking by. It wasn’t even for me to energy for the grueling work of holistic hear, and yet the punch line has had enough of an impact that I am now and ministry. That was then.

Now I plan conferences, lead seminars, forever aware of the danger. I believe a conduct workshops, and teach courses heightened awareness of where we are on the subject. Furthermore, I often get in relation to that fine line between lov“backstage passes” to other enticing mis- ing and pimping is half the battle.

Second, limiting attendance of consion gatherings (the rising numbers of such things are astounding). Honestly, between ferences can leave room for real planning and attending such events, there ministry. This naturally results from is little time for much else. And what’s becoming more aware of the danger of more, post-conference elation can deceive conference hopping.We don’t have to go me into thinking that something grand to all of them, no matter how “big time”

I’m embarrassed to say it, but one can be in community development ministry without ever interacting with a poor person.

PRISM 2008

7

the keynote speakers are. One simply cannot attend conference after conference and still have time for anything else.

We have to be prayerfully selective. I personally set a goal to be on the planning committee of only one national conference and to attend no more than two, maybe three, a year. Related to this, there has to be a way to measure the real value of conferences to the direct work among the poor. What does a post-conference evaluation form look like that measures success, not based on attendance and book sales but on increased effectiveness among holistic ministry practitioners?

Third (and perhaps the most important), remaining directly involved in ministries with, for, and among the poor can keep us honest. I’m embarrassed to say it, but one can be in community development ministry without ever interacting with a poor person.The truth is, there is no substitute for the incarnational posture—real, on-theground identification, association, friendship, and partnership with sisters and brothers among the poor. Direct involvement keeps us honest and enables us to do conferences and seminars with Christcentered integrity.

“This is my fourth conference this year; I don’t have time for the poor.”

The person who said this meant to be funny, and he was. But I have never taken a joke so seriously before. Meditating on it has given me the power to resist the impulse to sign up for every conference that comes to town. It has inspired me to remain faithful to Christ’s call to love people by truly “being there” with them.

And it has renewed my commitment to the kingdom that Jesus is building, one whose doors are open to all, but especially to the poor, the oppressed, and the lost. ■ Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.

WORD, DEED & SPIRIT AL TIZON

The Journey Continues I knew I wasn’t “in Kansas anymore” when the two nearest choices for good coffee were a Dunkin’ Donuts on the right and a Dunkin’ Donuts on the left.

I miss those funky granola coffee shops where I used to live in Berkeley, Calif.

But now home is Philadelphia, the latest stop on my holistic ministry journey. Just over a year ago I joined the ESA staff as well as the faculty of Palmer Theological Seminary. In light of the privilege of becoming a part of this community of reflective practitioners in the City of Brotherly Love, I consider it a small sacrifice to have to work harder to find a two-shot, nonfat, hazelnut latte.

By way of personal introduction, as well as inauguration of the new “Word, Deed & Spirit” column, I’d like to share my journey with you, my own circuitous route toward understanding the grand vision of God for the world.

I was a promising young fundamentalist back in the early ’80s. Zealous to save desperate souls from the sinking ship called planet Earth, I went off to a Christian college to prepare for the task of getting as many people into the Jesus lifeboat as I could. As far as I knew, this defined the church’s mission. But then I read Ron Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, along with a handful of other prophetic books.

Picture here an old Batman episode: Bam! Whack! Pow! Talk about getting beat up—the multi-punch combo of these books knocked me off my feet, and my understanding of mission has never been the same since. I got up from the floor a bit wobbly, but with a strange new clarity about God’s heart for the poor. I staggered like a drunkard, but with a strong resolve not to order my life according to

the false promises of the American Dream.

With my understanding of compassion and justice violently realigned, I headed off to complete a graduate course in Central America. Amidst the in-yourface poverty endured by so many people I had the privilege to meet, the God of the poor and oppressed spoke to me in a lifechanging way. I returned home persuaded that if the gospel did not address human need in the here and now, then the good news was no good at all. I refer to that time in my life as my “born again again” experience.

I could easily have gone the way of the bleeding-heart activist who advocates for the poor and who sees the ultimate human problem as sociopolitical, but my own personal experience of desperately needing a Savior, then and now, has prevented that. The evil that resides in my own heart, before and after my conversion, reminds me that the gospel is also a profoundly personal thing. It is repentance, confession, and forgiveness. It is falling down and getting up again by the grace of God. Evangelism—to tell the good news in such a way that clearly invites persons to give their hearts to Christ and to join the new community— must not be eclipsed by social action; just as social action must not be eclipsed by evangelism. The good news of the kingdom of God touches every level of our fallen-ness, from the sin of oppressive social structures to the sin of the human heart. If we are faithful to this gospel, then we will bear witness to it by both word and deed.

Armed with such a vision, my family and I sold most of our things and moved to my native Philippines for almost a decade, working with and for the poor in community development and evangelistic/pastoral ministries. As we worked alongside our Filipino sisters and brothers in squatter communities in Metro Manila, as well as disaster-stricken communities in Zambales province, the holistic vision bore out. Both individual per-

sons and the communities in which they lived and struggled needed the power of the gospel to transform them. It also bore out in the United States, as we returned here to serve several churches that desired to be good news among the poor in the San Francisco Bay area.Whatever side of the world you live on, individuals and communities need the power of the gospel to bring about genuine transformation.

In retrospect, one thing has sustained me in the often treacherous journey of holistic ministry: an ongoing relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. The simplicity of this truth enables me to keep on keepin’ on. That’s why a column such as this, where activism and spirituality meet, is important. I believe life-giving sustaining power can be found at the intersection of word, deed, and spirit. For I’m convinced that if we forget the fact that we are children of God before we are servants of God, if we forget that our chief end in life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, then our work among the poor, as romantic and glorious as it may be, will eventually leave us unfulfilled and ineffective.

So my journey continues here with ESA and Palmer Seminary. I would consider it a privilege to bump into you at some mission conference or peace rally or church service.We can compare notes, encourage one another in our respective holistic ministries, and pray for each other, perhaps over a cup of coffee.

Surely there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts around somewhere. ■ Al Tizon is director of ESA’s Word & Deed Network (formerly Network 9:35) and assistant professor of holistic ministry at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. In the next issue he’ll introduce another new column, “Making a Difference,” which will profile noteworthy and creative church-based holistic ministries.

PRISM 2008

7

pgs 01-40.indd 7

12/13/07 10:44:30 PM