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missio: restoration through SOLIDARITY

August 12, 2009

Posted in: RESTORATION, Solidarity

sunday night - our conversation was enhanced by three clips from The Soloist.  in those clips we were challenged with the idea of SOLIDARITY.  that our lives would be compassionate expressions of God to one another.  compassion - not limited to sympathy - but taking on the full idea of “suffering with” others.  living life alongside others.  This compassion or solidarity isn’t about getting to know someone to “fix them”.  this tendency to “fix” assumes answers solve the difficulty and suffering we encounter and it assumes we have all those right answers.  really, do we?  Solidarity says - presence in others lives is vital.  and within those relationships, there is healing, celebration, joy.

It seems that God took a solidarity approach in sending Jesus–who, took on life among us.

We must be a community that is present . . . not assuming we even know the needs, questions, or suffering that is going on, until we are faithful to live among others.

friendship over fixing - it’s not efficient or resourceful; it’s not power driven or cool.  and yet, it’s the way of restoration…

“Occasionally I would read about different sorts of Christians that would confuse me, like, say, Mother Teresa.  Mother Teresa seemed like a great woman, but her approach struck me as highly inefficient.  I mean, she was literally feeding the poor.  One at a time.  Didn’t she see that her impact would be much greater if she developed some sort of system for feeding the poor that could be franchised around the world? Wouldn’t that be better?” - Phil Vischer (creator of Big Idea Productions)