The Anti-Manichaeist

The second part of John Perkins’ talk last Saturday was about Christian Community Development.

Before giving the talk, he emphasized that what was presented was something that was learned gradually over time through a shared deliberation on people’s experiences. And so while the presentation may come across as this is the way to do Christian Community Development, the truth is ist just a stage that is open to further development. He also shared in the Q n A session that part of why Perkins emphasises the need to authenticate and preach the Gospel is because he saw in himself his potential for evil. He saw after his night in jail when he was almost murdered that if he had had atomic energy, he would have blown up all the white folks that he could find. He is thankful for all the heroes that helped him absolve some of his hatred and pain and return to health.

Background The origin of the concept of the CCDA was the American Medical Association(AMA). The idea was that the practitioners would write articles that all would read and study and then they would hold conferences that would show others how do procedures to help them keep up-to-date with the latest technology. John elaborates on this by describing how there exists a Hamburger association where they share how to market hamburgers together and then they go out and compete.

The CCDA started with 30 associations and now has over a thousand associations. Its one of most multiracial organizations in America. Among other things, it deals with how reach young people, put together philosophy of ministry, or what are the nonnegotiable principles of how do ministry. This usually is modelled after the fruits of Spirit. John emphasized that, like the fruits of the spirit, it consists of many principles, all of which are needed to produce fruit. You cannot get rid of the parts you don’t like. You must take it altogether and that part is what challenges people the most.

The biblical principles for Christian Community Development have eight components.

1. Relocation ot the Community: When we live among the people we minister to, we become one with them. This was first developed to redress the problem of the brain-drain from poor communities. It was an organic development from Perkins’ initial ministry of biblical education among the children in Simpson County, Mississippi. You help children to know Jesus, you disciple them, give them love, help them stay in school and then try and encourage them to come back to the community and do the same. It wasn’t about white folks coming and doing the Lone-Ranger-thing, picking up paper off the ground, when the felt needs of the community are elsewhere. The heart of relocation is to make the community’s problems your problems and to practice incarnational ministry.
Perkins encapsulates Relocation with the proverb:Go to the people. Live among them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build on what they have. But of the best leaders, when the task is accomplished, when the work is done, the people will remark, “We have done it ourselves.”.

Reconciliation:Our love for Christ should break down every racial, social or economic barrier. The biblical basis for reconciliation is 2 Corinthians 5. The message of Paul here is that the Love of God that can change us. For just as God was in Christ to reconcile the world to himself, we should do the same for ourselves, and part of what that meant was breaking down social and economic barriers. This goes agains the Prosperity Gospel, inasmuch as it often leads people to manipulate racial and class differences in the pursuit of one’s personal prosperity. And so we need to see God in a person’s eyes and not care about the color of their skin, nor pretend that there aren’t difference correlated with skin-color, but if we love Jesus enough those differences won’t matter so much.

John revelled in his blackness. “I like being Black, I exploit it…I’m like Oprah Winfrey.” He’s tired of Hitler’s Euro-centrism, Afro-centrism, Bin Laden-style Arab-centrism, we need to move beyond that, the use of race as a manipulative tool and into the ministry of reconciliation, bringing peace through the blood of Jesus. So that we can just laugh at racism and think that it’s stupid. Redistribution:Sharing our lives, skills and resources in a way that enables people to become all that God intended them to be. John led into this topic with a little humor about how folks get rather anxious about this category. He points out that its not like Welfare. We don’t need just money for redistribution, cause it will be right back in rich people’s pockets next week. He went on to describe some of conspicuous forms of consumption that would happen if African-Americans were to get current value of 40 acres and a mule. But what really is needed is a house of their own, the means of production and assets that they can pass on. In John’s ministry, they’re not trying to make people bigger consumers, but rather get them to contribute to the ownership of Jackson. Something that will both affirm their dignity and build the asset base of the community.

Leadership Development: Raising up new leaders, providing discipleship, developing youth ministries, and relationship building with each other. John thinks that a new church will emerge that will put the Mission of the Church beyond race so that we are reaching out to the rest of the world and open to learning from each other and discipling each other.

Church Based:All that is being done should be Christ-centered, Biblical, use grass roots people, have a village atmosphere and provide some spiritual accountability. We need to strengthen the capacity of Churches and help give them the capability to do more. In Church is where we get discipled and inspired, by using Church based grass roots approaches, we provide spiritual accountability for action.

Felt Need Concept:It is important to listen to the people being served, hear their ideas and to develop their assets. John refers back to the example of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well. We need to emulate Jesus’s ministry by meeting the felt needs, as people perceive them, and then helping people to see their deeper needs. This includes: 1. The need to be loved or have a sense of belonging. 2. To do something significant that will bring us meaning and help us find purpose. Otherwise, we may become like the Unabomber or other murderers who murdered people in part because their job provided no significance or meaning to them. John emphasized that it’s difficult to go on living when we’re not doing anything significant and that this is often what leads people to the use of drugs.
3. We need fellowship, to meet and affirm each other’s dignity, to see that we’re significant, created in image of God. 4. Lastly, we all need a reasonable amount of Security. We all want to feel secure, to have healthcare, and to be able to provid for our family.

Wholistic Approach:Mental, Social, Spiritual, Physical, Justice, Cultural, Economic, Emotional, Political. There is a reason why Jesus put people around you with different gifts…

Empowerment:Empowerment has three components. 1. Design a plan. 2. Give Responsibility. 3. Always remember, do not do for a person what they can do for themselves. We need to release people’s power, to teach them how to speak for themselves, to help them gain what they need in society and how design a plan that gives them the responsibility for making things happen.

For God works through leadership. He raises up leaders and provides them vision that changes the course of people, community, and makes things real. We need to give people responsibility that lets them use and develop their gifts. We should not use the notions of calling/gift to manipulate people or to get out of responsibility. Here John gave an illustration of how they needed to build a ramp for a woman who had become confined to a wheelchair and so he called on others to help him and some said, “that’s not my calling.” John responded, “Well, can you hold a tape-measure?” (It’s funny how some of us feel called to supervise others when they’re moving stuff from point A to point B, but not to join in the moving. )

For John, the key issue in development is how to deliver services in ways that release the creativity of the people that you are helping. The mission we must share is not how to create more dependent people, but how to create in others the desire to give to others.

dlw