As mainline protestants we generally believe in the ministry of all the baptized. We want to make a contribution to the work of our congregation, we want to be recognized as having gifts for ministry, we want to be honored for the things we do well and redirected toward ways we can improve. Some of us in small ways, some of us in big ways, we want to be leaders.
And yet, once a person needs physical resources, somehow they are moved to the position of being the receiver, not the giver, of ministry. As noted in Chapter Two, Stephen Ray focuses on how that creates two types of people: responsible contributors (who give ministry) and irresponsible takers (who receive ministry) (Ray 4). Although most Christians would try hard to avoid this language, our actions belie our beliefs. One group of people is allowed to volunteer, the other group is not. “Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people” (Lupton 3). Robert Lupton’s concern is that we are creating dependence.
Gustavo Gutierrez argues that dependence and liberation are related. While his theology of liberation certainly includes liberation from poverty he argues that liberation actually begins when the oppressed learn to see the system of dependence as oppressive. (Gutierrez Liberation 49). It is not enough for the poor to have food, indeed having food handed out by people who have plenty simply maintains the systemic oppression. The Church, which is about liberation of both the body and the soul, must support the poor in their efforts to be liberated not only from poverty, but from dependence. For the church to offer liberation it must be a place that provides opportunities for the poor to express their needs, for the poor to act on their needs and for the poor to “assume control of their own destiny” (Gutierrez Liberation 68).
Our goal as church is not simply for the people who don’t have much to model themselves after those with plenty, nor to simply have more things. Our goal as a church is “the creation of a new humanity” (Gutierrez Liberation 81). To work, to volunteer, to contribute, to be recognized as having gifts, to be recognized as a leader, to be known in community and to be honored as an agent of one’s one destiny, all of these actions are part of engaging in creation, engaging in God’s creation of a new world. We, rich and poor alike, are liberated by our efforts to create a just society, a new humanity (Gutierrez Liberation 105), I would say we are liberated by our work for God’s Realm here on earth.
The challenge for those of us who have enough is that we feel liberated by our giving of things, and yet that is not liberation, that is power. We have the power to lead, when we choose to limit who can volunteer to be one of us instead of one of them our power works as power over the people in need. To be part of creating God’s realm we must use our power as power-with. We must sit with those who need things, we must see the gifts they bring, and we must get out of the way so that others can lead. We must be willing to give up the power we have to be the only volunteers in a food ministry.
While Letty Russell certainly suggests that those in power must give up some of that power in order to include those that have previously been left out, she emphasizes, appropriately, that leadership is not a limited commodity. “Rather, power and leadership gifts multiply as they are shared and more and more persons become partners in communities of faith and struggle” (Russell 56). If our goal is inclusion more than efficiency then we can empower many people to demonstrate their gifts and their leadership in our ministries. In fact if we were to evaluate a ministry’s effectiveness based on the number of people encouraged to use their gifts, rather than on the efficiency of the program, we would be a feminist round table leadership, leadership that is about partnership not authority (Russell 57), about power-with, not power-over.
Feminist round-table leadership creates food ministry that is the work of partners, people with voice and people without, people with titles, and people without, people with plenty and people with little, working together for the good of the partnership. While Russell’s use of the word “feminist” emphasizes the role of women at that table she is careful to recognize that many voices have been missing, many voices are shut-down. When those voices are allowed space at the table the result is not efficiency, but is rather community, diverse community.
Our food ministries may feel like community when we sit and eat with the people in need, and ask about their lives, and treat them with respect, but as long as the rules require that we serve and they eat we are a divided community. It is in the opportunity to use our gifts that a person is welcomed completely into the fullness of community. Recognizing new gifts leads to a more diverse community (Russell 70), but also to more of a sense of belonging. While to be a guest is more pleasant than being a client, to be a member, a volunteer, a leader, this the act of truly being one of us. Without the rights of leadership, the people who need food are not given the full rights of membership into the community.
In the Christian tradition our theory is that baptism comes with the full rights of membership into the Body of Christ. Our food ministries can model that full membership by supporting, developing, encouraging, seeking out, training, cheering on, and embracing the leadership skills that our neighbors who do not have much food bring with them to the program. The results may not be efficient, organized, or clear cut, but they will be closer to being the Body of Christ, they will lead us further toward a New Creation, they will help us be part of God’s Realm, here on earth.
Gutierrez, Gustavo, A Theology of Liberation, History, Politics, and Salvation, Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 1988. Sr. Caridad Inda and John Eagleson, Trans. 15th Anniversary Edition.
Gutierrez, Gustavo, We Drink from Our Own Wells The Spiritual Journey of a People,
Maryknoll NY: Orbis: 2003. Matthew J. O’Connell, Trans. 20th Anniversary Edition.
Lupton, Robert D. Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charity Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It) HarperOne 2011 Kindle Edition.
Ray Jr., Stephen G. Do No Harm: Social Sin and Christian Responsibility Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003.
Letty Russell, Church in the Round: Feminist Interpretation of the Church, Louisville KY:
Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993.