Compassion Brokers

I've begun reading Shane Claiborne’s Becoming the Answer to our Prayers and it’s typical of Claiborne: gut-wrenching and convicting. The premise of the book is that we can answer many of the prayers that we pray, especially when it comes to matters of injustice. Claiborne writes that “We worry about how to protect ourselves from them (the poor) while at the same time feeling guilty for our complicity in their poverty. So we give to charities. And charities become the brokers for our compassion toward the poor.” The last statement, brokers for the poor, made me pause. I agree that many churches and followers of Jesus, myself included, outsource compassion. We prefer to let other groups and organizations do the heavy lifting while we observe like a spectator and cheer on their efforts, giving money and mental energy to their good work. Yet we miss out on opportunities to take part in processes that may make the overall system better. Clairbone then goes onto compare our society to a sort of high school lunchroom where we all have our tables carved out and never dare to sit with people from other tables, especially those from so called ‘lower’ tables.

For me, this is what makes the Genesis Project appealing in that it gives people like myself a set up opportunity to meet and engage with people from a different socio-economic setting than me. While this method still requires the work of a ‘broker’ (in this case the Community Outreach), at least what is being brokered is a relationship and a learning opportunity (for both parties) and not simply another transfer of goods or services. We had a good group attend the Genesis training this past Wednesday night and I am excited to see who makes the leap to be part of the mentoring group. It will be interesting to hear what stories begin to emerge from a little bit riskier type of ministry, but also a little bit more fulfilling type of ministry as well.