INTRODUCTION
The Bible has good news for struggling class. Salvation in all of its richness is for those who are fallen, broken, weak, rejected, down-cast, passed by, poor, sick, marginalized, oppressed, burdened, despised and overlooked. God took pity on his chosen people when they were slaves, in bondage in Egypt; and he delivered them through Moses, with signs and wonders, and brought them to the Promised Land. Jesus said that he came to seek and to save that which was lost. He called those who were weary and burdened to come to him and find rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28). Paul said that God chose the lowly, the weak, the despised and uneducated (foolish) of this world (1 Corinthians 1:26-27).
This salvation comes to people, not through merit or good works, but solely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:5, 8). The payment for sin and the work of perfect obedience has already been accomplished by Jesus through his incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven to intercede for us. As a result, those who were far away have been brought near and united with him through the working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts (Ephesians 2:14-18). In fact, the prodigal who squandered his father’s inheritance and returned home with the rags on his shoulder was celebrated with more honor than the elder son who was always with his father (Luke 15:11-32).
In the dramatic telling of the imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Philippi, when an earthquake opened the prison doors, and the jailer ask, “What must I do to be saved,” Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Then Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house” (Acts 16:32). After the jailer washed their wounds, “then immediately he and all his household were baptized.\” (Acts 16:33). Evidently, slaves were included when whole households embraced the faith and were baptized. In his instructions for family living Paul addresses husbands, wives, children and slaves (Ephesians 5:21-6:9). So even though there was a hierarchy of authority, when it came to participation in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper all come as equals. Paul sharply rebuked the Corinthian church because some who were rich separated themselves from and went ahead with their feast, thus “humiliating those who have nothing” (1 Corinthians 11:22).
The church is the Body of Christ where all her members have been baptized into Christ and have clothed themselves with Christ, and where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor male and female, but are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). In this unity in diversity, all are given the Spirit and have received gifts for the building up of the church, the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), so that even a “lesser” gift is vitally important for the well-being and working of the whole body. Even married women who were known for their hospitality and good deeds, and who became widows and were on the roll of those receiving assistance, were known for praying both day and night (1 Timothy 5:5, 10). Older women were instructed to urge young women on how to live fruitful lives in the home (Titus 2:4-5), and thus partially fulfill Christ’s command to make disciples.
So, if this is true, why is it that these very people don’t feel at home in the common suburban, middle-class church? Why is it that they are ministered to, that is, helped in a multitude of ways, but are not invited to minister to others? Why is a church that sees itself as a close-knit, loving family perceived as exclusionary and elitist? Why do so many frequent large churches where they can remain hidden and unnoticed, and live a life that is not transformed to conform to the likeness of Christ? Why is the gospel presented in such a way that people can assent to it and be assured of God’s love and eternal live, but never learn submission and obedience in the face of hardship and rejection?
Church members enjoying the benefits of stable families, good professional training, and community connections have found jobs in leadership and management. Around them and under their supervision are those who belong to the service sector and earn little more than the minimum wage. This superior societal position has hindered them from developing meaningful relationships with the working poor. How many workers accept the invitation of a boss who invites them to church; and how many bosses fail to invite for fear of being accused of undo coercion?
Why do neighborhood churches disband when its members move to newer subdivisions instead of being transformed by evangelism and ingrafting of converts from among those who recently moved into the neighborhood? Could it be that those who moved followed a formal Christianity and had never learned what it meant to be weak and humble as children and to embrace, restore and build up the broken and fallen? Why didn’t leaders see the neighborhood change and make adjustments in ministry? Why does the church recognize the need to change only when its membership has been reduced to the old, the frail, and those who lack the energy to implement something new?
And why are churches stuck on an organizational model that demands huge outlays of money for building and personnel, like seminary-trained pastor, youth leader, secretary, music ministry, and more? People of the struggling class may have many things, but what they don’t have is a lot of money. So, while demands for ministry services increase, the resources diminish; and the result is that the church disbands and does not minister at all.
Finally, if by God’s blessing an emerging church of service-sector and blue-collar workers is organized, the succeeding pastor often has difficulty adapting and does not have the same vision for growth and ministry. As a result, the recently organized church stops growing and often flounders.
God has transformed me through ministry to people of the struggling class. Because I have seen the hesitancy, the timidity, and the mistakes that churches in South and North America make, I have been impelled to write this small book about the good news for the struggling class.
THESIS
The thesis of this book is that the church should adopt a cross-cultural, world mission approach to ministering to the poor in America. Let the reader ask whether his or her church is overlooking neighborhoods of poorer people, like trailer courts and apartment complexes. I will be using “class” to refer to a people group that lives by a set of cultural norms. It’s a way of life with customs, habits and expectations. This people group is part of the “all nations,” races, tribes, countries and neighborhoods that Jesus commands us to disciple–to baptize into his name and to teach to obey all that he has commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). The goal is to establish culturally relevant churches that generate the resources, financial and people (servant leaders) to grow and multiply. A church is a gathering of believers who devote themselves to the teaching of the Bible, to fellowship, communion, prayer, and sharing their resources (Acts 2:42-44).
Our focus will be on what is involved in bringing people to God and into the fellowship of his family. While God is concerned for the welfare of the poor, his purpose is not merely to improve their sense of well-being and lot in life. His primary purpose is to bring people to himself. God had compassion on his people who were in bondage, suffering from the cruelty of their Egyptian masters (Exodus 3:7). God delivered them with a display of his mighty power and brought them to himself (Exodus 19:4) at Mt Sinai where he entered into a formal covenant relationship with them (Exodus 20:1-17, 24:3-11).
God delivered them from bondage, but the hardship continued as they were called to trust in God as they made their way through the wilderness. Before they entered the Promised Land, God would bring them through trials, testing and suffering. The people complained against Moses, but God provided manna each morning for food (Exodus 16), water from the rock (Exodus 17:6), and victory over those who attacked them (Exodus 17:8-13). God, the God who would heal them, promised not to afflict them with the diseases of the Egyptians if they listened carefully to his voice and did what was right in his eyes by obeying his commands (Exodus 26-6). Even if life was difficult, they were not to serve other gods like the golden calf (Exodus 32:1), nor participate in pagan festivals (Numbers 25:1-9) but serve God alone. Life was so hard that the “rabble with them” began to crave other food and that provoked the people to wail, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:4-6). When they heard the report of their leaders, the spies, about the strength of the cities and the people of Canaan, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron, “Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt? . . . We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:3-4). After the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, they still had to face the Canaanites with their strong warriors and their walled cities before they could settle down in the new land. Even then, they were warned not to associate with the inhabitants in their worship of pagan deities. God forbade them from entering into a covenant with them and intermarrying with them (Deuteronomy 7:2-3).
While God is concerned about the poor, he is most concerned about their bondage to the demons that tempt and oppress them (Ephesians 6:11-12). Once they are freed, God will make sure that their needs are supplied (Matthew 6:33). Jesus warns them, and us, that even inordinate striving after material and social welfare is serving the god of money (Matthew 6:24). Even if someone never climbs up the rungs of the socio-economic ladder, they can flourish and thrive for God where they are.
The term “struggling class” came to me as I thought about the people I talked with and prayed with who were waiting in line for a food truck, the single mothers whom I visited and who were getting government assistance of various forms, broken men who received social security disability, inmates at a county jail, residents of broken-down trailer houses in a depressed rural area, and many others. Every term that I could think of defined them by their needs and carried pejorative connotations. I also realized that these people were making it through life without me or the church. They did so with considerable skill and ingenuity. Eureka! They were struggling and we were not giving them credit for their ability and resources. They’re the struggling class.
Someone in the struggling class can draw on many resources—public assistance, WIC (food for women, infants, and children), food cards, rental assistance, childcare, education programs, emergency room medical treatment, rescue missions, and church food pantries, in addition to working for a minimum wage. In some ways, those who struggle will go “shopping” for the best deal, “What program will provide them with the most for their effort?” For instance, an “in church” food pantry ranks higher than waiting in line for the distribution from a food truck at the same church. The last place that an inmate wants to go after being released from jail is to the rescue mission and be counted among the homeless. Much preferable is to live with a family in their home and sleep on a sofa in the living room.
In my mind the struggling class is tightly associated with what the government classifies as living in poverty. However, using the term “struggling class” allows us to identify ourselves with them because we also struggle in multiple ways even though we have a better income. This term also allows us and even forces us to address the spiritual dimension of poverty. We, like them, struggle to make ends meet. We, like them, work to take advantage of the best opportunities. And further, like them, we can make a god of ourselves and seek to determine our own destiny, in our own way, to satisfy our own fleshly desires (power, lust, prestige). Our purpose is not to add another social or diaconal program on the shelf that a customer can choose to satisfy his or her needs. Our purpose is to turn our hearts to God–to listen, to trust and to obey his will; and then to help others in their circumstances of life to join us in doing the same. Our call is to leave the bondage of Egypt and take the difficult pilgrimage to the Promised Land.
Throughout my ministry I have been very, sometimes painfully, aware of class and social differences. The gospel needs to be translated into the language and culture of each people. Ministering among those with wealth or the lack of it is often trickier than going to another country and another language. The gospel addresses both the rich and the poor, but it does not allow them to separate themselves from each other. We will be writing about churches for the struggling class. These churches need the gifts and resources of the “privileged.” The believers who are financially rich, though, need to humble themselves (James 1:9-10), associate with the those of low position (Romans 12:16) and consider others as being better than themselves, and take into consideration their interests as well as their own (Philippians 2:3-4). The rich need to be freed from the bondage of wealth and understand the privilege of serving as equals with others in the fellowship of faith.
Our calling is to come alongside of those who struggle, even as Christ came alongside us with His Spirit (John 14:15-17). The world, both rich and poor, desires the fish, the leeks and melons of Egypt, and the straw to help make bricks (Exodus 5:6-21). It wants to please pharaoh and curry his favor (Exodus 5:21) instead of pleasing God and trusting in his provision. God is sending us like Moses to make him known among the people (Exodus 9:16) and call them to worship God through Christ (Exodus 5:1; 8:1; 9:1).