My feelings about Detroit

It has been said that a picture says a thousand words. Well I say this: Ben says a thousand words too in this post.
We are here in Detroit and today we painted Pastor Patti's kitchen. We also got solicited to buy prescription drugs on the street. I feel calmly excited about our trip. Probably because I drank two cups of bold African coffee. Otherwise I would just feel mellow mushroom. When we're in a group I don't feel obligated to speak because I feel others will do it for me and my voice can be rather monotone.

We visited two churches. I will now elaborate on the social differences and implications of the socio-economic discrepancies. Metro-something-or-other-good-news-gang meets in an old Polish dance hall down in the seedier parts of town. We skipped the service to play soccer and came after just to talk to people. It was fellowship of course. i really can't talk about the intricacies of each church because hey I don't know. We just got here. But the people everywhere have been ultra nice. This section may be a little scatterbrained because I typed everything else and then came back to this. hmmm.

Detroit World Outreach is a very large church and their facilities are quite nice. I am not familiar completely with all the ministries conducted there but I honestly feel slightly conflicted internally when faced with a church or ministry that has expensive equipment or facilities. Of course the wealth in the world won't be distributed according to merit this side of eternity but it still seems like more could be done. I don't know anything really about DWO so I'm not judging them at all but it just got me thinking. What if we had a way of finding out who needed help and sending it where it was needed most?

That's an aspect of my deepest convictions that I will continue to work out throughout my life, I suppose. It's been amplified since reading The Irresistible Revolution. The author, Shane Claiborne, expresses a vision of not preaching at the rich and engendering guilt and condemnation, but a certain sadness and call to encourage the cheerful giving to the poor.

There's something that needs to happen in a person's heart that will cause them to be ready to give at any time. God blesses that and someone who is more focused on relationships and the preciousness of people who are created in God's image than on their own stuff is hard to come by. Of course, it's a tall order when Jesus tells us to "give to anyone who asks of you" and all that stuff that sounds nice but causes such turmoil and brings excuses to our minds when the actual moment comes around.

I say this because I'm sure I often miss chances to serve Jesus through serving the "least of these" when I think "What if this guy robs me when I decide to give him a couple bucks?" or "I need that money to eat." Those excuses probably aren't from God, but I'm sure you aren't supposed to give the same amount of cash to every person who asks you for money. Some people need your prayer, some people may need a lot of money, some people just need a sandwich. That's why we should be attuned to God's voice and work in his will. That's another thing that sounds nice, but I fail to do it every day. Which leads to keeping my eyes on God rather than on myself because otherwise I would want to end my life. Or at least my spiritual life. A lot to think about, no doubt. Reconciliation of one's desires with those of Jesus. Not easy. But worth it, I hear.