Money and Power: Oscar Muriu from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Money, Power and Mission
Oscar Muriu is Senior Pastor at the Nairobi Chapel in Nairobi. He was invited to speak at Urbana 09 and used the platform to deliver one of the most intelligent, powerful and moving messages on the subject of Incarnational ministry that you're ever likely to hear. Let's talk about this:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Passion means to suffer. Jesus Christ demonstrated the ultimate act of passion when he suffered on the cross for our salvation. As followers of Christ we are called to have compassion, to "co-suffer" with the disenfranchised and marginalized people of this world. I think that Oscar Muriu describes very well through the characteristics of the Incarnation how we are called to co-suffer. Can we truly suffer with someone if we think we have all of the answers to their suffering? Can we truly suffer with someone if we think we have the power to change the situation? Can we truly suffer with someone if we think we have enough riches to fix the problem? Can we truly suffer with someone if we think that our own lives are perfect? No, we simply try to pull those people out of their suffering instead of joining them in their suffering. Only when we leave behind our pride and become humble, only when we relinquish our power and become powerless, only when we give up our riches and become poor, only when we recognize that we too are broken, will we truly be able to feel what it is like to have no control or hope, to know what it is like to suffer. It is when we embody these characteristics that we will be able to stand side-by-side, truly co-suffering with the people of this world and share with them the hope that is found in Jesus Christ through his ultimate act of suffering.
I have often heard about "Incarnational Ministry" and ways in which that can be applied to mission--short term or long term. However, this is the first time I have really heard it described in a way that made sense, in a way that I thought "wow, this is something I can incorporate into a trip right now." Something I read discussed how most of the world accepts suffering and hardships as a way of life. It's an interesting thought, especially to one who grew up in a culture where any type of suffering is considered something to be avoided at all costs. If we recognized that truly living as Jesus did--through humility, in powerlessness, in poverty, and in brokenness--requires suffering, how radically different would our STM teams look?
Incarnation as a Model for Missions
I think this is one of the most profound challenges I have ever heard especially after Friday's class session. Pastor Muriu challenges us to think of missions in God's terms and not our own.
God's way is the ultimate meaning of incarnation. Our strategies should be dependent on God and we should never do anything outside his instructions. Pastor Muriu emphasizes the importance of considering the interests of others ahead of our own. The simplicity of Jesus should be our driving model.
He mentions several things that comprise of the nature of incarnation.
We must turn our pride into humility. We have to take the attitude of a humble servant. We have to learn to make ourselves nothing so that God may be glorified. We have to learn to listen to the wisdom of others and not just rely on our sophistication.
The second thing is to turn our powers into powerlessness. Jesus came as servant. He came in obscurity and didn't come as had originally been anticipated. Yet it was out of his choice that he came as a humble, powerless servant obedient to God. Jesus also gave up his privilege and became poor so that he could identify with us. He gave up his royalty for our sake.
Pastor Muriu also talks about Christ's relocation from harmony into brokenness. He gave up his glorious throne in order to live in our chaotic world. He became one of us, learning our language, eating our foods, sharing our pains, all these in patience in order that we might understand who he truly was. In the end he gave it all up and made us who we are in his presence.
Pastor Muriu challenges us very strongly. He gives us missions through the eyes of Jesus. Wherever we go we must be humble servants, willing to learn from our hosts. We must learn to respect others and become less before them. We have to remember that this is the story of God and we are only participants. We must be faithful in service and obedient to the Lord at all times.
Muriu's challenge leaves me stirred but befuddled. Stirred because I'm at the end of the dock, ready to dive headlong into the lake. Befuddled because I just dropped my hands and rocked back on my heels to recalibrate. I can't decide if I'm ready to jump in yet. Do I have enough gear? Maybe I have too much! Why did I want to dive into such a dangerous lake in the first place? Will my splash be big enough for anyone to really get wet? Should I plan for a quick dive or go for a long swim? The water really doesn't look as inviting or adventurous as it used to. If fact, it looks murky enough to be scary!
I offer the above as a metaphor of missions. I am torn by many complex questions. Am I willing to live as Muriu describes? What does this kind of incarnational ministry really look like on the field? If I saw it, would I suddenly lose my 'calling'? Can such an endeavor even be arranged through my preferred mission organization? Will my motives ever sync up with such a scary way of approaching missions?
Muriu's description of incarnation seems all but impossible in STM, and extremely rare in LTM. But the biblical foundations cannot be ignored. So here I stand on the dock, stirred to dive in, but befuddled.
Jason D - a metaphor came to my mind as well. We see those we wish to "serve" as trapped in a pit. We come in with all of our resources and in the quickest most efficient manner, try to pull these people out of the pit. What I think Muriu is calling us to, what the Bible is calling us to, is that we first jump into the pit with the people. We experience and acknowledge the hopelessness and despair that is found in that pit. We must understand that we may or may not ever get out of the pit, but that getting out of the pit is not the first priority. The first priority is sharing our faith that whether or not we are removed from the pit in this lifetime, we are confident that we will be freed from the pit in the next life.
How does this fit into missions? Just because helping people out of the pit is not the first priority doesn't mean that we are not still called to try. I think that long-term missionaries are those who jump into the pit with the people of the world but perhaps short-term ministry teams could be what is needed to help lift people up. I just think we need to carefully choose the means by which we help people out. Maybe we need enough people in the pit to push people out than to stand over the top of them pulling...
Wow, this was such a fantastic message from Pastor Muriu. One thing that I loved about it was that he was coming from an African perspective but at the same time knew full well the American perspective as well.
I agree with you all on the great points that he made. I really liked how he described the "first door" of the incarnation. He said that it is the incarnation of our attitude. How can we be faithful servants of Jesus through our attitude? Through turning our pride into humility. Much of what he said throughout his message was incredibly challenging! One thing that is so tough for most of us coming from the western world is to as Oscar put it "keep our mouths shut long enough for the poor to speak." That right there is a massive act of humility for any westerner, for we have so much pride in the words which we say. When he quoted the person who had spoke earlier in the week at Urbana, that was when I felt the most convicted. He said, "We should live to be forgotten, and then have God raise us up" or something along those lines. That is so contrary to what we are fed through culture. Like many of the other authors we have read he talked about how the things we take with us hinder our trip, they "are not incarnation." So many times we hear the message of going to sell all our riches and giving them to the poor, yet it is so hard! But, that is the only way we can begin to truly relate to the poor we hope to minister to. Lastly, this whole message just really reemphasizes what we have been learning; we must understand the culture we are going to, and that is through the humility and incarnational attitude which is similar to Jesus. What a challenge!
Beautiful message. That's all I can really say. I hope God makes me vulnerable to this world when I seek out safety.
Post a Comment