Campolo and Bono do a great job expressing eloquently the social imperative the follower of Christ faces. They resonate with me, much like the emotional growl of a great jazz singer or the funky bass of a hardcore band, they pound my chest with vibration. After listening to a message by Campolo in the car on our way to Pizza Hut, I told my wife "I am converted all over again."
What to do then? I cheer on Bono, calling on America to increase aid to poor countries by just %1 of the federal budget. I want to dive into the One campaign and see this through. But what authority have I? How have I sacrificed (Campolo, Power and Authority)?
One place I can begin to implement justice ideas is in crafting the DNA of the coffeehouse that we are starting. We have written into our mission statement that "Live Wired Coffeehouse is committed to engaging in the local economy, doing business with organizations that show care and concern for people and the environment at all levels of production. We are committed to using best practices in business to value people and protect the environment." I warned the students on the board of the coffeehouse that this commitment will have far reaching implications in the way we do business. This will mean searching out the companies and suppliers to do business with who have strong ethical and compassionate practices. This will mean paying our workers what they are worth, and paying more for coffee that is harvested in sustainable ways and where the harvesters are being paid a living wage. I am happy about starting with these values, and look forward to educating our employees and patrons as to their importance.
It will sure be interesting to see how rubber meets road with our vision. I just went to the website (http://www.livingwage.geog.psu.edu/) Waltman mentioned in the notes of his article about living wage. I would love to make a living wage the standard for our employees - based foremost on their need. In our little village a family of four needs $23.24/hour. Even if I assume both parents are working (do I want to?) That is still $11.62/hr. I think it might be a hard sell to get the board to agree to pay the "poverty wage" of $9.83!
ReplyDelete(I have to remove from my mind that I'm also talking about my own wage here, since for the last 6 years we have been living far below poverty wage. I find it difficult to imagine a living wage and find these numbers surprising. Perhaps I shouldn't be so shocked and perhaps the board will allow more than I think.)
I have mixed feelings on Campolo and Bono. While they are right that God is concerned for the whole person and right religion leads to a true concern for the weak and vulnerable manifested in action they seem to subtly shift focus away from gospel proclamation.
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling from both of them that the greatest gift one can receive is not the gift of being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit but of a receiving a living wage or some other material blessing.
And yet when Jesus addressed people about prayer he said if you truly pray you will receive the Spirit. This was the greatest gift he could imagine. I just don't get the feeling that these guys really believe that. If so, you'd think they'd emphasize it more.
The danger of not emphasizing it is that in time all that's left is the social concern aspect--as in the YMCA and other outreaches that have lost their Christian distinctives.
My two cents, anyway. God's very best to you. Love your generous Pentecostalism!
@David Peterson, I appreciate your thoughts. You might be interested in the book Campolo wrote with Mary Albert Darling "The God of Intimacy and Action." In the first section of the book he argues very strongly for evangelism.
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