Vision Enhanced: My Life as a Bridge

I offer my life as a bridge between diverse people and places...

It was in college that I was first introduced to the concept of being a "bridge person."  We initially talked about it in the context of racial reconciliation, where there is a tremendous need for people who can see from multiple perspectives.  Without individuals who can serve as bridges, you would simply end up with segregated groups unable to have a conversation-- usually because white people got indignant and/ or confused when Blacks, Latinos, or Asian Americans expressed pain or hardship.  You needed people who could process the pain and interpret it for others.  You needed people who could translate confusion, anger, fear and a whole host of loaded emotions without getting caught up in them.  I came to realize that I am one of those people.

For there to be reconciliation, there has to be a place where people can meet, with their differences.  Yes, we can be idealistic and say that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we meet at the cross or in the presence of God -- but in reality we know that is rarely true.  People from different economic classes will most likely not go to the same sanctuary.  People with slightly different doctrines on eschatology don't even share prayer meetings.  Rather, we meet through relationship.  We meet by introduction and happenstance and by paths that cross unexpectedly.


I offer my life as a place where people meet.  I don't plan it or orchestrate it (most of the time), but I offer it, should God choose to use it in that way for His good.  I intentionally know lots of people-- lots of different people-- and I hope and pray that they know come to know each other in ways that look like God's kingdom coming.  Jesus ate with tax collectors, had his feet washed by sinners, touched unclean people, and talked with poor outsiders-- and he gave many of them a chance to know one another.  I could hammer the point from my previous "Vision" post-- Jesus created one new humanity.  No long in or out, holy or unclean, there was just in Jesus - a new creation.


I certainly tread carefully here.  I don't want to get confused and think that I am the one thing, the important thing, or the reconciling thing in the equation.  I am not Jesus.  But I do follow in the way of Jesus.  I offer my life for the things that will bring glory to God, and one of my greatest hopes of heaven is to have all God's people bridged - connected - reconciled and in proper relationship with their creator and one another.  Therefore I look for that here and now.  I offer to be that person who knows what is going on at the Lutheran soup kitchen and among teens in City Heights.  I am always game for a connection, because I never know how God will use it-- or how God might use me in it.

Asking the Right Questions

This article struck me as timely when it popped into my inbox this afternoon.  Last night, as I spoke with some friends doing ministry in our neighborhood, we were talking about Bob Lupton and others who so gently and wisely re-direct well-intentioned service by people who actually hurt communities they are trying to help.

Don't get me wrong-- I am less and less convinced that I know the "right way" to serve troubled communities.  A few years ago, I might have been fiery and self-righteous on the subject.  Now, I have some suggestions, but mostly a whole lot of stories and unresolved questions.

Which brings me back to why I liked this article.  In it, Lupton poses questions that prompt critical thinking about the how and why of church service projects.  I hope and pray that more churches are willing to put more thought into the means and ends of their service, so that mutual transformation could be a REAL thing-- bringing new life to churches and their communities.