Talk Talk, Or...

...Yes, Yet Another Post About South Africa

Well, not really about South Africa, per se, but it pertains to my time there, and my time since returning.

I've already introduced you to my South Africa brother Tom Smith. Something that he said during one of our recent skype conversations has been rolling around in my mind for a week or so. It came out of our growing frustration with the increasing conversation around all things missional, incarnational, insert your favorite buzzword here. Conversation is good, but action (which can then generate meaningful, purposeful conversation) is better. We've made a pact of sorts. Every conversation we have, every speaker we listen to, every book we read, must be followed by the question, "So what?*" (If that offends you too much I'll let you off the hook with, "Now what?") If there is no answer to that question, then it has been so much talk. At the risk of putting words into his mouth, here's a paraphrase of something Tom said that I've been tinkering with that reveals to you what we think of that:

As Followers of Jesus we know what we need to do, but we're afraid to do it. So, we create new language, new systems, new programs, so that we can talk longer and more intelligently about what we have no intention of actually doing.

Too harsh? I don't think so. Thoughts?

* "How does this draw me closer to Jesus?", "How should/does this change the way I am to live?, etc.

Comments

[Jonathan Brink]

I agree a lot with what you are saying. Dialog must lead to action. Unfortunately what gets lost in the shuffle is the internal doing. Sometimes going away and processing change within ourselves is our defining action. It eventually leads to a different way of living. Because sometimes the only thing that needs to change is our own heart.

Much love

[Adam Gonnerman]

Though all the incarnational/missional "talk" really helped me at one point get back on board with church work, I came to realize after a while that it was mostly just talk. "Missional" is the word everyone wants to be saying but very few actually live.

[j steele]

MIke, in a word - yes! I agree. in my experience, it's not quite so linear though... "talking" is part of the "doing" and it's healthy to keep reminding ourselves via "conversations" of our commitment and our need for action. God encourages his people to talk about his ways throughout the doings of our everyday lives which is healthy, holistic, integrated, etc. Looking forward to reading your posts on Amahoro...

[Mike]

Great comments, thanks.

J, I would edit yours ever so slightly and say that talking can be part of the doing. I'm with you... as long as the "so what" question gets addressed eventually, either directly or indirectly. Thought about you SoCal boys this year in South Africa. We missed you!

[Robert LeBlanc]

Like the others before me, I completely agree - there seems to be no end to the number of people willing to talk about what needs to be done, but so very few with the courage to get to doing it.

This has given me a lot to think about as a teacher. My curriculum includes Canada's role in the world today. We talk all kinds about how wonderful it is to be blessed to live here and our responsibilities to the rest of the world. Once the test is written, we move on to how to find Ottawa using latitude and longitude.

If anyone is to be found guilty here, it is I, and thus the need to reflect on what I can change in my practices to begin making a difference. Where to begin with a class full of 14-year-olds? Letter writing? Fundraising? Raising their awareness doesn't seem to be working.

Thanks for the great reflection quote, which I will sum up the courage to use at the next workshop where social justice is discussed ad nauseum.

[Glenn Innes]

Good thoughts Mike. It has been fascinating to be around a group of people for whom the missional/incarnational/...al discussion is pretty much irrelevant as they are just doing the stuff. Loving people and building God's church and seeing the Kingdom expand.
The challenge is your so what question. How do I help 14 others (and myself) process how we translate what we have seen and been involved with in South Africa back to the UK.

I think the so what question might be a powerful one to use over our last few days here. Thanks

[Mike]

Good input Glenn, thanks. I think the "so what" thing is the question to come home with. (I hesitate to say "the only question to come home with" for fear of being too extreme, but you know I'm thinking it.)

Here are some words that have been floating around in my head since returning. I'll throw them out there for you to mull over too:

Embodied Alternative Communities

Sorry our paths didn't cross in Cape Town!

[Wes Roberts]

...thank you!

...thank Tom, too!!

...but probably not jarring, nor harsh enough!!!

...did the house get cleaned yet, or were those just words? :-)

[Andries Louw]

Mike, I don't think we actually met at Amahoro. I did meet your friend Tom though. His open letter to South African friends sparked a conversation on his blog that will hopefully lead to more face-to-face meetings soon.

Amen to so what! One thing that struck me about Amahoro was the many African brothers & sisters who are just doing stuff, caring for widows & orphans, facilitating reconciliation etc because they live in communities where these needs are just so in your face all the time.

One of the first things Westerners have to do in response to the "So what" question is to expose themselves to poverty or to people in any kind of need.

I think of myself as an African but even I need to make a conscious effort of moving out of my comfort zone to meet people in need because I'm living in a white middle class neighbourhood.

Currently I am learning about that by getting to know Alexandra and its people, one of South Africa's oldest townships which is just accross the highway from where I live.

One of my Amahoro resolutions is to make friends with at least one poor person, an idea I got from Tom. This means that I should visit my new friend at his place and he should visit me at mine. And we should visit like friends, not like a donor and beneficiary. I'm still working on that.

[Andries Louw]

Another friend of mine who is really living what a lot of people are talking about is Warren le Grange. He moved out of his comfortable neighbourhood a few months ago to live in a shack. Read his latest shack story here

[stf]

ouch

as James puts it - "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? "

that's another ouch when you really read it .. and let it read you!

[Mike]

Ah, yes... James. Christianity's weird uncle who is kept locked up under the stairs. Thanks for that reminder, stf. James needs to see the light of day more often.