Fixing problems

The other day I went to a meeting of people that advocate for the refugee population here in Salt Lake City. This has become my second full-time job out here. I had Wednesday through Saturday off this week (oh the joys of being a nurse), and I was with them for at least three or four hours each of those days. But back to the meeting.

A lady who teaches ESL at one of the local schools here but is just starting to volunteer with our group was at the meeting. She made a comment that meet with unanimous approval, head nods, claps, and "absolutely's" from around the circle, including myself, as if she had hit our purpose right on the head. The moment I stopped parroting the approval, I realized with a sense of horror what I had just approved.

It's not that the lady suggested we bomb government buildings, or made some overtly demeaning or racist remark (emphasis on overtly), or something else horrible like that. She simply said that research showed that if we don't intervene with a population like this, who has been so traumatized already, they will turn to drugs, alcohol, violence and other destructive behaviors. She concluded by saying that what we were doing was for the good of the community, that it was essential to preserve our community.

Maybe that doesn't sound horrible to you; it didn't immediately to me either. I mean she is right, research probably does indicate all of those things (I see it with my own eyes). Let me tell you one other comment before I share my sense of horror.

One of the ladies that leads these meetings said to me a bit later on in the conversation, "Jake, why don't you take some of these new volunteers and introduce them to the families you've been working with, and then once they get started, you can move on to a new family."

Are you kidding me? Move on to a new family? These families aren't just some problems I'm trying to fix, so that as soon as someone else can deal with them, I can move on to the next problem. These are people; people I love. That's why I reacted (delayed as it was) so badly to what the teacher had said. What we are doing is for the good of the community? Sure, but that isn't what I'm there for. I'm not helping these families because I'm worried that if I don't one more user and one more pusher will be added to my streets. No, I'm helping them because I'm terrified that that user or that pusher might have a name, and it might be the name of one of my boys. I don't give a rip about statistics, but I'll fight with my whole being to make sure that one of my kids doesn't become one.

Now I was the only Christian at the meeting, so maybe I took a unique perspective. (Don't get me wrong, these people are wonderful.) Or maybe I'm over reacting. But I firmly believe that I'm part of a kingdom (The Kingdom) that has a unique concern for individuals. There isn't concern for individuals over and against the community, but the two are held in a tension. Mine is a kingdom in which the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the 1, but mine is also a kingdom in which "the many parts make one body."

And the issue here, as I think about it, isn't even community vs. individual. In a community the members are still people. The problem here is the typical "fix it" American mentality, which usually has self at the center. See we can be awfully generous (at least in our own minds) when we are trying to fix problems. And that is what we see, problems, not people. We throw money at everything because we believe it fixes everything. But it doesn't fix people. And we throw our ingenuity, our activism, and our left-over time at problems, because these fix problems. But they don't fix people. People are messy and you just can't fix them.

We will only begin to understand what true generosity and true community are when we stop trying to fix problems, and just start treating people like people. When we learn to love people--messy, awkward, error-prone people, whom we find to be strangely like ourselves--then, and only then, will we make a difference--a difference that will be felt community-wide.

Quit fixing problems and start loving people. And Holy Spirit, make it true of me.