I’m not going to give it to you because this post is not about the rightness of the sentence (the young man is obviously a danger to others) but about the media’s role. The newspaper is tabloid-sized, and this story completely covered the front page with a photo of the man, plus his name in the headline. I realise that, given he is 18 and had pleaded guilty, his face and name can be published. The newspaper acted legally, but did they act ethically?

As we go beyond the headlines, we find that this man’s father was killed in a car accident 10 years ago. Suddenly he transforms in our eyes from a 19 year old hoon to a 9 year old boy discovering his father is no longer alive. Any superficial study of youth development tells us that parents, particularly fathers, are key to a young boy becoming a responsible adult. A $65,000 payout from the TAC was put in a trust fund after this accident. At age 18, the boy promptly wasted it in a predictable stream of prodigality. I think we can confidently assume that this boy has not had the opportunity to develop in a healthy way.

This newspaper’s actions are unethical. There is no public benefit served in publishing this story in this way.  There is no benefit to the man found guilty. There is no deterrent effect, because any other so-called ‘hoon’ will see this as a special case because of his father’s death. The only effect is to stir up ill-feeling towards young people. Of course, this is not an isolated occurrence in the media. Young people doing stupid & criminal things are constantly in the news. In youth and social work this is called a ‘deficit approach’, in which the media chooses to highlight negative characteristics of young people. On page 13 of the same newspaper, Father Chris Riley (right) from Youth off the Streets spoke to 300 young people about leadership and character….putting that on the front page would have been fantastic.

Publishing this story is legitimate, but allow an obviously damaged young person the privacy needed to rehabilitate.

After returning a young man to his residential unit (where he lives), his 2 housemates both started mooning our car, despite the best efforts of their workers to raise the level of the conversation and their shorts.

What we give to get noticed! I get noticed all the time, having a job that involves facilitation and training groups, but I always like it. As a secondary school teacher, I found that young people were always trying to get noticed: through acting up, excelling at something. Even those people who seem to love hiding away in a corner so no-one mentions their existence appreciate quiet acknowledgement.

It’s not just young people and children who love attention, though. Adults seem to thrive on it. I know I do. I think it comes back to the fact that we are mostly cowards. When people notice our efforts it gives us the courage to keep going.

1. We need to talk about love to interpret our lives to others

I used to believe that evangelism would happen when people asked me about my oh-so very distinctive life, and then I would tell the inquirer all about Jesus’ love. I used to think that my life would seem very different to others’ lives, creating interest and questions. I’ve since realised that my life is pretty flawed, and it’s an odd occasion when my life prompts someone to ask about it. Long gone is the time when the majority of Australians see a godly life and connect it with God, when a Christ-like lifestyle reminds us of Christ. We need to interpret the meaning of our lives for others, and the meaning of our common life as followers of Christ, if it has any meaning, is found in love.

2. We need to talk about love to bring to mind (re-mind) us of what we believe.

As we delve deeper into the Way of Jesus, we can fall prey to doing well, more than doing good. As our experience grows, we shunt ourselves into positions of responsibility which have jargon, meetings and protocols that often have little to do with love. Other priorities distract us – family, children, mortgages. Talking about love undermines our attachment to our roles and responsibilities, re-minding us of the vision that they serve, and hopefully calls us to a truer imitation of Christ.

3. We need to talk about love to induct others into the Way of Love

Somewhere along the Way, others will want to follow it too. I know, amazing! It’s a difficult path to follow and I wouldn’t do it for quids, but I’ll do it for love. As we induct others along the Way, we have to tell them the story of Jesus, which at the bottom of it all is the story of love personified.

4. We need to talk this language because it’s being lost

‘Love’ is a word that’s being suffocated under an avalanche of shallow images which are taking on the character of reality. If we want to avoid ‘love’ simply becoming a way of referring to our affection for chocolate, casual sex or our celebrity of choice, then we need to start talking about what love is, and what it isn’t. That’s going to make us look fairly odd, because the ‘love’ of God is very different to the ‘love’ of media culture, described as it is in the stories of Israel, Jesus and the early church. It’s strong, consistent, endures all things, is hardly ever soft, resists lies, is ready to sacrifice for the beloved.

‘Where do I join this kingdom revolution?’

If you’ve read this far, you have probably already decided that you want to join this kingdom revolution. Next step is to find some people who want to do it with you. If you don’t have anyone like that, look up some of the communities mentioned previously. They’ll help you on your way.

Most importantly, do something. This movement is not about standing on the banks of the river while others swim by. It is about getting personally involved in people’s lives, people who are isolated, persecuted and poor. Knock on the door of the elderly neighbour. Stand up to bullies, be they small or large. Make peace. Spend a week’s coffee money on someone who actually needs it. Foster a child. Pray with a suffering parent. Invite the new person over for tea. Sit down with the loner at school. Sell your possessions and have a party for the outcasts. Tell the truth despite the consequences. Move to the wrong side of the tracks.

The disciples simply left their nets and followed, and Jesus wants nothing more and nothing less. Jesus doesn’t care how much we know, or what we are doing now, or what we’ve done in the past. He cares about where we’re headed. In the river of Jordan, John baptized Jesus in a symbolic drowning and rising to life. In following Jesus among the poor, we not only drown with all our inadequacies, flaws and sins, but rise to a new life of compassion, truth & justice.

The Road to Emmaus

‘Who can walk with me on this journey?’
Jesus walked with 12 disciples as he went about preaching, healing and casting out evil. Why? This journey of compassion & justice is joyful, but it’s also a battle against the forces of evil within ourselves and in our world. The pain in the world is real, and our own sin can often paralyse us. If we try to swim by ourselves, we will drown. We need others alongside us. It’s no surprise that Jesus sent out his disciples two-by-two and that the lion’s share of the New Testament is addressed to communities, not individuals.

Often you may feel alone as you feel your way into this way of compassion and justice. But there is a growing movement of Christians who are rediscovering the radical roots of our faith, who are seeing that life following Jesus means nothing less than allowing the Spirit to lead us into dark places, into hard places, to be light and life. We are discovering, to our surprise & joy, that Jesus was always walking before us, and beside us.

Visiting some of the communities in Part IV will put you in contact with many people who are on the same path. But if you can’t come, then check out some of these resources:

1. Websites/blogs:

• Mark Sayers Thinks
• Urban Neighbours of Hope (Sydney)
• Hold: this space
  
• Jarrod McKenna
• Mustard Seed Associates
• Marcus Curnow

2. Books:

• Not Religion, But Love (Dave Andrews)
• The Irresistible Revolution (Shane Claiborne)
• Make Poverty Personal (Ash Barker)
• Check out some of my articles

3. Conferences/Gatherings/Training (Australia)

• TEAR Australia 2009
• Surrender 2010
• Just Salvos
  
• Forge
• UNOH

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

‘Where does this journey start?’

The journey of compassion & justice begins when we see things clearly. When William Wilberforce set foot on a slave boat and saw, truly and clearly, the horror of oppression, his journey of radical discipleship began. When we see the injustice of the gap between our wealth and the poverty of millions, our journey of radical discipleship begins. Whenever we open our eyes to the cruelty around us, and respond with compassion, we have already embarked on the journey.

The journey starts wherever you find yourself. Zacchaeus the tax collector was in a very different place to Bartimaeus the blind man or the Samaritan woman at the well. That didn’t matter. They all followed. The journey starts despite how inadequate you feel or how little you know. The disciples knew very little of Jesus when they started and not much more by the end. That didn’t matter. They all followed.

In this river of compassion, truth and justice, Jesus doesn’t really mind what sort of stroke we do, how fast we swim or if we need floaties.  In fact, knowing our own inadequacies and poverty is essential if we are to enter into the poverty of others. We do not love the poor because we have the answers. Our wealth & privilege are actually barriers to reconciliation with God, and with all those who are oppressed. By serving those on the margins, we are given the opportunity to shed the skin of privilege, thereby entering the kingdom of God, where there are no rich or poor. We love others because we know that, despite our indifference, selfishness and greed, God loves us.

Part I

Part II

‘I’m not convinced, isn’t this just for a few who are ‘called’?

In one of Jesus’ most confronting parables, He says that when we visit the sick and imprisoned, feed the hungry, clothe the naked and welcome the stranger, we actually do these things to Jesus Himself. That is, Jesus is present in all who are poor and oppressed, and when we serve them we also serve Him.

But our culture teaches us to believe that this work is best done by experts who really ‘know what they are doing’, as though poverty is a leaky tap to be fixed. Our role is to support the professionals through taxes and donations. But the parable claims that serving the poor is not a task to be completed but participation in the life of God! In serving those on the margins, we have the privilege & opportunity of encountering Jesus in the flesh. If we only pay others to do this work, and do not get involved personally, we are giving up this opportunity.

Sure, not everyone is called to live in a slum, but everyone is called to enter hard places with no weapon but love. Certainly, not everyone will sell all their possessions, but Jesus reminds us that what we have is not ours, and has been given to us by God for the sake of others. Definitely, not everyone is called to abject poverty, but we are all called to get involved personally in the lives of the poor & oppressed.

God sent Jesus, as vulnerable baby, into a world of pain, confusion and injustice. Jesus said to his followers, “As God sent me, so I send you”. We are sent by Jesus, as He was sent by God, into unfamiliar and difficult places, with nothing to lean on but His love. This is not a call for the special or the few, but for all. Following Jesus is not a matter of standing on the banks, cheering on those who are swimming. God wants us all to submerge ourselves in the river of compassion and justice, where we experience not only the pain of serving Him, but the joy of finding God amongst those who have been abandoned.

Part I

…It does appear that the professionalisation of compassion saps the confidence of community members to intervene for the good of others. Yet, it seems just another explanation that defers to ‘higher forces’, again allowing ordinary citizens off the hook, and disempowering them by insisting on purely structural solutions. Beyond decisions taken by politicians and bureaucrats, surely the average citizen can do something, anything, at a personal level.

Here we touch the edge of the root of the problem: that the citizenry, as a whole, does not wish to venture into the pain of our communities. We are content to sub-contract our responsibility to others through taxation, and perhaps donate extra monies to charities, employing professionals as our proxies. This is the real ‘welfare mentality’ in our culture.

Until this disease is cured, any amount of structural or institutional alterations will do little good. Surely, after decades of revelations in which the failures of the welfare system have been extensively documented, we can admit that calls for institutional reform will not give vulnerable citizens what they need.