Editor’s note: Since 1983, the Inner City Ministry of Cru® has been serving vulnerable and marginalized residents in some of the nation’s largest cities. What motivates these teams of missionaries and church partners to provide resources and spiritual guidance in these struggling neighborhoods? We tackle that question in our three-part series “Being Seen.” Today, we look at the motivation behind inner-city ministry. Parts 2 and 3 will explore the Scriptures that inspire some of our team members.
All I wanted was to enjoy my fast-food burger in peace. All Phil wanted was something to eat. Our cars were parked side by side under shady cottonwood trees when our worlds intersected.
I was instantly fuming when this stranger, later revealed to be Phil, pulled up alongside me, his cigarette smoke infiltrating my car from the passenger side window, which I lowered to hear the leaves clap in the breeze. I’m allergic to smoke and instantly took offense at this lack of respect for my space.
I was so obsessed with the injustice of it all that I didn’t notice Phil slip out from his truck as I angrily chomped my burger. Without warning, he was at my window asking if I had any food to spare as I choked down my last bite.
I explained that I had nothing left as I started the ignition to flee the smoke and my indignation.
To my surprise, I found myself heading into the drive-thru once more — this time to order him a meal.
“What’s your name?” I asked as I handed him the bag with a cheeseburger and fries.
“Phil,” he said.
While Phil certainly appreciated the food, he appeared even more grateful to be seen, a basic human need. Unfortunately, being seen — the heart of human dignity — tends to erode in proportion to one’s societal value.
“Poverty really is about being part of a story that’s not working, and to find out whether someone’s story is not working, you have to hear their story,” author and speaker Andy Crouch says in the Options Together Bible study, produced by the Inner City Ministry of Cru®. The study, which includes video and printed materials, is a seven-part project exploring the impoverished and marginalized in America’s urban communities.
‘Poverty really is about being part of a story that’s not working, and to find out whether someone’s story is not working, you have to hear their story.’
At its core, the study urges believers to avoid presumptions and instead focus on the imago Dei, or the image of God, in each person.
“It’s really important not to assume — when we see someone who appears to us to be materially poor — that they themselves feel like poverty is the main truth about their lives,” Crouch says in one of the featured videos.
That is why our mission statement is “Living out the Great Commandment and Great Commission with churches in the inner city.”
Scriptures, with more than 2,000 references in all, command believers to take care of the most vulnerable. While that includes the materially poor, it also specifically carves out the needs of widows, orphans and strangers.
Unfortunately, in our passion to help others, we can inadvertently create a we-versus-them mentality.
“I just hate when ‘the poor’ get separated from humanity as less than others,” said Valerie Seely, who serves with the inner-city team in New York City. “These partners we serve and those they serve are amazing warriors. They serve without bells and whistles in traumatic spaces that most of us don’t dare enter.”
‘I just hate when “the poor” get separated from humanity as less than others.’
When Jesus commands us to serve the downtrodden, motivation matters. Are we doing so with an air of superiority or out of an abundance of love for our neighbor?
Robert Sang, founder of the Drawing on the Word website, tackles this subject by citing Matthew 5:3.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (English Standard Version).
This verse stresses that we are all spiritually dependent on God, and therefore, we need to serve in the power and intention of the gospel, through the Spirit, with humility.
“When we identify with the poor, this makes us more aware of their need,” he said. “We have been there ourselves, or we can see the world through their eyes. We can no longer be indifferent to them, because then we are not truly loving our neighbor as ourselves.”
Sang’s observation gels with Paul’s admonition in Romans, as the apostle urges believers to practice authentic kingdom relationships.
“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good” (Romans 12:9, New Living Translation).
While the focus of Cru in the inner city is serving the most defenseless, its mission is to also serve the servers by equipping them to meet physical and spiritual needs.
While the focus of Cru in the inner city is serving the most defenseless, its mission is to also serve the servers by equipping them to meet physical and spiritual needs.
That’s why staff members and volunteers with the Inner City Ministry of Cru are committed to a wholistic approach when working with those on the margins in the urban corridors where we serve, and it begins with seeing those who are typically overlooked. By looking first for the image of Jesus in each person, we can more effectively serve the marginalized because, as humans, we share a common bond of poverty of spirit, but are now saved through God’s grace.
So, how does Scripture shape and inform how Cru team members in the inner city see and serve as we work alongside our church partners and their neighbors? Six of our staff members, serving in various capacities, offered their insight into the Scriptures that moved them to action.
In the next two blogs, they will share their insights in more depth, but in the meantime, their observations revealed a common thread centered on seeing:
- See with Intention
- See with Humanity
- See with Compassion
- See with Worth
- See with Hope
- See with Open Hands
Join us next week as we see how they live out Christ’s love by embracing others as missionaries to the Inner City.
