OFF THE SHELF FRIENDSHIP AT THE MARGINS
personal friendships with some of the most economically distressed people on the planet, to overcome our consumer By Chris Heuertz and Christine Pohl myopia and be mindful of these people InterVarsity Press as we make our daily choices in the global economy. In a penetrating discusReviewed by Steven McNerney sion of Isaiah 3:14-15, which warns that “the plunder of the poor is in your house,” Friendship at the Margins: Discovering the authors ask us to consider the posMutuality in Service and Mission awakens sibility of our complicity in worldwide our spirit and challenges our feeble for- poverty. They admonish us to rediscover ays into the prophetic calling of shalom. “our ability to blush” at our individual Authors Christopher Heuertz, inter- and societal consumerism. national director of Word Made Flesh Simultaneously, they acknowledge (a Christian ministry among the world’s that there are no easy outs. Total abanslum dwellers), and Christian ethicist donment of the economy is no option. Christine Pohl argue a simple thesis: Heuertz shares one of his strategies: He Friendship is a vocation. Only genuine invests in a US clothing company that friendship can turn cause-driven missions hires overseas workers, and then he gives into life-changing ventures. the stock dividends to his friends in India Christians often set out to minister to who actually sew the clothes, so that they the poor, but the authors call us to some- might enjoy more of the company’s profits. thing much more difficult and more It’s hardly a perfect solution. Justice advorewarding: ministry with the poor. cates might wish for Heuertz to protest According to the authors, when we truly the company’s wages, which fail to lift his invest in others’ lives, seeking radical friends from poverty, but Heuertz knows vulnerability and equality, we cease com- the wages are relatively high and that his modifying our relationships with them friends are proud of their jobs. His response and thus free them from the category showcases the complexities of these issues. of “other.” Word Made Flesh pursues a genuine They invite us to learn from their equality between the rich and poor: Its members live in the slums with the poor they befriend. Nonetheless, tensions and ambiguities mark the relationships; after all, the Westerners still possess assets and networks far beyond those of their impoverished friends. But this drives people like Heuertz into deeper commitment to friendships based not on helping but on sharing daily life. To those who wonder whether the book is light on evangelism, the authors pose a challenging question: Why would others show interest in our Savior if we display no concrete concern for their situations? Sharing life, for them, comes prior to sharing Jesus. As the book’s subtitle emphasizes, any sharing that takes place is genuinely mutual, and the authors take pains to discuss why the rich really do need the poor. PRISM 2 0 1 0
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We must abandon preconceived notions of what we have to offer and grasp more clearly what we have to learn. Like our Jesus who embraced poverty and pursued deep relationships, we can respond to the groans of the oppressed and offer friendship. Our hearts, more than our wallets, will be stretched as we pursue a deeper vulnerability, humility, and holiness.“The journey will take its toll,” the authors admit,“but together with friends we find a way to move forward, stumbling into the open arms of a loving God.” Q Steve McNerney is the director of student activities and physical education at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Va., where he volunteers his writing/ researching skills at the Center on Faith in Communities.
TENDING TO EDEN By Scott C. Sabin Judson Press Reviewed by Ruth Goring In the prolonged wake of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, a book offering insights from an organization that has been reversing deforestation and working on community development in that suffering nation is particularly welcome. Scott Sabin’s Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People is a good tool, with well-chosen stories, serviceable prose, and an appropriate tone for calling Christians (and others) deeper into earthcare and service to the poor. According to the mission statement of Plant With Purpose, the Christian nonprofit Sabin runs, the goal is to “reverse deforestation and poverty in the world, by transforming the lives of the rural poor.We plant, we teach, we create enterprise, and we share the gospel.” A great strength of PlantWith Purpose (formerly known as Floresta) is its refus-