A Response to Valdir Steuernagel’s ’More Partners at the Family Table’

To facilitate a truly global conversation, we ask Christian leaders from around the world to respond to the Global Conversation’s lead articles. These points of view do not necessarily represent Christianity Today magazine or the Lausanne Movement. They are designed to stimulate discussion from all points of the compass and from different segments of the Christian community. Please add your perspective by posting a comment so that we can learn and grow together in the unity of the Spirit.

We hear that partnership in mission is much more complex today because it is global and the people taking part are so diverse. I don’t believe that. Our relationships to each other are not a question of rich and poor, they are not a question of culture or race or nationality. They are a question of the heart. If we bring it down to basics, it is just you, the Lord, and the other person. Together you stand before the Lord.

I appreciate Valdir Steuernagel’s emphasis on God’s call to community, and the importance of listening if we want to experience partnership. If anything, I would want to state the case more strongly.

My organization, the Center for Community Transformation, works with the poorest of the poor in the Philippines. When you work with the poor, prejudice and stereotypes come easily, often because of a lack of experience and a lack of relationships. You hear that the poor are not capable, the poor cannot manage work, the poor will take advantage of you, the poor will vandalize you, the poor smell. And so the poor become an object of charity.

Instead, we have to grasp that the poor are created in the image of God. They are not only our co-equals, they are our co-creators. Understanding that, we enter their community with humility, and we take each person at face value.  We understand that we are there not on behalf of our plans, but as part of God’s plan. We take on the attitude of a servant.

Once we have the right perspective and attitude, we must also have a clear sense of purpose. When I started out in development work, I was there to deliver services and report on outcomes. I was essentially a technician. As I grew in maturity and in my relationship to the Lord, that changed. My purpose became to build the community—a community that reflects the new heavens and the new earth. Ultimately this is a covenant, not a partnership. It starts with a covenant with the Lord.

In that covenant, you go from being a technician to being a servant. As you grow you may become a servant leader. As you are given even more responsibilities you may become a servant leader-visionary.  But you are not a servant of certain outcomes. You are a servant of the community, and most of all a servant of the Lord. You are nameless because the only name you have is the name of Jesus.