c. scott andreas

I can’t seem to get out of church any sooner than 20 minutes after the service has ended - there are just so many great people to talk to and get to know. There’s something nice about a quick, friendly conversation, I think. As usual, I found myself in one of these conversations this afternoon.

We were talking about the importance of service and celebrating the deacons’ care ministry in our church. This group is dedicated to meeting needs of people in our congregation — for those who have difficulty paying rent, heating bills, or simply putting food on the table, they are there to help. Lately, they’ve been having trouble meeting these needs due to a lack of money and resources. That’s unfortunate.

But the focus of our conversation wasn’t about giving money. It was about getting one’s hands dirty, stepping down, and actually serving others. I find that — especially for me — it is often much easier to give a few dollars than to give a few minutes. Though “time is money,” I do not feel that money is a valid substitute for time.

Giving money to a ministry is a great thing — I celebrate it and those who do. In fact, thanks to all who helped to make my trip to San Francisco possible. But I said to my friend, “There’s just something so important about getting your hands dirty and serving.” Both of us agreed to act upon this and parted ways for the afternoon.

As I reflected on my words later in the day, they began to decay. I mean really, really stink. In saying what I said, I lamented the all-too-common idea that it is possible for one to really take part in the inherently, unavoidably missional journey of a life with Jesus Christ without actually participating in it.

But I framed the thought in the context of “dirt.” As if people chose not to serve “the hungry, the helpless, the least, the last, the lost” (in Jim Wallis’ words) for fear of being “polluted” or otherwise hurt by them. My solution was to “get dirty” and just serve those who need help more than anyone else do.

The word “dirt” is toxic. I use it here as a technical term, of course — I’m not actually talking about “dirt” so much as I am profanity and booze and sleaze and hurt and criticism and pain and suffering that knows no end. But what I realized was that by using — even thinking — the word “dirt” presupposed a categorical division between “us” and “them.”

And that is a grave lie. There is no such thing as dirt.

Those in need are not dirty. “Their” lives are steeped in the very same sin and recurring failure to glorify God that “ours” are. Perhaps “they” simply have not been trained to hide it so well (that is, trained in the fine art that is deceit).

“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’ ” Matthew 15:17-20, ESV

I should note that these words do not speak directly to the situation at hand, but rather to the broader categories of what is “clean” and “unclean.” In saying the above, Christ states that we needn’t concern ourselves with being polluted by what we touch (people, for example). It’s what comes out that counts. His actions confirm this fact — he eats with tax collectors, allows a prostitute to pour perfume on him, and takes a drink from a Samaritan woman (think of the early 1960s racism in the US to get an idea of this). All of these were startling breaks from what was traditional at the time. There was no one considered “unclean” by the Pharisaical standards of antiquity whom Christ was unwilling to touch. And if what we might consider to be “gravely impure” could not pollute the most pure of all Beings to grace the earth (who arguably faced the greatest danger of being “polluted”), then how much more should we who are already unclean be willing to serve all?

There is no “dirty” and “clean” in serving others. These are culturally-constructed categories that do nothing but ensure the perpetuation of the classism, hatred, and distrust against which Christ so strongly speaks. We participate in the construction of these categories by even thinking in terms of “us” and “them,” for there is no “them” but only one continuous, hurting, sinful “us.”

To those among us whom I have attempted to exclude in this manner, I apologize. I’d like to take a moment to celebrate all of the incredible people from Connexion, Campus Crusade, Navigators, InterVarsity, Indiana University, and other organizations in Bloomington who are willing to serve and have committed to put words to action. Tonight, we clapped and prayed for about 100 people from Connexion alone who are committing their spring break to doing just that. Thank you.

Let’s not “get our hands dirty.” Let us glorify Him and just “do good” by doing what He Himself has done for us. May we act in obedience to what He has commanded and empowered us to do.  Because He’s also done it for us. May we serve those among us who are in need, not because they are believers or because they are not believers, but because they are fellow creations of God. For what we do to “the least of these,” we do to Jesus Christ.

in celebration and conviction,

c. scott andreas.