CONTRASTS. A VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY !JON SPELLMAN !

DMIN717 ENGAGING LEADERSHIP CONCEPTS,

GLOBAL CONCERNS IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!GEORGE FOX EVANGELICAL SEMINARY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DECEMBER 1, 2014 !

!Contrasts !!

Contrasts. They surround us everyday, everywhere. Some stark, some subtle, but ever-present either way. While in a city like Cape Town these contrasts seem to be on display in more vivid color than other locales, they are present in my every day world as well. Perhaps the starkness felt in Cape Town is because South Africa is a mere 20 years removed from the collapse of Apartheid. The bitterness and pain of systematic, legalized oppression is still very raw, an open societal wound.

Afrikaners live with the shame of their ancestors’ behavior and the fear of honest political discourse. After all, to speak out against a recently elected, black politician would likely result in accusations of racism regardless of the merits of the grievance. At the same time, South African people of color (whether black, brown or other) live with the memories of subjugation and humiliation even while the reigns of power have been entrusted to their hands. This creates a subtle contrast, one where present shame is held over and against historical shame, neither helpful in nurturing forward progress. While the majority black population now holds political power, ownership of property, industry and generational wealth still reside with the very small minority of Afrikaners so the

5-star hotels on the waterfront, luxurious villas in the wine-

country and slums with millions of people pressed into a few square miles all within close

proximity.

contrast between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” between what is and what was expected to be once this transfer of power occurred, is stark. Reflecting upon this particular contrast caused a previously unconsidered question to rise in my heart: “Where is the locus of power in a society truly to be found?” If political change alone was enough to accomplish a relocation of power, then the majority black population in South Africa would be, by and large, on their way to flourishing in life. This clearly is not the case.

In the important book Roads 2 Bridges, Xola Skosana writes the following to his friend, Leon Oosthuizen: !

Black people have been in a lingering state of expectation, believing that the New South Africa will bring them justice. They held the belief that land would be given back to the rightful owners and that the people would have access to decent education. They also had the expectations that the victims of apartheid… would be compensated meaningfully. They fostered the hope that the quality of life for black people would be improved… that all hardships and darkness that have characterized their lives would be something of the past. However, the biggest frustration blacks have to contend with every waking day is that the past is right here among them, in the guise of people suffering under racism, as well as homeless and landless people, etcetera. 1

!!

Hope deferred… Sick hearts…

Despair…

Leon Oosthuizen and Xola Skosana. Roads 2 Bridges Uninterrupted Conversations (Paarl, SA: Emmaus Media, 1

2013) 19.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 [ESV]). So much hope was held in the hearts of the South African people leading up to Apartheid’s demise! Yet the expectations for a bright future with equality, brotherhood and mutual nationalistic pride have yet to materialize. !

Unfulfilled expectations lead to disappointment. Those who speak out on behalf of the disappointed wrestle with their own internal conflict. They find themselves torn between wanting to experience

joy, to celebrate whatever advances have occurred while still being keenly aware of grave injustices and persistent inequities. This creates another contrast, subtle maybe, but a contrast nonetheless. It’s hard to celebrate when so much inequality is still evident. How does one be righteously angry toward a system alone when there are real faces and names populating that system? Should not those faces and names be the recipients of righteous fury? When your own goodness won’t allow, instead you resign yourself (while shuttling white people around the neighborhood) to polite phrases such as, “I’m not mad at the white people that stood,

lookin’ at me from the porch of the house where I grew up, I’m mad at the government that put them there!” You can’t pummel a faceless government, but 2

somebody should receive a pummeling! !

These words from our tour guide on a walking trip around District Six, are emblazoned on my memory. Her voice 2

said one thing but her body language said another. I found myself agreeing with her body language.

While touring District Six, I was struck by our hosts’ graciousness. This place, emblematic of humanity at its worst, could understandably give rise to cynicism, anger and a thirst for vengeance. Instead we encountered guarded optimism, peaceful spirits and undeserved forgiveness — contrasts. I observed in them (one a Muslim, it is important to note) evidence of a robust theology, the kind that, while not stated in so much academic gobbledygook, culminates in a sense of tangible calm and alarming grace. True practical theology is worked out in the trenches of places like District Six and Khayelitsha, Cabbagetown and South Central. McGrath notes that “[t]heology is 3

undertaken in a context — that of a culture at large.” From David Ford we gain the following 4

insight: “Four elements in particular might be seen as a sort of ‘DNA’ of the best theology: Wise and creative retrieval of the past… Wise and creative engagement with God, church, and world now… Wise and creative thinking… Wise and creative expression.” In our District Six hosts, 5

these elements were on display. None of them were willing to simply let the past fade into oblivion, as if the unspeakable had never happened. Yet they were able to interact with the horrors of their shared history, from whatever unique perspective they held, while thinking creatively about the future and expressing the hope they embraced. This is practical theology at its zenith! Standing in stark contrast to much of what masquerades as theology here on our side of the globe.

Cabbagetown and South Central make reference to some of the more gritty areas of Atlanta and Los Angeles in the 3

US.

Alister E. McGrath. Christian Theology: an Introduction, 5th ed (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) 115.4

David F. Ford. Theology: A Very Short Introduction, second edition. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) 5

Kindle. 11-13.

Popular theology over here demands that God snap to attention when we present him with our demand lists. Popular theology over here does not have the capacity to absorb disappointment without falling into disillusionment. Popular theology over here is essentially human-centric. The practical theology I saw in Cape Town appeared in stark contrast. It looked like this: !!!!!!!!!

!!!

Contrasts…

And this

And this

It is interesting to me that around the same time Grenz and Olsen were publishing their prophetic warning that “Christianity may be in danger of becoming a mere ‘folk religion’ (unreflective believing based on blind faith in a tradition of some kind), relegated to the realms of sheer subjectivity and emptied of public credibility,” people like Mary Burton were 6

standing firm as living witnesses that this prophecy need not always be fulfilled. I must admit, when I read their words one short week after returning from Cape Town, I still had not grasped this truth. I was still reading through my cynical, western, theological lenses. I quickly affirmed that they had spoken truth: “Is this not an apt description of the world in which we presently live?” were my exact words. After all, isn’t this what we observe in the 7

western church? Then, some weeks later, I saw her picture and remembered her voice — soft yet strong, weary yet determined, triumphant yet seasoned with regret. “I knew that even while I sat in jail next to my black friend that I was being treated better than she… because I was white. I felt guilty because of that.” And: “As a white woman of privilege I felt it to be my responsibility to speak out for those who could not speak out for themselves.” It was then that a truth I had previously known with my 8

intellect made its way into me spirit. Simply this: the church in the west isn’t the only church. I needed a contrast for this reality to take root. ! !!!The darkest places are where light is most evident. !!

Contrasts…

Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God. (Downer’s Grove: 6

IVP, 1996). 10, 27.

Jon Spellman, “Folk Theology From A Recovering Pentecostal” DMINLGP.com, October 16, 2014, accessed 7

December 1, 2014, http://dminlgp.com/folk-theology-from-a-recovering-pentecostal/

This is my best paraphrase of Mary Burton’s exact words.8

Contrasts allow for unexpected bright spots to be revealed as well. In the middle of a community lamenting a 70 percent unemployment rate, divinely inspired entrepreneurism is on display. Entrepreneurship stands in contrast with entitlement’s acceptance of a meager existence. Entrepreneurship expects surplus, entitlement settles for desperation and barely enough. Yet, into desperation, God can still speak. The only question is whether or not a man will be willing to turn his ear heavenward. Golden, the flower man, was willing. As a result, a different kind of entrepreneurship emerged, one that provides for the most basic human needs rather than fueling the insatiable desires of unrestrained capitalism.

Unrestrained capitalism never says “we have enough.” It always seeks to acquire more. Divinely inspired entrepreneurship, on the other hand, views the dollars-for-product exchange as God’s vehicle of provision. The flower man is proof that there are still fresh ideas to be birthed! !

If beauty can rise from the community trash pile of Khayelitsha then surely God can cause new, creative thinking to take shape in my heart. I am, even now, looking at the sunflower I brought home as a gift for my daughter and reflecting on the transaction that took place between Golden and myself. He identified this piece of scrap metal and repurposed it. It represents hours of his life. I exchanged money (which represents hours of my life) with Golden for the privilege of owning this piece of art. In this transaction, we exchanged portions of our lives with each other. Our lives,

that seem to be in stark contrast one to the other, have now been intertwined. My life helped him feed and clothe his family while his life helped me understand that God can still speak into desperate situations. Contrasts need not always stand in opposition to one another. !Like Xola and Leon.

Two very different pastors from very different traditions living in very different worlds. Their contrast is held in close tension due to the reality that these “different worlds” are right down the road from each other. Can a white pastor, living with the guilt of white privilege, truly make his way to the township down the road and enter as a peer to a black pastor who has been gutting it out in the trenches for years? After all, “suburban guilt” is not a concept unique to American society. Is it really possible for the white, DRC congregation to authentically labor alongside the faithful members of Way Of Life Church without lording it over them? Usually, when a white congregation comes on the scene in an impoverished neighborhood, “leading those people” into more effective ministry means talking down and condescension. I am not certain of the answer to these questions; I suspect Leon and Xola are not either. Dr. Carolyn Ramsey spoke of how the usual paradigm of leadership looks like: “I lead you, I motivate you, I empower you. This implies a Subject/Object relationship” rather than 9

Apostolic Faith Mission. Westminster Abbey

Xola Leon !

Contrasts

Carolyn Ramsey. “Academic Advisor Talk" Lecture, 2014 LGP Advance, Cape Town, SA September 24, 2014.9

meaningful conversation among learning communities. In much the same way as most short-term mission teams from the US, traveling into the third-world, the pressure to work out our own spiritual angst and white, survivor guilt on the backs of the “natives” is often too strong to

resist. It seems that Leon is aware of these tensions and works hard everyday to serve 10

alongside Xola with grace and humility. History will reveal whether a true collegial relationship takes shape or a dependancy. In either event, I was inspired and grateful for the unedited conversations between these two pastors and their willingness to invite us into their world, even for just a brief hour. Practical theology is worked out in contexts such as that, within those contrasts. ! My time in Cape Town, hearing, observing, questioning, immersed in contrasts, reflecting on my unique place in all of this, changed me. My world-view has been enlarged. I am still discovering areas in my thinking where adjustment has occurred, and I suspect I will be for some time to come. Just the other day I was describing to a friend some of the minor challenges associated with international travel, such as almost getting hit by a car while in London because I looked left instead of right before stepping into the street. My friend commented, “I’ve never understood why they drive on the wrong side of the road over there!” My first thought was, “it’s not the ‘wrong side,’ it’s the other side…” A minor shift perhaps, but substantial to me. !

Thanks to Michael Badriaki and Dr. Patrick Murunga for making the argument against the toxicity of STMs and 10

for the value of trans-national learning communities. Their presentations helped crystalize concepts that I was already wrestling with but did not yet have the right words formed.

Bibliography !Branson, Mark Lau and Juan F. Martinez. Churches, Cultures and Leadership, A Practical Theology of Congregations and Ethnicities. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2011. !Cavanaugh, William T. Being Consumed, Economics and Christian Desire. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 2008. !DMINLGP.com. George Fox Evangelical Seminary DMINLGP student blog site. http:// www.dminlgp.com. !!Elliott, Anthony. Contemporary Social Theory: An introduction. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 2009. !Ford, David F. Theology: A Very Short Introduction, second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. Kindle. !Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson, Who Needs Theology? An Invitation to the Study of God. Downer’s Grove: IVP, 1996. !Keller, Timothy J. Ministries of Mercy, the Call of the Jericho Road. 2nd Ed. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997. !McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: an Introduction, 5th ed. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. !Oosthuizen, Leon and Xola Skosana. Roads 2 Bridges Uninterrupted Conversations. Paarl, SA: Emmaus Media, 2013.