Shawn Casselberry
Shawn Casselberry's Blog
White Submission / Jul 5, 05:21 PM
I was part of a multi-racial church plant that went horribly wrong. The majority white church I attended “partnered” with a majority African American church in our college town to plant a multi-racial church in a nearby city. It looked great on paper: a white pastor and a black pastor coming together from two segregated congregations to give witness to the reconciling power of the gospel (and it looked great on the Billboard the church paid for!).
I was drawn to this vision from my own experience growing up in segregated neighborhoods and churches and always having a gnawing feeling that this division was counter to what God intended for us. I longed for relationship and community with my African American brothers and sisters and thought what better way to tear down the barriers than to worship together and start a new kind of church.
So I put my energy into this effort until it slowly crashed and burned. We were all scratching our heads wondering what the heck happened? How could God let such a worthy cause derail?
What derailed this effort, is the same thing that derails so many genuine attempts at reconciliation. Power. There was a power imbalance. Everyone on the leadership team of the new church plant except the black pastor was from the white church. The white church provided the majority of the money, so the white church felt like it had the authority to call the shots. The black pastor preached on alternating Sundays, but the day to day decisions of the church were controlled and made by the white pastor and congregation. Pretty soon the black pastor stopped coming to the leadership meetings out of frustration while the white church saw this lack of involvement as further proof that he was not really committed. The church lasted only a year and a half until it crumbled.
When I relocated to Chicago I had this experience fresh in my mind. I decided going to a multi-racial church was not enough. I needed to plant myself in an African American community, not from a position of power, but of submission. I made up my mind to submit my white instincts to lead, control, fix, and dominate. I felt like a character in Lord of the Rings trying to avoid the lure of the ring of power that so easily distorts and destroys lives (and ministries). I decided I would not seek to lead in the community, but to place myself under local African American leaders. I wouldn’t try to start my own organization or church, but support the dreams and visions of the community. I wouldn’t seek my own advantage, but leverage my privilege and resources for the community’s benefit.
Soong Chan Rah is a professor at North Park University and he is a prophetic voice for the church in the area of racism and multi-ethnicity. Earlier this year at a round table discussion on race, he was asked what white people can do to address the power dynamic that so often befalls reconciliation. He suggested white people place themselves underneath people of color. He said they should seek a mentor that they can learn from. When white people put themselves in the place of learner, they challenge the power imbalance. He says the majority of people of color have had to submit to white leaders, be it pastors, teachers, professors, or bosses. The majority of white people have not had to submit to leaders of color. By choosing to do so, they open doors for amazing opportunities for partnership and growth.
This is something we feel strongly about at Mission Year so we intentionally partner with churches and organizations where our team members can serve underneath community leaders of color. This allows our white team members to practice submission so they can enjoy meaningful cross-cultural relationships. It is also empowering for team members of color to see strong, respected diverse leaders who are passionately pursuing God’s call. And lastly, it is incredibly affirming for the leaders themselves. Sadly, too many leaders of color have experienced the discouragement and paternalism of well intentioned white people who do not know how to practice mutual submission.
For the last six years I have experienced the joy that comes from living among, working under, and being mentored by tremendously gifted leaders of color. As I have done this, I have been able to build authentic relationships based on trust and mutual respect. I have also been able to grow by listening and learning from those who are doing kingdom work in the community. I will always seek out ways to overturn the power imbalance until we have true mutuality in missions and in the church. I believe this is vital to the work of the gospel. The prophet Isaiah said the work of the Messiah would include hills being brought low and valleys being raised. This is the movement of the gospel. Those with privilege are humbled through voluntary submission and service, while those that have been disadvantaged are raised through empowerment and leadership. This mutual movement creates equality which allows us to meet as equals and friends. When this equality is achieved, together we will experience the glory of the Lord.
“Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low, the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 40:4-5
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Being the Church in Boystown / Jul 2, 04:10 PM
Boystown is a neighborhood in Chicago with a large gay community. Every year Boystown hosts the Gay Pride Parade and thousands of people, gay and straight, “come out” to line the streets to take part. Streets are blocked off and people wear all kinds of rainbow colored outfits. Although I have been doing ministry in Chicago for many years, I have never been to the Gay Pride Parade. I have only heard stories from friends as to what goes on.
My conservative friends warned me that it is simply a celebration of raw sexuality. My liberal friends cautioned me to watch out for Christian protesters who hold up hateful posters condemning gays to Hell. I decided to check it out to see for myself. The reality was actually very different.
I did not find the parade to be a celebration of sexuality. I saw floats with gay professionals, gay police officers in uniform, gay military men and women who had served in different branches of the armed services, and gay-friendly politicians soliciting gay voters. I saw marching bands, social clubs, corporate businesses, dance troupes, jugglers, and many bright colored costumes. Of course, there were a few outrageous outfits, but the majority were tame and respectful. Overall, I saw fellow human beings with a diverse range of interests and skills who desired to be treated equally.
I also didn’t see Christians spewing hatred to the crowds. In fact, I didn’t see a single protestor, even though I heard a few were there. What I actually saw pleasantly surprised me. I saw a group of churches marching together in the parade letting the crowds know they would be welcomed at their churches. One church along the parade route had a table out front where they were handing out water to passersby who waited in the scorching heat. Another church opened their doors and allowed the crowds to use their bathrooms. This actually came in really handy for my friends and I who found ourselves in serious need of a bathroom. Overall, I saw the church being the church in tangible and loving ways to the gay community in Boystown.
I wonder if it is possible to keep from demonizing those we disagree with, especially when it comes to the issue of homosexuality. I wish we could have a healthy dialogue both within the church and with those outside the church. What if the church listened to how the gay community has been hurt by the church? And what if the gay community gave Christians a chance to show we are not all judgmental, mean-spirited people?
What if our stance on homosexuality was love? And we took each person on an individual basis and listened to their story, helped address their wounds, accepted them in our churches as they are (the same way Jesus accepted us). What if we shared Christ with them and let Christ convict them, encouraged and challenged them to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and walked with them on their journey even if they didn’t choose the path we might hope.
This is not a conservative or liberal response is it? I think the church needs to stop responding as conservatives or liberals on this issue anyway and start responding as Christians. Can we put people ahead of our politics or will our party loyalty rise above our Christian call to love?
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Are Your Devotions Stale? / Apr 17, 06:00 PM
As City Director I have walked alongside a lot of young adults as they seek to pursue deeper relationship with God. One thing that I hear so often is how hard it is to be consistent in doing devotions. Even those that do devotions rigidly struggle with really connecting with God when it can sometimes feel like they are just checking off another item on their to-do list.
I grew up within the evangelical church where devotions were presented as THE way to grow in your faith. But the emphasis was on whether or not you were doing devotions rather than whether or not you were cultivating a love relationship with God. Therefore, my devotions were often very stale. I was largely inconsistent throughout my high school and college years until I started attending a church where they had contemporary Christian worship that focused on a personal love relationship with God. All of a sudden, my devotions were not something I dreaded, but a source of intimacy, joy, and delight. I lived to worship God. I was passionate about being with God. My devotions were still inconsistent, but my devotion grew and grew.
It was at that time that I really understood the love of God and that God desired to be in close relationship with me. Up until then I viewed devotions as something God wanted me to do FOR Him rather than something I do WITH Him. I kinda viewed God as a doctor who was there to prescribe medicine (the Bible) for my sickness (sin). Medicine may not taste good (devotions may be boring) but it’s good for you. But that made devotions more clinical than relational and I ended up preferring to be sick than bored.
Something that revolutionized my devotions, and that I would suggest to struggling devotioners, is to treat your times with God like time you would spend with someone you are dating or married to. Doing devotions the same way everyday is like a married couple going to the same restaurant every time they go out. You have to spice things up in a relationship, you have to do the same with devotions.
So I am always doing different things in my devotion time. Sometimes I will sit and listen to music that makes me think of God. Sometimes I light candles and journal about where I’ve seen God working in my day or week. Sometimes I will worship on guitar or sing songs I’ve written that express my honest emotions. Sometimes I will just rest on the couch trusting in God’s love to refuel me and restore me. In the summer time I will take walks and invite God into my thoughts, fears, and future plans as well as intercede for people or issues in my community. It’s much more like a relationship now than an assignment. One basic assumption I now carry into my devotions is that God wants me to enjoy that time (weird right?!). I know I want my wife Jen to enjoy our dates and not dread them. I believe God also wants us to enjoy our times with Him.
I also like reading and I connect with God through reading. I will often read books along with my Bible reading. I have read classics like Thomas Aquinas’ Imitation of Christ, Martin Luther King’s Strenth to Love, Mother Teresa’s No Greater Love and Brother Lawrence’s Practicing the Presence of God. Others I know love connecting with God through podcasts, making art, dance, or physical fitness. These are all valid ways we can grow in our intimacy with God.
Other ways I have refreshed my devotions is exploring various Christian practices used by people throughout history to connect with the God of love. One summer I went through St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, a Jesuit tradition. For one season I focused on learning and practicing Centering Prayer (centeringprayer.com), a Christian form of meditation that is great for someone like me who gets easily overcommitted and stressed. I also enjoy going to Catholic churches and sitting in silence in awe of who God is or following the stations of the cross. I’ve done the Jesus Prayer from the Greek Orthodox tradition aa well as participated in Charismatic styles of worship and prayer.
In addition to doing stuff with God that I like, I am serious about knowing what God likes. We are in a committed relationship after all. In the past, I have studied Scripture in order to know aspects about God’s character. One time I went through the Bible highlighting all the passages that talk about God’s love, grace, salvation and mercy. Then I would go back and read those passages and meditate on God’s love until it sank in. One time I went through all the passages in the Bible that talk about the Holy Spirit, to better understand how God’s Spirit wants to be active in my life. Another time I went through all the passages about holiness, righteousness, and integrity. For the last 5-7 years, I have been getting to know God’s heart for justice. I am discovering how much God loves justice for the poor and oppressed and I want to share that desire with God.
There’s nothing wrong with structure in our relationship with God either. My wife and I structure a date night on Fridays every week to make sure we get quality time together. We also make time to see each other and talk to each other daily. Last fall I would read Scripture before I went to sleep at night and first thing in the morning. Structuring daily or weekly times to connect with God can be helpful in going deeper in our love relationship. Sometimes I’ll use a yearly devotional to provide more structure so I can be intentional about fanning the flame of love with God. I have used the Experiencing God yearly devotional, Eugene Peterson’s SOLO Remix, Henri Nouwen’s Daily Bread, All Saints (yearly devotional about saints and prophets who changed history), and Read Through the Bible in a year. I’ve also just focused on individual books and read a Proverb a day for a month, or read through the Psalms, or the Gospels. God enjoys revealing Himself through His Spirit when we read Scriptures so we should anticipate meeting with God in Scripture.
Lastly, in a dating or marriage relationship there is giving and receiving. Sometimes our devotions are stale because we are exerting so much effort to give to God without receiving what God wants to give. Jesus said the Father loves to give good gifts to His children. My devotions are times of receiving from God love, strength, power, holiness, compassion, grace, and forgiveness. Often my prayer time is me just opening my heart to receive what I need from my God. When our relationship with God is one-sided it is easy to grow bitter and resentful (think Martha). When we see devotions as opportunities to receive from God then they become something we actually look forward to.
Are your devotions stale? What helps you connect with the God of love?
“I will betroth you to me forever, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love and mercy.” Hosea 2:19
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Where Thieves Break In / Apr 12, 09:31 PM
A couple weeks ago we got a call from our upstairs neighbors that our house had been broken into. When we got the call we were out of town for our annual staff gathering and would not be back in Chicago until two days later. Needless to say, those two days were difficult as we wondered what the condition of our house would be and what of our possessions would be missing.
When we finally arrived home we found that our computer was gone along with some other electronics and jewelry. Our place was not trashed which we were grateful for and some of our most treasured things had been overlooked or ignored (luckily books don’t do too well at the pawn shop!). The day we returned was our 10 year wedding anniversary which we ended up spending on our couch reflecting on what is really valuable in our lives. We thought of the special memories we have had as a couple, the times we spent with people we love, relationships with our friends and neighbors, mentors that invested in our lives, the struggles and joys of following God’s call in the city, etc. These are the things that are important to us and none of these things can be taken from us.
Jesus said, “Do not store up treasures on earth where moths and rust can destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up treasure in heaven.” This is a command many of us do not obey in our consumerist culture (heck, many people have so much stuff they need storage units to hold it all). I think Jesus teaches this because our lives can become so consumed with our stuff and how to secure our stuff, that we don’t notice our neighbors, especially those that may be struggling. When we got over the initial shock of hearing our home had been invaded, we began to think about the structural causes that lead people in our neighborhood to such measures. Addiction and poverty create desperation and until we deal with those issues we will have theft.
When we store up treasure in heaven, we allow for more equitable redistribution of the resources God has provided on earth. We don’t hoard, we don’t take too much which allows others to have what they need. When we store up treasures for ourselves, rather than sharing resources with others, we create inequality between ourselves and our neighbors. We also risk missing out on the kingdom moments that money can’t buy and thieves can’t steal—the stuff eternity is made of.
In some ways, I am kinda thankful for the thieves for helping us simplify our lives. Since the break in, I have challenged myself to give away at least 50 items that I don’t need or others could use more than I do. It’s one way I can try to better follow Christ’s command and remember where our true treasure lies.
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Eat This Blog / Apr 1, 03:40 PM
One night Martin Luther King had a revelation when he opened his refrigerator. As he stared at all the variety of foods, all from different parts of the country and world, he realized how interdependent we are as people. We rely on rice from Asia, coffee from South America, corn from Iowa, oranges from Florida, etc. This food revelation led to a broadening of King’s thinking on the inter-connectedness of humanity. “We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly…I can never be what I ought to be unless you are what you ought to be (MLK)”
I had a food revelation of sorts myself when searching my cabinets for snacks. It wasn’t as profound as Dr. King’s but it was important nonetheless. As I looked at the boxes of Pop Tarts, crackers, and chewy granola bars that I had just attacked, something dawned on me. I realized how much of what I eat is not food. I eat A LOT of genetically modified foods and processed foods designed by corporations to alter my eating habits. Perhaps even more alarming, I don’t know where much (most) of my food comes from.
Living in our country, it is possible to grow up (in my case over 30 years) and not know where our basic resources come from. For instance, how many of us know the factories where the clothes we are wearing now are manufactured (not to mention the people’s names who made them), or where the gas we pump into our cars has been imported from, or where the food we consume everyday comes from? Even more, who knows who profits from our consumption of these goods and who suffers?
Thankfully, these are questions people are starting to ask. In the last couple years, there has been an insurgence of books and documentaries encouraging us to be more aware of what we are eating, where it comes from and how it is impacting our world. It seemed to start with “Super Size Me” and “Fast Food Nation” exposing the unhealthy consequences of our fast food lifestyle. Then came the books “In Defense of Food,” “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” and “Food Rules” which educate us on what is actually food and what is most healthy for us and our planet. Recently documentaries like Food Inc. and King Corn have warned us about how corporations, with government help, have been capitalizing off cheap corn and inhumane treatment of cattle and chickens to flood the markets with genetically modified goods with little health benefits.
What makes this a justice issue for me is that it is hitting the poor, especially low-income urban neighborhoods, the hardest. Many of our Mission Year neighborhoods are considered “Food Deserts.” This means that most of the residents in our communities do not have access to healthy food options. While many wealthier areas are getting on the Whole Foods organic band-wagon, our communities are not even aware of what that means. As a result, our neighbors are hit harder by obesity (there is no shortage of fast food joints and corner stores) and other health related problems such as diabetes. Also, because our government has subsidized corn for US farmers, our country has been able to flood Mexican markets with cheap corn and put millions of peasant farmers out of jobs which has led to a surge in immigration. Dr. King was right, what we do dramatically affects others. Put another way, decisions made in board rooms in corporate America have wide-reaching consequences on the poor all over the world.
Our Mission Year team members are asked to wrestle with these kinds of injustice. We ask team members to shop at Aldi, a discount grocery chain that is sometimes the only grocery option in low-income areas. Team members are given a little over $2 a day per person for groceries to understand how economics limits our food choices. In Chicago, we have several team members volunteering at places that are addressing the food injustices and shortages in our neighborhoods. James works at Chicago Christian Industrial League (now Safe Haven), a homeless shelter, that also runs a food pantry once a week for over 200 families in the neighborhood. Our Mission Year team in East Garfield works at Breakthrough Urban Ministries which recently launched a food market where folks from the neighborhood can come in to shop and get needed groceries for free. Our Mission Year team at Roseland Christian Ministries helps provide (and partake in) daily meals with the homeless and economically struggling. The Greater Chicago Food Depository partners with many organizations and churches to provide food that is then distributed in low-income communities.
These are encouraging responses from people of faith and conscience to the food injustices we see on a regular basis. I am also trying to take personal steps in my own life to become more conscious of what I eat and how my lifestyle affects others. Since January I have stopped eating fast food and drinking soft drinks (my exceptions are Subway and Coke Zero). I am making a conscious effort to eat more real food like veggies, fruits, and whole grains. I am trying to cut out all snack foods with high fructose corn syrup and indulging in desserts less frequently. My wife and I are eating at home more which saves us money and is better for us. Physically, I feel so much better and have lost a lot of weight in the process (over 20 pounds!). I am starting to see that what is best for the welfare of all, is also what’s best for me.
