‘My greatest challenge is that many people [at middle class churches] haven’t been exposed to anything but middle class life. When a poor person comes in, it almost feels like we’re invading their space. We’re first analyzed through a series of devaluing questions that focus on our ‘disadvantages’ of being poor…. They like to save you from yourself more than acknowledge and embrace you.’1
My dear friend and neighbor recently shared this with me while we were talking about her experiences as a low-income person who attends a church in our city that is almost entirely full of middle-income (or higher) people. Many of my other neighbors have shared similar sentiments: when they attend predominantly middle-class churches, they feel like outsiders and they feel devalued, as if they have nothing to offer.
These days, as the income gap between the highest, middle and lowest classes widens, many social scientists believe that class divisions in American society are at least as powerful as racial divisions. As jobs, schools, and neighborhoods become more segregated based on class, many people spend the majority of their time interacting with people who are members of their own economic class and engage in almost no meaningful cross-class interactions. And if all else fails, relatively wealthy community members can rely on any number of ‘avoid-the-ghetto’ GPS systems that help them to avoid lower-income neighborhoods as they go about their daily travel.2
It seems as though many Christians have succumbed to society’s pattern of class segregation, so much so that many well-meaning people lack the cross-cultural tools to love well across class differences. More often than not, the low-income people who attend predominantly middle class churches are marginalized as ‘recipients’ rather than invited in as ‘irreplaceable participants.’ They’re directed to apply for benevolence fund money, but they’re rarely seen as individuals (with insight, perspective and skills) that can contribute to the central life of the church.
Many Christians have also forgotten about how much our leader Jesus went out of his way to value and embrace people from lower economic classes. Jesus seemed particularly passionate about connecting across class lines (Mark 10:17-22, Luke 4:18), addressing the physical needs of the poor (Mark 8:1-8; Matthew 8:1-4) and even commanding his followers to ensure that poor people are central to the life of the community:
‘Then Jesus said to his host, ‘When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind…’’(Luke 14:12-13).
[bctt tweet=”Jesus addressed people’s physical needs, but he also affirmed their dignity. -Christena Cleveland” quote=”To follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we must remind ourselves that Jesus addressed people’s physical needs, but he also affirmed people’s dignity.”]
- Scott, J. & Leonhardt, D. (15 May 2005).
“Shadowy lines that still divide.”
The New York Times. - Badger, E. (4 September 2013).
“Enough already with the avoid-the-ghetto apps.”
The Atlantic
