BEH XI

HOW to HAMMER NAILS
Presence, Interdependence, and Identification

“[T]o ‘do justice’ means to go to places where the fabric of shalom has broken down, where the weaker members of societies are falling through the fabric, and to repair it. This happens when we concentrate on and meet the needs of the poor. How can we do that? The only way to reweave and strengthen the fabric is by weaving yourself into it. Reweaving shalom means to sacrificially thread, lace, and press your time, goods, power, and resource into the lives and needs of others.”
Tim Keller

It would seem odd to teach someone how to use a hammer to drive nails when they were already proficient at using a hammer to pull them. It should seem equally odd to teach someone how to serve the poor when they have been a disciple for some long while. Jesus was famously asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with a story of ‘good Jews’ who encountered a destitute and injured man and passed by on the other side, and a Samaritan who responded with compassionate action. How might Jesus respond to a world in which ‘good Christians’ don’t even walk the same road as the destitute and injured, and so never have to confront the choices they have made to ‘pass by on the other side?’