Marginal Christianity

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/6/sandtown-ccda.html?utm_campaign=ajam&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow Like other evangelical 'relocators,' Baltimore's Matthew Loftus wanted to have a personal stake in fighting poverty July 6, 2014 5:00AM ET by Lawrence Lanahan <img src="/content/ajam/articles/2014/7/6/sandtown-ccda/_jcr_content/mainpar/adaptiveimage/src.adapt.480.low.jpg" alt="Mathew Loftus, left, walks home with his wife, Maggie, and daughter, Naomi" class=""> Mathew Loftus, left, walks home with his wife, Maggie, and daughter, Naomi, after attending Sunday service at New Song Community Church in the impoverished Sandtown neighborhood in Baltimore. Brooks Kraft for Al Jazeera America BALTIMORE, Md. — At the corner of Laurens St. and Fulton Av...

http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2013/03/downward-mobility.html Posted on 3.19.2013 I recently finished a great little book by Henri Nouwen, The Selfless Way of Christ . The book contrasts the cultural push for "upward mobility" with Christ's example of "downward mobility." Nouwen's description of the lure of upward mobility and how we work to support its mythology in our culture: We are taught to conceive of development in terms of an ongoing increase in human potential. Growing up means becoming healthier, stronger, more intelligent, more mature, and more productive. Consequently we hide those who do not affirm this myth of progress, such as the elderly, prisoners, and those with mental disabilities. In our society, we consider the upward move the obvious one while treating the poor cases who cannot keep up as sad misfits, people who have deviated from the normal line of progress. In contrast to this upward progress, Nouwen ...