I have not come across Mike Royal before. He leads an organisation called lighthouse, working with young people excluded from schools in Birmingham, UK.
He spoke on the story of the good Samaritan (Lk 10:25ff) developing a theology from the story of how we engage and love our communities. It was good stuff, but he didn’t have an easy job. He follows 3 top-notch sessions from Steve Chalke, NT Wright, and Tony Campolo and he had the afternoon graveyard slot … so it was never going to be an easy job for him. He said some good things, but nothing earth-shattering (in my opinion).
One of the key things that he said I think was about sticking it out for the long haul. We can’t just do a hit and run, or do it as long as it feels good to us, or there is funding. But the people who are poor, down-trodden, or oppressed need to know that we be consistent, and not bail out when the going gets tough.
I think that is so true … what ever we do as faith communities to engage with our society and communities, we mustn’t see this as the latest fad, but something we in for the long haul.
Notes in the “read more” section…
Tags: Incarnate, Incarnate Conference 2007, Mike Royal
Mike Royal - Session 4
Our lives should be about times of action and reflection. Times of giving out, and times of breathing in from God.
Speak about being neighbourly.
Lk 10:25ff - the Parable of the good Samaritan
Live a quality of life - eternal life. Love God, and love your neighbour. Not just to hold in tension, but to inform each other.
ie. our love for Jesus should inform our love for our neighbour and our love for our neighbour should inform our love for Jesus.
Not just about getting to heaven, but that we have a job to do now…
No sacred / secular divide - loving God is often seen as spiritual; loving neighbour is secular. This dualism is not helpful. Everything we do is holy.
The man is travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. A dangerous road to travel. A gang attacked the man as he walking down the road.
We need to deal with the causes not just the symptoms. The system at heart is often wrong, and we need to deal with systems, not just the causes of the wrong system.
The Levite and the Priest were scared … and so passed by. Scared that they might be tainted. Scared that the same thing mind happen to them.
Walk the journey with people - no matter how difficult it is. Even when the going gets hard, stick with it.
We need to stick it out … for the long haul. Whether there is funding or not.
He takes him to an inn. He recognised that he didn’t have all the answers or resources. We need partnership sometimes with other Christian agencies and sometimes with non-Christian agencies.
What must I do to inherit life? Go and do as the Samaritan did…
In this story is a roadmap of how to do this…
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