What is JY? Is it a caring community or a mission project? (BJRE021)
What is JY? Is it a caring community or a mission project?
(By Dr. Edward Edezhath - Published in Kairos Magazine)
We faced a crisis in the late 1970s. The core team of our fast-growing prayer group was constantly fighting. There were seven of us on the team, and we were divided on many issues. Some of us were making big plans to build the community, but the others thought they were too fanciful. The other members were always doing things outside, and the rest of us thought they had no time for the community. All this resulted in constant allegations and arguments.
Finally, we took time to sit with the national chairman. This priest listened to us attentively, and for a while, we prayed together. Then, he gave us some insights into what was happening in our team. Maybe there is a fight between two ‘visions.’ Some of us on the team were deeply convinced of the need to build a sharing and caring fellowship and were committed to that. Still, the other half of the team had a deep evangelistic drive and was thinking overtime to go out and do missionary outreach. These divergent Christian visions drove us parallelly; hence, we were fighting.
Divergent styles in the movement
What I mentioned was an early experience of our local youth group. Later, we grew into a wider and more complex network, but this dichotomy and resultant leadership conflict crops up repeatedly. In almost every group and team, some people express a deep need for beautiful and intimate relationships, but others are eager to organize outreaches and other programs. Invariably, if you don’t look out, one style will win. One way of putting it is that this is a conflict between ‘being’ and ‘doing’.
I remember a session of free interaction in a Middle Eastern country. One senior woman leader got up and commented about missing the old intimate fellowship. It was a great joy to come together earlier, and everyone knew all others’ needs and concerns. Now, all that’s gone, and we are obsessed with activities. People and their needs are completely forgotten. No wonder people drop out and are not eager to return to the group. The agreeing nodes and the eager responses indicated that a large number in the group fully agreed with her and wholeheartedly wished for those times to return.
Interestingly, during such an interaction in another city, the members expressed their utter disappointment about how the gatherings have become ‘so fruitless.’ People come, pray, and go every week, nothing more. So many needs are around, and our hearts are burning to express our Christian charity. But our groups have become so ‘inward-looking.’ There used to be many small and big initiatives here, but now all have become too busy and have forgotten their mission. There was a long discussion about this, and the group decided that as many people as possible should be helped to do personal and group missions.
The above two scenarios discussed two seemingly opposite issues of Jesus Youth groups. Conflicts of charisma and interest arise in various ways in our groups. However, one important conflict is between those eager to build a community and others eager to go out on a mission. In one way, there is also a conflict in leadership styles between relationship-oriented and task-focused leadership approaches.
Need to go hand in hand?
Over three decades ago, Fr Rufus from Mumbai gave us a memorable workshop on ‘Lessons from Nehemiah’. This great Old Testament leader, who lived more than four centuries before Jesus, is an amazing example of personal mission and community leadership. He began rebuilding Jerusalem, but there were conflicts both inside and outside. Chapter 4 of the book shows how he directed his people to work. Building and fighting were going hand in hand. For those working on this big project, “everyone with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other handheld a weapon” (Neh 4:17).
The picture of the work in Nehemiah is like a parable for us. It shows how two important aspects must combine in the work of Christian mission. Jesus, while talking of discipleship (Lk 14:25ff), mentions the need for ‘building’ and ‘fighting.’ In Jesus Youth's daily work, building community and going out and winning over the world using the ‘sword’ of the word must go hand in hand.
Maybe it is a problem that some people only think of deep relationships and community, while others think only of going out to do big things in the world outside. Though charisms and personal skills vary, everyone in the fellowship must be concerned about building a loving and joyful community and, simultaneously, about the need to bear the fruits of building the Kingdom around.
So many things in life need delicate balancing, or, as the Greeks would say, finding the Golden Mean. This fine balance between community and mission is also important in the growth of any Jesus Youth group. Every leader in the group must be eager to build relationships with everyone, build the group into one body in Christ, and encourage and assist each person to bear the rich fruits of the mission in their personal lives and together as a group.
Many years ago, I talked about a serious conflict and its analysis in our prayer group. That taught us an unforgettable lesson, and it had its good effects. We took practical measures to build our prayer group into a loving community and to open avenues for the members of our group to engage in the mission. The result of all these was abounding joy in everyone and vibrant growth of our fellowship.
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