So many Christians, through their fears, miss out on the blessing of letting God provide their needs. Jesus was materially poor on earth and taught his disciples to live day by day. Likewise, our security should not be in a bank account or insurance plan, but in the heavenly Father. "To become preoccupied with material things in such a way that they engross our attention, absorb our energy and burden us with anxiety, is incompatible with both Christian faith and common sense," writes John R. W. Stott in Christian Counter Culture. "It is distrustful of our heavenly Father, and . . . an utterly unsuitable and unworthy ambition for Christians. So just as Jesus had already called us . . . to a greater righteousness, a broader love and deeper piety, he now calls us to a higher ambition." To be Jesus' followers, we must continually guard our hearts and with God's help surrender to his will rather than choose our own, as did the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-30).
Many people question us with, "Why don't you drive new cars, eat better food, live a more materially acceptable life? God wants you to abound in wealth. Why, you're His children, aren't you?" Whereas other people say, "You people are too spendthrift. You should never spend any money on luxuries. God wants you to be humble. Why, you're God's servants, aren't you?" To some we are rich and to others we appear poor. Where we are may depend on your perspective. To middle-class America our clothes are "acceptable," our cars worn and abused, our furniture lacking, but to most of the third world we are well-to-do. Perhaps it's more a matter of priorities.
Jesus never prohibited the possession of property. He ate and drank with his disciples but he never accumulated goods. Earthly goods are given to us in stewardship, to be used for God's glory. Since we moved into Chicago's inner city, Uptown has become our home and our neighbors have become our friends. As the Lord blesses us we are able to reach out to our neighborhood.
We can see only one good reason why God makes a person prosperous: so that individual's needs can be met and they can in turn give away the overflow. It is like milk and cream. Cream is the richest part of the milk. It is the top cut. When the Lord meets your needs and then gives more, that cream is not to be skimmed of the top for yourself. We should willingly think, "Oh, I have more than I need," and immediately distribute the overflow to others.
"But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17-18, RSV). Anything which hinders us from loving God above all things and keeps us from obedience is wrong.
The role of leadership in a community is not without difficulty. By nature, it is our inclination to desire such a role for all the wrong reasons; for honor, for prestige, for the adoration of others, or simply to prove that we are someone. In recognition of these natural tendencies that occur in all of us, we don't operate on a one-leader basis. At this point we have a council of eight pastors in leadership. Directly under the council are deacons, deaconesses, and group leaders. While the primary oversight of the ministry is done by the council of elders, much of the responsibilities for the daily running of the community and our businesses are taken by various other individuals. Such plurality in leadership is based on a mutual submission which can hear God's voice through the youngest community member as well as those who hold authority positions. Every healthy community has good leadership with mutual submission simply as a by-product of Christian commitment one to another.
From day one, we've not been a separatist group, feeling it was important for JPUSA to be part of a larger Christian work. After years of praying that God would lead us to the right church group, we became acquainted with the Evangelical Covenant Church, which has congregations worldwide and historic ties to its larger "cousin," the Evangelical Free Church. In 1989, JPUSA joined the Covenant.
Though we are an exceptional congregation for the Evangelical Covenant Church, in that our congregation members are also part of a community, the Covenant Church has welcomed us with open arms and provided us with guidance and older wisdom we have greatly appreciated. Leaders in the Covenant Church headquarters have provided welcome counsel as we find our own community maturing in Christ, and God has used our new brothers and sisters to bring many of our visions into reality.
On the individual level the model of authority is Jesus, the Jesus who washed the feet of Peter, his disciple, the Shepherd who gave his life in exchange for that of the flock. Jesus was a servant. He told us that the greatest among us would be the servant of all.
Though many of us feel that community living is a lifeline to our Christian growth, JPUSA as a whole is set up to be a service to others. A community cannot exist long if it does not learn to live for something greater than itself.
Our Function as a Spiritual Shelter. We have always been a place of refuge for: young, wounded individuals in search of a living, healing relationship with Christ and other Christians; believers looking for a fuller expression of discipleship; drug users and alcoholics trying to break away from old habits and haunts; men and women who met Christ in jail, have been released, and need a place to help them stay right with God; the unwed mother who needs friends and role models; those struggling with homosexuality who need fellow believers' support; young teens whose parents need assistance in providing a nurturing yet structured home atmosphere. . . .
See our Ministries page for information on specific ministries.
Donations certainly play an important role, yet these ministries are a reality mainly because of brothers and sisters in the community who have captured the vision. Through their determined hard work, they have established the JPUSA-owned businesses that make all these outreaches and the existence of the community itself possible.
In each business, the job provides opportunities for evangelism and learning the principles of discipleship in an everyday work setting. Though we began our businesses as a means to support our outreach, they have become a tool to shape our understanding of what "serving God" requires.
All finances brought in through these businesses are pooled, and all expenses, from house payments and utility bills to shoes and birthday parties, are meet from this fund. All cars are shared in common. When we are blessed with much we all abound; when there is little we abase. The secret is to be thankful in all situations. The Lord keeps us on our knees.
This is one of the most frequently asked questions concerning community. We believe strongly in the family unit. The Bible is not vague in its outlines of family structure. Be subject one to another, husbands love your wives, wives submit to your husbands, children obey your parents, parents provoke not your children to wrath. Starting from the head down, if one of these links is broken, the family is out of order. The family unit is one revelation of the love that Jesus has for his church.
In the community there is an environment of commitment and support to the family. For example, there is a lot of flexibility in the workload to accommodate special situations. If a couple needs the afternoon alone, they can have it. Or during times of stress there are loving friends and a common pool of gentle wisdom which moderate and restore the strained relationships. This is a luxury often missed by the single family. Far from dividing a family unit, community, for us, creates a much wider expression of love and concern for the children as well as a natural buffer for the strains of normal family life. Burdens are felt by all, not just the single bread-winner.
The strength of our families allows us to do much of the work the Lord gives us. One of the biggest rehabilitation works is with children. Many have come in with emotional problems and scars; some in emergency short-term situations, others more permanently. It takes a lot of time and sacrifice to implant a wounded child with security and acceptance. Many married couples voluntarily take these children under their wings, making them a part of their family. With love and attention these children are blossoming.
Another frequently asked question is, "How do you keep from getting lost in a large community?" As the years have gone by, we have found that the single people naturally gravitate toward the individual families. Thus came into being the "extended" family, now a matter of course for anyone joining. Eating together, sharing problems and victories, family worship, and birthday parties, all confirm that we belong. We have found the secret of community is in maintaining above-board, open and honest relationships with one another, forgiving each other as Christ has forgiven us.
More than just a place of work, an institution to serve God, this has become our home. The married couples have all helped varnish, plaster, paint, and decorate each other's rooms. It's like an old-fashioned house-raising. On our days off, we play games, have popcorn and ice cream parties together. Sometimes we all go to the lake and have a huge picnic, playing soccer or baseball and just relaxing in the sun.
An interesting thought is the traditional idea of the "many mansions" in the Father's house given way to "many rooms" in the Revised Standard Version of the New Testament. Wouldn't it be fitting if the redeemed are to live in an eternal community relationship with one another in the Kingdom?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer states in The Cost of Discipleship, "The way which the Son of God trod on the earth and the way which we, too, must tread as citizens of two worlds on the razor edge between this world and the kingdom of heaven could hardly be a broad way. The narrow way is bound to be right . . . the disciples of Jesus must not fondly imagine that they can simply run away from the world and huddle together in a little band."
The truth of the above quotation is a constant reminder to us. The balance is not becoming a sheltered cloister of Christians blessing each other, or going the other way and getting into such a social gospel that there is no spiritual feeding or security within ourselves.
How can a workman work if he neglects the feeding and resting of his body? Yet if he only eats and rests, then he becomes fat and is like a stagnant pool. We don't feel that God is pleased with either of these. The body must be strengthened and cared for inwardly with spiritual food and attention so that it can be strong. But the strength is only for the benefit of reaching out and serving others.
God wants us to one with Christ and, as we see it, we cannot fulfill that more completely than by living together and learning to share with one another in the Lord's love. This is Jesus' prayer for us, that we may be one even as He and His Father are one. Yet as Jean Vanier notes, "A community is never there for itself. It belongs to something greater--to the poor, to humanity, to the church, to the universe."
If you have a question about Jesus People USA, its history, ministries, or community life which is not answered here, please send it to us and we'll consider adding it to the next FAQ update.
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