Good Works

Hospitality and Faithful Discipleship

Keith Wasserman, Christine D. Pohl

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781467462501
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

For over forty years, the community of Good Works, Inc., has shared life with its neighbors in rural southeastern Ohio, a region with high poverty rates and remarkably resilient people. Offering friendship to those without a support network and shelter, care, and community to people without homes, those involved with Good Works have made it their mission to embody the gospel in innovative ways. What insights can be gleaned from Good Works, and how might these lessons be applied to our own communities and churches?

Keith Wasserman, the founder and executive director of Good Works, and Christine Pohl, a scholar of hospitality who has written extensively on church and mission, explore challenging insights from the story of Good Works and how it has grown over the years into a unique expression of discipleship in the body of Christ. At the heart of this community's story are connection and mutuality. Good Works functions not as a charity or social service agency but as a place where everyone has the opportunity to both serve and be served. And although worship is a central paradigm for life at Good Works, Keith and the leaders of the community regularly partner with non-Christians from all walks of life who desire to help.

Christians who hunger for lifegiving involvement in their local communities—wherever they might be, and in whichever circumstances—will find inspiration and guidance in this quiet but powerful Appalachian ministry. Short prayers and questions for reflection at the end of each chapter make this a book to be studied and shared among those who know that love of God and neighbor is the starting point, but who aren't sure where to go from there.

ONE

Worship as Our Paradigm for Mission

Every day, we (staff and volunteers) bring our instruments and assemble for worship. Sometimes we bring well-tuned guitars and eager voices, but more often we are holding rakes, hammers, automotive repair equipment, counseling skills, a scrub brush, or a spatula. Whatever instruments we bring and whatever part we play, what we are doing is offered out of gratitude and adoration to God. Worship is our primary paradigm for mission.

But then, the Good Works community often takes this even further. We understand that part of our ministry is providing churches with opportunities to worship. Sometimes we describe our Work Retreat groups—the twenty-five to thirty-five short-term mission teams that come every year—as “worship teams.” And the four hundred participants who build ramps, fix porches, or prepare meals are called “worshipers.” They are sent out all over the county to the homes of widows or people dealing with the challenges of aging or disability. The instruments they bring and the work they do are as important as the songs we sing together. It’s all worship if it is offered in a way that honors God and the people we hope to help.

Different Instruments but the Same Song

Think about how often you’ve heard or asked, “how was worship this week?” or said something like, “worship is really good at that church.” What’s the first image that comes to mind when you picture a worship team? We know what worship teams do, where they stand, and when they serve. But sometimes our definitions aren’t big enough. Is it possible that the term worship has been taken hostage and locked up in a building where people gather for an hour or two on Sundays?

Worship usually involves prayer, singing, and Scripture reading. A worship service often includes some form of preaching or teaching, and perhaps liturgical elements like communion. A worship team helps lead in singing and praise. But does that exhaust the meaning of worship? Surely not for Paul, who writes in Romans 12:1: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true worship.” What if worship involves much more than a song? What if it means a continual offering of ourselves to God and to others in acts of love, sacrifice, and thankfulness?

If we view the mission, ministry, and work God has trusted us with through the lens of worship, could we learn to see all that we do as an offering—a response—to God’s mercy and goodness? Could it transform how we understand “going to church” or the way we divide Sunday morning worship from the rest of the week? How might it affect not just what we do but also how we do it?

Much has been written about worship, and this is just a small slice—but the connections among worship, care, justice, and mission are often overlooked. And yet, God has been concerned about these connections for thousands of years. In Amos 5:21, God tells Israel, “I hate, I despise your religious festivals”—basically, I despise your worship. Can you imagine God saying that to us? Our beautiful worship—with our dynamic music programs and moving sermons? Could God really dislike our worship? How is that possible? In the times of Amos, Isaiah, and Micah, it was because of what else the people of God were and were not bringing to worship. It’s not that there’s necessarily something wrong with our prayers and praise songs, but those offerings are incomplete and become dangerous when we think they are sufficient for a faithful life (Matt. 23:23). A faithful life is meant to include much more—justice, holiness, and mercy. What could be wrong with our worship?

What could be wrong with our worship?

Jesus’s words intensify these connections for his followers who want to be worshipers and who want to show their love for him. He identified himself with folks who needed care when he said, “ ‘for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me,’ … ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’ ” (Matt. 25:35–36, 40). We often think it would be a privilege to serve Jesus as an act of worship, but Jesus himself says that in caring for the most vulnerable ones, we are serving him directly.

The implications for our worship and our lives are wonderful. Worship can take place in a house, church building, or at the home of a widow whose front porch is being rebuilt. Worship is not about location but about what is in our hearts. Because of this comprehensive understanding of worship in the Good Works community, we do not view ourselves as a social service agency, but instead, as a ministry whose primary mission is to love God and love people. Staff members seek to see everything we do as acts of worship. Everything. Acts of service and care are responses of gratitude for the love we have experienced. Part of our mission is providing the church with opportunities not just to “help” but also to worship.

In John 4:23, Jesus addresses expectations for the location of worship when he explains to the Samaritan woman that the Father seeks worshipers who worship in Spirit and truth. Perhaps if we understood that statement better, it would reshape how we view both worship and mission. God’s longing for worshipers precedes even the call to go into all the world. We are called to seek the God who seeks us. What a beautiful mystery! Worship then is about truthfulness and integrity and the communion of our spirit with the Spirit of God, and it is God who equips worshipers to serve, persevere, and witness.

If worship is what we do as an offering of gratitude for the grace and goodness of God in our lives, it can take many different forms. One element of worship is simply adoration and praise of God. Another is love and service toward others. In an important way, we can stop trying to parse what is worship and what is not if we live our entire lives as living sacrifices, and if we view all of our work as somehow done unto the Lord. Done, offered, given as acts of love and worship.

Service as worship—and worship as service—both involve intentionality. Making a bed, doing the dishes, cleaning the bathroom are all expressions of worship when done with the attitude “this is for you, Lord.” This broadened definition pushes us beyond our usual notions of worship to an entire way of viewing the world, ourselves, and ministry. A more comprehensive understanding of worship helps us pay attention to what stands behind and around everything we do. It’s worship when we pray, “Lord, I want to be pleasing to you in the way I am doing this, not just in what I am doing.”

Worship Transforms Our Service

We were created to worship. Either we will worship the Lord, or we will worship something or someone else, and seeing ourselves first as worshipers changes everything we usually think of as service. We recognize that, in God’s gracious economy, our acts of love and care are good for us as well as for those we are helping. We cultivate teachable hearts and live as learners instead of seeing ourselves as experts at helping. And we realize that our acts of service should be carried out in ways that help us look like the One we are worshiping so that our efforts are marked by holiness, integrity, respect, yieldedness, and sacrifice.

Our task as worshipers is not to “fix” people but to love them. Whether we see change, whether we think we are having an impact, and whether someone is grateful or ungrateful for our help is less important—if it is all finally an offering of worship given as gratitude for the amazing grace and goodness of God. Of course, we want to see reconciled relationships; of course, we work hard to help people get jobs, find homes, experience hope, and make changes in their lives. Of course, we want to experience change in our lives, but when we see our efforts as responses of gratitude to God, it takes the pressure off and gives us freedom to take risks and move deeper into trust.

Worship involves sacrifice. Not animals or burnt offerings. Often it is the sacrifice of small things. Perhaps it is a sacrifice of time to be available to people, a sacrifice of individual preferences when I need to put my plans aside, a sacrifice of personal freedom so as not to cause harm to others or the ministry, a sacrifice of income to be fully present to neighbors in need. But that is also part of our call to offer ourselves as living sacrifices—“holy and pleasing to God” (Rom. 12:1).

Seeing all of our life as worship especially shapes how we evaluate our daily work. It means that our efforts are not primarily measured by success or by rules of efficiency. We don’t reject success or avoid efficiency, but we subscribe to a different economy that places value on spending time with people, listening to them, giving ourselves to those who may not be able to repay us or provide a “good return on investment.” This freedom to offer time generously in order to foster relationships distinguishes Good Works from many more traditional service agencies. We do not want people who come for assistance to feel as if they are interruptions or projects; it’s important to stop what we are doing to engage someone who is visiting or needs our attention. Regardless of whether there is measurable success as a result of the time we’ve given, our effort has been an act of worship to the Lord.

For me (Keith), it was a journey toward seeing everything as worship. After becoming a follower of Jesus, I slowly realized that he wanted my entire life—what I did with my money, what kind of car I was going to drive, where I went on vacation, what I did in my “free time.” I learned about submission to Christ and obedience. Out of this came the realization that God wanted me to submit my entire life, even who my friends were going to be. Later, I began to understand all of this as an act of worship.

First Things First: Loving God and Neighbor

Although worship takes different forms, loving God and loving our neighbors are always at the heart of it. The recipients of our love—God and neighbors—are connected, but loving God is our starting place, and the ordering of our loves should not be reversed. If we think that our task is to love our neighbors with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love God as ourselves, we’ve wandered into bad theology—and troublesome psychological terrain.

Intentional times of emphasizing our vertical relationship with God are crucial; they are far more than nice extras in our busy days of ministry. They are central to keeping things in perspective, and they help to replenish our compassion and commitment. And they are important in their own right; because of God’s immense love expressed to us through Jesus, we are awakened to respond back toward God with affection, trust, thanksgiving, and obedience.

Our worship also transforms how we see ourselves and others. It is the way we enter into the deeper places of our relationship with God where we can see ourselves as God sees us: valuable, broken, and made in his image—with dignity and purpose. In the same way, viewing the world through this bigger lens of worship of God helps us see our neighbors as God sees them, valuable, broken, and made in God’s image—with dignity and purpose.¹ Being a worshiper provides a foundation for mutuality in relationships across differences in background and experience.

There is always a risk that understanding our care as worship or as ministry to Jesus displaces concern for the actual person in front of us. So we might take on an attitude that suggests, “I don’t really care about you, this is for God.” However, the person we are serving should never become less important because our motivation and accountability have been transformed and strengthened. Similarly, if we see our worship exclusively as care for others, we can overlook the importance of our first commitment to God.

When we serve people who are of special concern to God—widows, strangers, and fatherless children—we are offering praise and adoration through our work.² It is “workship.” Each day includes acts that require sacrifice. These acts (e.g., driving people places, cleaning, writing reports, gardening, etc.) often come with joy, but not always. Some are done simply because of our commitment to do what is right or needed. And doing the right thing is also an act of worship. To be able to say, “This is for you, Lord,” when the work is hard and the persons we assist are less than fully appreciative, means we are able to continue to love in circumstances that are sometimes very difficult. This commitment sustains both the community and the individuals in it.

When we love people, we want what is best for them. We do not presume that we always know what that is, but we do know that love is far more than warm or friendly feelings. Love helps people grow in maturity, commitment, accountability, and a willingness to make sacrifices. Loving neighbors sometimes means providing a place for them to live, advocating for them, sharing a meal together, or sharing the good news of salvation in Christ. In other cases, it means giving persons a place of service so they too can love their neighbors.

Knowing Our Belovedness

Years ago, a mentor said to me (Keith): “Repeat after me: God loves me.” Somehow, it sounded different and more personal than the familiar assurance that “God loves you.” It spoke to me differently. To be loved by God, beloved of God, is an amazing gift that changes everything. My daily prayer is “Lord, help me to see people as you see them.” Apart from God’s telling me, I don’t know who I am or who they are. It’s God’s affirmation that we are his beloved. That’s the launching pad for mission.

Am I loved? Do I have a purpose? People who don’t believe they are loved or lovable are continually searching to fill their insecurity. Some turn to drugs, food, sex, or possessions to relieve or distract them, or try to find love in relationships that are destructive. People who know they are loved are more secure and less threatened by others who are concerned for them. They welcome accountability, are willing to take responsibility, are less likely to project their problems onto others, and can receive constructive criticism.

Questions about being loved and having purpose show up acutely in the lives of people who have lost their homes and support systems. But these are questions many of us struggle with—uncertainty about whether we are loved and have value apart from what we can do. In the context of worship, we learn and respond to how much God loves us. We learn that as God’s beloved, we can have hope about life, others, circumstances, and we can claim the assurance that nothing can separate us from that love (Rom. 8:38–39). On a day-to-day basis, most of us still struggle with uncertainty and confusion, so it is not all worked out in an instant. However, in an environment where people practice love for one another, we are regularly reassured of our belovedness and our value.

Am I loved? Do I have a purpose?

Even before Jesus began his ministry, he heard his Father say, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11 NRSV). God’s affirmation of Jesus’s identity provided the foundation of his ministry. Likewise, Jesus’s new commandment to his disciples was to love one another just as he had loved them. We also begin our ministry by receiving the love of God. We can pray that we would hear God’s voice say to each of us: “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

We can manipulate people to say nice things about us, but true encouragement and reminders of belovedness are available from the body of Christ. God speaks both through others and through whispers of his Spirit regarding that belovedness. We can spur one another on toward goodness and wholeness out of a recognition of our belovedness. Knowing that we are loved affects both individuals and the character of the community itself. As one young woman who interned at Good Works for two summers explained, “I felt love—real, genuine and authentic love that propelled me to love others and accept myself in the process.”

In the body of Christ, the formal and informal ways in which we talk to and about one another are powerful statements of how we perceive the other’s value and belovedness, especially on the hard days. How we respond to unexpected visitors is an expression of how we see their belovedness and value. Not just the needy people who come, not only the person who is experiencin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Worship as Our Paradigm for Mission
• 2. Integrity Matters
• 3. Keeping Perspective
• 4. A Community of Friends
• 5. Leadership in Community
• 6. How Are Good Works Good?
• Appendix
• Afterword