The Power of Proximity: Moving Beyond Awareness to Action
by Michelle Ferrigno Warren
7 popular highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from The Power of Proximity: Moving Beyond Awareness to Action:
Injustice is not something to be aware of, it is something to engage, because to know is to do.
When our lens is shaped by proximity to the poor, the way we view right and wrong begins to shift our social construct in subtle ways. A social construct is an idea or ideal formed in context. It grows out of societal ideals, so it can impart a sense of authority about the correct or incorrect way to act or believe. Social construct goes beyond social mores; it is based on our understanding of what is acceptable and right. As an educated, privileged white American my social construct was limited to that perspective, which is why proximity to the poor was so powerful--it forced my view to expand.
The reason proximity to the poor is powerful is that it slowly erodes our view of ourselves and our way of life and then expands our view of the world.
When we respond to the immediate needs of the poor, we are choosing to be merciful. That is good, but that is not necessarily justice. Justice is not a response to a problem, mercy is. Justice looks beyond the problem to see how people ended up in that broken place and works to overcome barriers so they can be restored.
A commitment to social justice ministry and restorative action will reveal that we are not the ones who can fix problems. We are simply the ones who share the journey, offering what we have and allowing God to transform us in the process.
Sitting on our opportunities, storing them up for ourselves, is not the response of a Christian disciple. Our individual and collective resources are to be shared. It's not about playing a game with the government and our taxes--trying to keep as much for ourselves through every loophole we can exploit. Our lives and what we are given are to be given back in service to the world, just as Jesus gave his life in service to the world.
We also learn from this passage (Philippians 2:5-8) that we should have the same attitude as Christ. We should be willing to leave our communities of comfort to choose a proximate place and humbly and sacrificially follow Christ's example of love.
