Reconciling Prophecy and Humility

"Humility is difficult for people who think they are, or want to be, 'radical Christians.'

Humility is difficult when you're always calling other people – the church, the nation, and the world – to stop doing the things you think are wrong and start doing the things you think are right.

Humility is difficult for the bearers of radical messages.

When we're always calling other people to repent and change, it's not always easy to hear that message for ourselves.

I want to suggest that there is a real and very deep tension between humility and the prophetic vocation."

Jim Wallis

Wise words from Jim that anyone with a prophetic voice should cling onto. Moving into urban ministry I've run across a lot of community development folks that have an "our way is the only legitimate way," mentality and can invalidate anyone who practices differently. Usually these community developers have great things to say, but they alienate themselves from the people who desperately need to hear from them because of their arrogant and tactless stance. The funny thing is that so many people doing quality community development work got there by first doing mercy work, the very work community developers now decry. (Mercy work is the gateway drug to community development) I wonder if having a humble prophetic voice in this arena wouldn't sound more like an invitation than a declaration.

PS: a quick differentiation between mercy work and community development sounds like this.

mercy = Doing for. IE: A Soup Kitchen or a Clothing Pantry. (Valuable ministries that are needed for people to survive - especially relevant among the homeless -, yet do nothing in terms of transformation and in many cases enable people or cause them to build a dependence on a service)

community development = Doing With. IE: Opening a thrift shop that is cooperatively owned by neighborhood residents and employs them -- Recruiting benevolent landlords to invest in property and rent them out near cost to allow folks to save to purchase their own homes.