I. "Towards a Definition and Understanding of Social Ministry." What is Hessel's definition of social ministry and how is it related to his broader understanding of ministry?
According to the author, social ministry is defined as the performance of the "function of faithful communities in response to God's grace" (p. 34). Hessel is likely to use the word "social" not in a simple implication. For her Christian existence is personal as well as social. And human existence is fundamentally social. For the author, Christian individual/personal transformation must include, be extended to and fulfilled by, social transformation. Especially since the author's emphasis here is upon soical transformation, she prefers to take use of the word, "social-personal transformation," rather than 'personal-social transformation' or 'personal and thereafter social transformation' (p. 35).
In the section "What Is Ministry?" of chapter 2 the author insinuates that Christian ministry has two grounds, essential and historical. First, Jesus' message was emphasizing a "social-personal transformation" rather than only personal (p. Ibid.). Social dimension is embedded in Jesus' teachings, parables, metaphors, ethics. Therefore, our social ministry must include, be extended and fulfilled in relation to, "sociality" (Ibid.).
Second, from its very beginning the New Testament Church exercised Christian social praxis. In amidst of desperate endeavor to obtain conversion she never forgot social concerns. So diakonia, the servanthood within and without, was emphasized with, leutourgia, kerygma, didake (p. 36). The author indicates "the earliest urban churches stressed: (1) almsgiving or generosity to the poor, (2) support of the sick, the infirm, and the disabled, (3) support of widows and orphants, (4) care for missionaries and churches in poverty, (5) care for prisoners and humane treatment of slaves, (6) disaster and famine relief throughout the known world, (7) furnishing work and insisting upon work, and (8) proper burial of the dead and prayers for the welfare of their souls" (p. 37). Considering that the early Christians lived under totalitarian government, those kinds of social practices were amazing. Therefore, we must and can do our social ministry much more.
From these two grounds social ministry is the very existence of Christian identity and the genuine expression of Christian faith. Nevertheless, contemporary churches have lost such strong tradition in the sense that we have strongly stressed liturgy and preaching, education, pastoral care, empowering lay ministry, while less concerned in social service, community organization, public policy action, institutional governance (p. 19). What the author tries to point out the contemporary churches' flaws is, "We do so well inside the church or are living good personally but less involved in the community structures. This proves how deeply unbalanced our ministry has been going on.
In my view, the author is likely to take into consideration the word, 'ministry,' which came from the Greek word, 'diakonia,' as the inclusive one among the four Greek notions, leutourgia, kerygma, didake, diakonia. By her definition of social ministry she tries to show how our churches has been deviated from the essential and historical grounds. When we pay due attention to both sides, ministry within the church and without, we are able to do our own ministry in appropriate balance.
In 1970s and 80s Korean society had struggled with military despotism. At that time most Korean Christians were accused, "You are extremely selfish," because they shrank from the arena of political and social struggles. Somewhat likewise, contemporary churches tend to reduce Christianity to the 'private' arena (p. 27) in the sense that they failed to make "corporate social responsibility" (p. 172) in relation to the broader community in which they have been already involved and nurtured.
II. "A Theology of Social Ministry." How does theological reflection inform Hessel's understanding of social ministry? What would you say is his core theological base? How do you respond to his theology? How does it speak to you and to your church?
At first Hessel's following remark enables us to hold grasp of what her conception of God is: "since God is radically social, all modes or dimensions of ministry are social in ways that encompass both personal growth and political responsibility. Congregation must develop the modes of ministry with intentionality and competence, so that ministry contributes to social transformation as well as human fulfillment, to health of community and country as well as to congregational renewal, to local/global action as well as to church growth" (p. 8). This means that God concerns whole things, so that such conception of God enables us to view our ministry from the holistic perspective.
The author focuses on Jesus' ministry which can be characterized as the historical reality of the servanthood. According to him Jesus was "the one who 'came fnot to be ministered unto, but to minister' (Matt. 20:28), and whose life embodies Isaiah's description of the oppressed Servant. The Lord washed the disciples' feet (John 13), embodying in this lowly service a new social self. He became poor that we might become rich toward others (II Cor. 8:9)" (p. 35). That is to say, Jesus opened the social-personal interpretation of God's word and the ministry for a social-personal transformation.
From such basis the author asserts, "Every Christian is called to serve the least, the lowest, the lost, to live for near and distant neighbors as a sacrifice of praise, to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. The liberated servant people 'faithfully bring forth justice' and do not waver until true justice is established on the earth (Isa. 42:1-4)" (p. Ibid.). In this respect our ministry cannot end with simple proclamation about the poor, the oppressed, the disavantaged, but go further to make God's liberating proclamation effective all over the world. For this reason the author asserts, "Liberation from oppression and poverty is a central theme of the Bible" (p. 102).
When we read God's heart and mind behind the biblical passages, our faith in God necessarily entails hermeneutics of suspicion and social interpretations (pp. 103-4). If we have Christ's mind, namely God's mind, the author asserts six theological bases.
First, "Hope in God's Future" in the sense that we are all sinful and helpless because of our sins (pp. 60-61). Second, "Justice for the Poor and Oppressed" in the sense that justice is the social extension of love and that love is fulfilled together with justice (pp. 61-64). Third, "Love of Near and Distant Neighbors" in the sense that love is a "revolutionary language" which empowers us to go toward all humankind beyond narrowly closed solidarities (pp. 64-66). Fourth, "Care for Nature" in the sense that our love duty should be extended to ecological systems as far as we are part of the created world (pp. 66-70). Fifth, "Responsible Use of Power" in the sense that we are given some power in order not to use it autonomously but share it with all of neighbors, near or distant (pp. 70-72). Sixth, "Participation in Community" because "by the grace of God and with help from our friends we are transformed, though slowly," and "given the bond of the Spirit which enables us to live faithfully" (pp. 73-74).
From my view Hessel's reflection of social ministry is much emphasis on social dimension, because human life is fundamentally social, because God is social in all and every sense, and because we know our personal transformation should be extended to and fulfilled by social transformation. In addition, she indicates how social ministry may contribute to personal transformation. But I think the service for neighborhood is one of the four fundamental elements of the church, diakonia, didake, kerygma, leutourgia. I have in question whether the importance of diakonia is emphasized duly.
In my church social ministry are a few: the Korean Language Institute for children in Lubbock city, the bimonthly festival with Texas Tech students, the Thanksgiving celebration and Christmas Party with Korean neighbors in Lubbock. Except them, my and lay ministry has focused on inreach mission, my sermons and educations has been on personal transformation, we have less organizational approaches to social structures. This shows why I should be indebted by Hessel's teaching of social ministry.
Nevertheless, there are some ambiguities in discerning who are the poor and who are the rich, who are the victims and who are the victimizers, and who are the oppressed and who are the oppressor. Sometimes we are on the one side, while other times we are on both.
In addition, social behaviors are much more complex, so that we can never easily separate personal from social and vice versa. Personal transformation includes some degree of social transformation. So what we can say is, "Some are less social, while others are much social." Hessel needs some careful elaboration of her writing.
III. "Social Ministry in the Life of the Church." Describe Hessel's perception of the role of social concern in the life of the church. How does it relate to an understanding of the church, and how does it reflect the life of your church and ministry?
According to Hessel, the life of church is analyzed as follows:
"Nuture Gifts of the Spirit and Mission
(Inreach) Marks of the Church (Outreach)
Preaching and Teaching Kerygma (Telling) Evangelism
Servanthood within Diakonia (Doing) Servanthood without
(Care for brothers and sisters) (Social service and social action)
Life together within Koinonia (Being) Life together without
Worship Leutourgia (Celebrating) Festival" (p. 36).
This analysis shows that social ministry (=outreach ministry) is as much essential as church-centered ministry (=inreach ministry) and therefore that it is not an option but the necessary part of Christian ministry. The author explains the life of the church in four points.
A. "Social Dimentions of Liturgy" (p. 79). Christian liturgy is the celebration of our responsive encounter with God who do gracious works to us. The author mentions Christian liturgy in three respects: "knowledge of God," "public prayer," and "shared ministry" (pp. 82, 85, 88).
a. Knowledge of God. Hessel asks, "Who is God? What God images are usually employed in our prayers, hymns, Sacraments, and rites of passages?...What does God do?" (pp. 83, 84) If we answer to those questions, we hold grasp of our knowledge of God which integrates us consciously and which enables us to be equipped effectively for doing our social ministry.
b. Public Prayer. According to Hessel, worship is a public act in relationship to God rather than a private act (Ibid.). So Christian worship as a public act must have "public concerns; its purpose is not to withdraw from but to move us into public life again," to reaffirm "our common humanity, our unity beyond separatedness, our linkage as strangers become friends by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ibid.). Therefore, in public prayer we must move from privatized to public-social confession (p. 87). Just as, “when teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus stressed the power of God to meet daily needs, to unshackle the oppressed, and to make peace," pastors must educate themselves and lay people to express social concerns in public prayer.
c. Shared Ministry. The author asks, "Is it a sanctuary from the world or a sanctuary for the suffering world?" (p. 89) Quoting Num. 35, she asserts, "It is still necessary for the church to offer refuge to violators of unjust law or potential political prisoners" (Ibid.). Our liturgy must include social dimension which privides the world with real care and love beyond differences of religion, class, race, denomination...and so forth (pp. 89-92).
B. "Liberation Bible Study and Preaching" (p. 93). The author explains Bible study and preaching in seven respects.
a. Christological in Content. The author asserts that preaching must be "Christological insofar as it communicates the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, "a firm and sure knowledge of the divine favor toward us, founded on the truth of a free promise in Christ" (p. 93). But she means by the word, christological, not a crusade type but a confessional (cf. 94).
b. "Interpreting Current Social Issues Prophetically" (p. 95). In order for our ministry to be fully social, our Bible study and preaching must develop "disciplined theological reflections", "clarify issues and orient action" (Ibid.).
c. "Stressing Christian Social Values and Virtues" (p. 96). Bible study and preaching is the effective tool for social values and virtues. So when we interpret biblical passages, we must, "Declare the gospel in the vernacular...", "Exercise imagination...", "Speaks to contemporary personal-social needs," and "Draws on spiritual experience and folk wisdom" (Ibid.).
c. "Developing a Social Hermeneutic" (p. 97). Hessel asserts, "The firm basis for all social preaching and Bible study is careful interpretation of the human-social meaning of biblical texts" (Ibid.). She summarizes the contemporary hemeneutical discoveries in threefold: 1. "The Bible itself resulted from the interaction between inherited tradition and situational viewpoint" (p. 98); 2. "The prophets and then Jesus reasserted the earlier covenant consciousness over against the royal, priestly consciousness" (p. 99); 3. "The biblical narratives, symbols, codes, poems, parables offer words of promise, judgment, and hope that pertain to individuals...and to whole communities" (Ibid.); 4. "The New Testament message assumes the covenant content of the Old Testament message, as it addresses people living under political and religious oppression" (p. 101); 5. "Liberation from oppression and poverty is a central theme of the Bible" (p. 102); 6. "What w bring to Scripture conditions what we draw from it" (Ibid.); 7. "The active community of faith brings to its interpretation of biblical texts an 'exegetical suspicion' that important social realities have not been taken into account in prevailing interpretation of the Bible" (p. 103); 8. "Socially critical and liberating interpretation of Scripture permits no hermeneutical suspension of the hopeful biblical ethic" (p. 104); 9. "The alternative posed here is not to abandon historical-critical study, but to bring the critical tools into a larger context which also explores the human-social situation in which we read the text" (Ibid.); 10. "At the center of all biblical interpretation is the politics of God" (p. 105).
C. "The Church as an Educating Community" (p. 109). Hessel asserts, "Congregations are schools of Christian living which teach by doing (or not doing) mission/ministry" in order for believers to "wrestle with dilemmas of our human-social situation under the guidance of just mentors, and to experience a holistic congregational life-style that dynamically links worship, nurture, and witness" (Ibid.). Therefore, Christian education has a long-termed purpose which is "to equip persons of all ages to encounter the Word of God, to receive the gift of faith, and to express basic qualities of faithfulness inside and outside the church, that is, to learn how 'to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God' lifelong (Micah 6:8)" (p. 110). The subject matters of Christian education is "God's faithfulness toward humanity and our responsive trust and loyalty" (Ibid.). Christian education is a circular process of "awareness-analysis-action-reflection" (p. 111).
Christian education should overcome conventional views and be oriented toward social dimensions (pp. 112-114). If so doing, "Christian educators face important choices of focus, setting, and method, here stated in terms of shifting from educational efforts...to educational approaches" (p. 115). Hessel suggests "A Framework for Peacemaking Education with Adults" (p. 118) as follows: 1. "Recover the biblical vision of shalom and retrace the outlines of the biblical story with awareness of this theme" (Ibid.); 2. "Clarify the realities of the human-social situation that enhance or block shalom" (p. 119); 3. "Identify specific policy choices and issue-oriented action opportunities" (p. 120); 4. "Clarify middle-range norms...which comprise a framework for thinking through specific decisions" (Ibid.).
D. "Resocializing Pastoral Care and Lay Ministry" (p. 124). Hessel comments on the contemporary pastoral care as follows: "Several practical theologians have criticized the clinical pastoral education movement for its indifference to theological norms, its anti- intellectual stress on feelings and emotions, its upper-middle-class bias, its lack of attention to the social dimensions of personal troubles, and its fondness for one-on-one counseling at the expense of both Christian education and social action. While the movement has helped to humanize pastors and other church leaders by enabling them to help others become more psychologically self-aware, it has deflected attention from a whole ministry of shepherding" (p. 125).
But for the author, "the church as a social system can become an effective community of moral discourse, a learning-growth center that leads forth into newness, a nurturing-preserving fellowship, or reparation center, and a source of empowerment which prevents demoralization and nurtures responsible freedom" (Ibid.). For this reason Hessel prefers a social approach to pastoral care which "proceeds as congregations learn how to affect power and systems as much as...personal spiritual well-being" (p. 126).
In so doing the author points out the importance of establishing "a covenant group" for communal, not private, pastoral care (p. 129), of community structures (pp. 130-1), of caring for (p. 131-2) and "attending to care structures" (p. 132), of "leading anxious congregations" (p. 133). She delineates practical steps for communal pastoral care as follows: 1. "Let us reduce the rhetoric and explore basic on-the-job ethics in our efforts to empower lay ministry" (p. 138); 2. "Well-designed support groups to empower lay ministry are likely to crystallize the vocational crisis of some participants" (p. 139); 3. "Most adults in the church will be disinterested in the previous option, either because they are reasonably happy with the work they have, or dare not leave their 'secure base' of current employment" (p. 140); 4. "At the same time such groups must not be naive about the possible consequences" (p. 141); 5. "Finally, congregations have a liturgical responsibility to pray for workers in various occupations" (p. 143).
In my view Hessel's perception of the role of social concern in the life of the church enables us to establish an understanding of the church which is strengthened in outreach mission. The life of my church and ministry is very weak in outreach programs because I as a pastor have been taught mainly about conventional views of the church. Due to Hessel's teaching I am challenged to do my ministry in Lubbock keeping balance between inreach and outreach mission.