Ordinary:
How to turn the world upside down by Tony Merida
Helping the vulnerable is not first priority
for many churches, but rather saving the lost spiritually comes to the
forefront. In his new book, Ordinary,
Pastor Tony Merida turns our old outdated categories of what it means to serve
the disenfranchised and vulnerable on their head and promotes a strong theological
and biblical rationale for doing so. In
turn, what you find in this book is a work that is wise, challenging, and
faithful to the Scriptures. Tony has
seen it all, from the social gospel to an evangelical gospel that has no room
for service, and yet he still has hope for the future.
In the opening preface Tony cites Aristides who
saw the early Christians as normal citizens caring for the widows, orphans, and
one another in love and yet stood for the truth. These believers were not elites or special
Christians, but “Ordinary Christians who proclaim an extraordinary message, and
ordinary Christians who practice compelling acts of justice and mercy”
(xvii). The church as an outpost for the
kingdom has the responsibility to humbly engage those who have spat on by the
culture.
Tony began to see this vision for loving the
poor when he was asked to lead a Bible study on the subject of the poor. Going from eschewing passages concerned for
the poor as someone else’s problem to repenting of this blind spot in his life,
Tony began to see these questions about the poor as a ghost that was haunting
him (2-3). With the mission of Jesus and
by looking at the God who believe in, Tony slowly recognize that helping the
poor, sick, the orphan and the oppressed was not an extra credit duty for the
believer, but part and parcel of the faith.
The banner in Imago Dei church reads:
P
– Plant Churches
E
– Evangelize the World
A
– Aid the Poor and the Sick
C
– Care for the Orphan and the Oppressed
E
– Equip Leaders (4)
One
of the best parts of this book was Tony’s focus on neighbor love. He reminds his readers that by helping the
oppressed the good news is given a platform.
He writes, “As you huge the AIDS patient, remind them of the glory of God
that will revealed to the saints. As you
ladies care for homeless prostitutes, share how Jesus transformed ladies just
like them by His redeeming love. Love
you neighbor as you love yourself – your whole self” (32). To embrace ministries such as these, we have
to get involved personally, but this does not mean that we all do same thing (Tony
provides a list on page 34 that opens us up to some opportunities). The gospel goes forth by word and deed and
this is not something we have to keep arguing about.
This
is a fantastic book and one that I will read again with an eye towards how
should my life be different because of the Scripture’s view of the orphan,
poor, and sick.
Thanks
to B & H Books and Cross Focused Reviews for the copy of this book in
exchange for an honest review.
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