"Jesus From Below"

Our friends at the Center For Transforming Mission do amazing work in Guatemala City, in La Limonada (in partnership with Lemonade International), throughout Central America as well as in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Each month they distribute an e-newsletter called "Words From Below".

I had to share this from the newsletter they sent out today. It really connects with my post from yesterday:

The following is a simple portrait of Christ that we use in our training. We call it "Jesus from below." It is the Jesus that emerges when we read the Bible with and for those who have been labeled the least. It is a decidedly different image from the one that emerges when we read the Bible from the position of power, which often yields a Jesus that justifies us.

The portrait deserves more explanation, but hopefully you will be able to see its biblical roots. The inset facts represent those who might find comfort in this messiah. May it be so this Christmas.

ASIAN-BORN

• The Middle East is Asiatic
• Nearly 60% the world is Asian born

MIXED RACE HERITAGE

• See Matthew's genealogy
• Multi-racial is fastest growing demo in the U.S.

SCANDALOUS GRANDMAS OF CHRISTMAS

• Grandma Tamar (prostitute)
• Grandma Rahab (prostitute)
• Grandma Ruth (Incest survivor)
• Grandma Bathsheba (Murderous Affair)
• 4 million women, children victims of sexual slavery and trafficked as sex slaves in world worth $20 billion annually.

SHAMEFUL BIRTH

• Not everybody bought the virgin Birth story.
• 79% of births to teenagers in U.S. are outside marriage resulting in bastard children.

TEENAGE MOTHER

• Mary was probably 13
• One million teenage girls become pregnant every year in the U.S.

POOR

• Temple offering of the poor
• 1.7 Million U.S. children are in families that live on less than $6645 a year for family of 5.

POLITICAL REFUGEE

• Flees persecution to Egypt
• 50 million people in the world have been forced to flee their homes in the last 10 years.

IMMIGRANT

• Returns to Israel
• 8.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

DRUNKARD & GLUTTON

• Friend of sinners
• 8 million suffer from alcoholism and 15 million from drug dependency

MENTALLY ILL

• Jesus' family thought he was "out of his mind"
• 45 million suffer serious mental illness

URBAN

• Went through cities of Galilee
• By 2020 over 60% of the world's population will be urban, young and poor.

HOMELESS

• No place to "lay his head"
• 3 million homeless men, women and children, last year in US

OUTLAW

• Broke Sabbath Laws
• 25% of Young Adult African American Males are Incarcerated or on parole.

DESPISED & REJECTED

• Seen as cursed by God
• The leading motivations for hate crimes in U.S. are "race" 53% religion 16% and sexual orientation 15%

INNOCENT VICTIM

• Blameless
• Every 11 minutes a child is reported abused or neglected in the U.S. - nearly 3 million.

FORSAKEN BY FATHER

• "My God, My God..."
• Of 72 million young people in US, almost 25% live w/o their father. 50% for African-American

MURDERED

• Crucified
• Black males (14-24) make up 1% of the U.S. population but 30% of all homicides.

RESURRECTED AS "WOUNDED HEALER"

• Shows Thomas his eternal wounds
• 150 million suffer from a chronic medical condition. 5 Million suffer chronic pain. 15% of vets suffer severe depression/PTSD.