Churches in the West are renowned for responding to the measured needs of the vulnerable within their communities. Yet what about those who present as self-sufficient? With no apparent or obvious needs? Whatever Happened to the Rich Young Man? The Church and the New Marginalized challenges the church to broaden its reach beyond welfare and to seek to engage with (what Foster calls) the New Marginalized (non-welfare demographic), those whose spiritual needs are just as great. Including two case studies within evangelical third place cafes, that are seeking to do just that, this book will awaken the church to embark on a broader vision.
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Keith Foster. Whatever Happened to the Rich Young Man?
Whatever Happened to. the Rich Young Man?
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The New Marginalized
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil: The Welfare-Dominated Church
Negotiating the Third Place
Café Ethnography: A Unique Opportunity
A Tale of Two Cafés, Part 1: The Friendship Café
A Tale of Two Cafés, Part 2: The Welcome Café
Theological Reflection and Conclusions
Appendix: Questions for Reflection
Bibliography
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The Church and the New Marginalized
Keith Foster
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The challenge was too much for this rich young ruler, who, Luke tells us, “went away sad” (Luke 18:23).
Christ’s summary to the onlooking disciples was to declare “How hard [duskolos] it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:24). The original Greek translation of duskolos refers more to the English translation of difficult. Over time, as stories are told, meanings can be elaborated. Such is the case in this story, which is often misread to mean impossible as opposed to difficult. There is a huge difference between something that is difficult and something impossible. Even here in Luke 18, in anticipation of the misunderstanding of the disciples and the story’s ongoing transmission, Jesus can assure the disciples that; “What is impossible [adynata] with man, is possible [dynata] with God” (Luke 18:27). When God is at work in a situation, including someone’s heart, this changes duskolos or even seemingly adynata situations into dynata opportunities. As well as deconstructing the disciple’s worldview that imagined riches equal blessing and divine favor, Jesus was demonstrating one of the specific hurdles that the well-off demographic faces when it comes to submission to the King and his Kingdom: their possessions. Somehow, in the ongoing dialogue down the centuries, this has translated from “difficult but possible with God” to “impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
