Following Jesus; seeking justice

This week saw the London launch of a new book from the Red Letter Christians UK. Each chapter is a story of how following Jesus has led people into activism for justice.

My story recalls the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Below I share two excerpts which connect my role as a volunteer in my local night shelter and my paid job as a government rough sleeping adviser during that time.

I wanted to put on record the contribution made by churches during the unprecedented crisis of the pandemic. Its a great example of how following Jesus leads to seeking justice.

Streatham, south London, March 2020

The media coverage of the Covid-19 virus had been steadily increasing for the last few months. But suddenly in March 2020 masks were everywhere, people were starting to work from home and panic buying was stripping shop shelves. Toilet roll was in particularly high demand.

As a member of Streatham Baptist Church in south London, I had been involved in setting up a Winter Night Shelter a few years before. As the pandemic took hold, I was doing one of the last overnight shifts in the United Reformed Church, next door to the Tesco supermarket on the High Road.

Later that night I went into Tesco to buy items for our shelter guest’s breakfast. There were bare shelves everywhere and the atmosphere was strangely eerie. People looked panicky, focused on what they needed for themselves and their families. It felt tetchy and fearful.

I felt relief as I returned to the church and the positive atmosphere of the shelter. I had worked professionally with homeless people for a long time, but my involvement with church-based night shelters had shown me how different they were to hostels run by paid staff. The warmth of welcome, the shared eating together, the implicit spirituality of the venues and the lack of any financial exchange create a unusual and precious form of community.

As I came back, some of the men were already sleeping on the camp beds positioned around the church hall. The familiar sound of snoring was already resonating from a number of beds.

As night descended my fellow volunteer and I completed our tasks. We reflected on the pandemic and what it would all mean. In the hall a battered piece of paper, half-hanging off the door caught my eye. It was a passage from Psalm 46:1–2:

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear…”

Its disheveled presentation increased its relevance. The world was being battered by a deadly virus. Panic and anxiety was all around. And homeless people, with their dodgy chests and damaged lungs, were more vulnerable than ever.

The future was uncertain but I was grateful that here tonight, those who had nowhere to go were being accommodated within God’s church and being supported by his people. This faith in action reassured and strengthened me.

After a peaceful night, we woke the guests, served breakfast and said farewell. I walked home, had a shower and went to work. The volunteer overnight shift could not have been more relevant to my day job.

Advising local authorities on faith

My role as a government Adviser focused on the role of faith groups to address rough sleeping. One day I received a call from a local authority Housing Manager who said to me,

‘I need your advice. There is a local church that is doing great work to help local rough sleepers, but…well…they do talk about Jesus a lot.’

I probed further and asked if they felt the church was being coercive or manipulative. The council officer admitted they were not. The church was very professional and dependable, but were also upfront about what they believed.

I advised the council that if they felt the church was acting in a suspect way or were putting pressure on vulnerable people then they should raise their concerns. But the council needed to accept what motivated the church and fuelled their activism. I said,

‘They are a church after all, it’s not unreasonable for them to talk about what they believe.’

In my view, this church was providing the kind of provocation that faith in Jesus should create. They were doing great work to inclusively support those who are marginalised. But they also were bold and confident enough to be vocal about why they were doing this work. Justice and Jesus.

I would highly recommend buying Jesus & Justice. It has stories from over 30 other activist-authors and is a treasure trove of stories of faith in action. As Tony Campolo writes on the back cover:

“I’m thrilled that RLC UK have rallied a bunch of good people to share their best justice-making stories. After all, as Jesus himself proved over and over, nothing communicates the love of God like a good story.”

Buy Jesus & Justice