For all my urban missions folks out there, what does it mean to live incarnationally? What parts of our lives have to match those of the people around us? Just our mailing address? We all know (and probably like me, loathe) the old school missionary-compound style. That doesn’t match what Jesus did with us. He came and dwelled among us. He tabernacled here. He made this His home. Our problems were His problems. Of course, whereas we see little shallow problems, He knew the real problem that we were facing, and He took it on headfirst.
I’ve moved into a beautiful apartment. Apartments like this don’t exist here in Chile. It’s an old building, which is actually a good thing, because it means that the rooms are generally bigger, the ceilings higher, and the structure of the building is as solid as a rock.
But the area I live in isn’t quite what I would call “good”. In fact, there are a lot of adjectives that I wouldn’t really use to describe my block: “clean”, “quiet”, or even “safe”. But it’s a few blocks from my church. It’s right in the heart of downtown, which is in the center of Santiago, which is in the middle of Chile. So you could say, I’m right at the center of this country I’ve come to love.
Let me explain. Here in Chile, there is a large prostitution market. And evidently, if you are looking for a prostitute from another country, my block is the place to come. Don’t get me wrong, I’m the ONLY American person who lives on this block. But there are plenty of women from all over the world. Columbia, Dominican Republic, Peru. You can have your pick. The building across from mine evidently houses a major whorehouse. And while I'm not sure if the ladies in my building are quite as organized, I know that there are plenty of them waiting outside in short skirts at night.
And then there is me. My friends here seem surprised that I live here. I guess they expect me to live in the richer suburbs of Santiago. Or maybe it’s the fact that it’s not safe… or so they tell me. But I keep thinking about how Jesus spent so much time hanging out with the bottom of society. How He wasn't afraid what would happen if He hung out with prostitutes or tax collectors (which were even worse than drug dealers!) Jesus wasn't afraid of what would happen if He did hang out with these bottom dwellers, He knew the harsh reality of what would happen if He didn't. He said He had come to heal the sick. We are all sick, just some of us show more symptoms than others.
So here is my dilemma. Do I live in this building, full of drug dealers and whores, and just keep my eyes down, look the other direction, all the while patting myself on the back for how great I am for living here? Do I ride the elevator with a guy, who is obviously coming back from a visit to one of my neighbors and silently judge him for his sin?
I think we know that the answers are no. But what does it mean to live here incarnationally? What does it mean to dwell with these people? What does it mean to make their problems my own? I don’t know how to make friends with them. I think they aren’t really sure what to do with me. Maybe they think I’m also selling my body. I can tell you one thing, if they knew that I’m a 27 year old virgin who doesn’t do drugs, they probably wouldn’t believe it.
So what does it mean for this fairly “clean” girl to enter their world? How can I? Well, for one it means that I live in a building where the crappy to start with elevator often breaks down, leaving me to walk the 8 flights of stairs. It’s not much, but I guess it’s a start. Who knows, maybe I can make friends as we climb up the stairs and complain.
