The Hedge: MLK 2010

“It's not a day just to pause and reflect -- it's a day to act" the president-elect said. Noting that Americans are participating in more than 11,000 service projects across the nation, he appealed to people "to turn today's efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities and their country." – The Washington Post “Obama Commemorates MLK Day with Service” (Monday January 19, 2009)

I talked to a man recently who explained that he didn’t do volunteer work because it wasn’t a good use of his time or skills.  He explained that instead, he donated money to nonprofit organizations he believed better able to carry out good works.  As a person who works in fundraising, my first instinct was to ask him how he felt about low-income children attending college?  Makes you feel good, like puppies, right?  I wanted to hand him my card and have him look up my employer on Guidestar, the watch dog Consumer Reports of non-profit organizations.  Maybe he’d find us the object of his benevolence. 

Since the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and other robber baron families set the stage, Americans have been philanthropic donors across income brackets.  Between 64% and 89% of Americans will make philanthropic donations this year, usually totally between $1,000 and $2,000.  Philanthropy has become American.  We choose to meet our neighbor’s needs through non-profit organization.  As a result we have developed a thriving non-profit marketplace that tries to match societal needs with skilled professionals. 

As a fundraiser I also know that most American donations are less than $100 and sporadic.  In order for non-profit organization to fulfill their missions they need consistent donors, which means that they need volunteers.  We become invested donors when we encounter the people impacted by an organization’s work.  When our donation has a face we’ve touched and a named we’ve spoken we become partners in the organization’s mission.

But as a Christian I know that something else takes place when we volunteer.  We see the Corinthian body at work in real time.  The most valuable and revered people on service sites are often people less-valued by the norms of society.  When I volunteered at the feeding program Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington, DC, the person with the real power was an enormous crowd-control bouncer with a booming voice.  He had once been a client at Miriam’s, both homeless and addicted.  He never went to college.  In New Orleans I volunteers at a furniture warehouse sorting replacement furniture for victims of Katrina.  Larry, the man in-charge had leathery skin, tobacco-stained teeth, and ropy muscles from driving cross-country on his motorcycle, which he took on after a career driving big-rigs. 

In  a culture that prioritizes class, education, and career advancement, service projects elevate and celebrate labor, trade, and the wisdom hard-won from bumping up against so many of us sinners in a lifetime.  Service projects live out the Corinthian body:

“There are many parts, but one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.” (1 Cor 12:20-23)

The man who made the initial comment about donating cash over time attended a good deal of advanced schooling that left him with professional skills for which he is well-compensated.  My employer couldn’t attend to low-income youth’s education without the generosity of individuals like him.  He is an integral member of our society.  I need, want, nay -- covet his discretionary income.  But cash is no substitute for unskilled labor and time.  For every billable hour he donates as a volunteer he would become a different person. 

Working within the Corinthian body we are reminded paint stroke-by-stroke, weed-by-weed, shelf-by-shelf that we are all vital parts of the body of Christ, regardless of the ways in which we’ve been educated and compensated.