Individualism vs. Interdependence

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4:32-35

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

It’s no wonder the church kept growing. The early Believers were practicing a kind of radical selflessness that upset the prevailing political, social and economic paradigms that prevailed in their time, sacrificing all they had for the sake of the Gospel. It was a New Testament manifestation of the Year of Jubilee.

One of our traditional cultural values in America is rugged individualism. Anyone can become president. Anyone could be the next Bill Gates. Anyone can rise above their personal circumstances and remake themselves in America. We value individual effort and laud individual accomplishment, especially financial accomplishment.

This is very evident in the way we approach ownership. We build new suburban homes so they all have adjoining greenspace, the beautiful and interconnected greenspace, however is short-lived because “good fences make good ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________.” See, you get it. It’s drilled into us.

We approach the Gospel this way, too. We have a personal Lord and Savior. We daily practice our personal walk with Christ. We teach new disciples to engage in personal devotions and a personal quiet time. Each week we invite people to make a personal decision to follow Christ during the altar call.

The conflict between the way my American Puritan middle class ethic and the interdependence of my African American neighborhood of Hollygrove was driven home one day at my ministry. Lloyd, about 8 at the time, asked if I would drive him and his friend Janae to McDonald’s. With nothing to do at the moment, I saw this as an opportunity to get to know both better and so agreed. As I drove, I listened to Lloyd in the backseat.

Now, this is really important, he came from a single-parent household where his mother worked at McDonald’s to make ends meet for her kids. They had next to nothing.

So, I’m listening to Lloyd in the backseat, “Janae, I have three dollars. If we shop from the dollar menu, I have one for you, one for me, and one for Mr. Kevin.” Now, I don’t eat at McDonald’s; it’s bad for me. Furthermore, I probably had sufficient money in my wallet to pay for all three of us from the MAIN menu, not just the dollar menu. But I was deeply touched. Despite his lack, he was concerned that everyone be included.

Another time a ministry donated a bunch of refurbished bicycles to replace those we had lost in Katrina. And these were nice bikes, from a very wealthy suburb outside Chicago. We gave them to our kids, along with locks so they wouldn’t get stolen. Of course, Jada comes to see me a few days later to tell me her bike was stolen.

My American Puritan middle class cultural lens firmly in place, I proceeded to feel aggrieved. “Where was the bike,” I asked.

“On the front porch.”

“Did you lock it?”

“No.”

“Jada, you live in a high crime neighborhood, you left the bike on the porch overnight, what did you expect?” Note the cultural superiority. I believed the individual was responsible. I believed that we were supposed to preserve and protect what’s ours. It’s just STUPID to leave an unlocked bike on the front porch overnight, S-T-U-P-I-D!

“Mr. Kevin,” she countered, “Maybe the person who took it needed it more than I did.”

Ouch, my own lens, my view of her choices, were deeply embedded in my own cultural views of individualism. Hers, like many in her community, were interdependent, rooted in years of marginalization, Jim Crow, mutual self-help, and African American church tradition. I had much to learn.

I wonder, if we learned from the early church, from Lloyd, from Jada, if we embraced the power of an interdependent community as opposed to an individualistic one, if the Lord might add daily to our number those who are being saved.