Who owns the pond?

"Give a person a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a person to fish and he eats for a lifetime. That's a lie! The real issue: Who owns the pond?" -Dr. John Perkins

Give a person a fish equals charity. Teach a person to fish emphasizes job skills. But if the person doesn't own or have access to the pond he can be denied the right to fish in the pond.  Gaining access to the pond requires a whole different kind of work that the Church doesn't get too involved with.  It requires dealing with the power structures and systems of our day.  Good works that our Lord requires of us (see Micah 6:8 and the story of Esther).

"Justice is an economic issue. Justice is a management issue. Justice is an ownership issue. Justice has to do with equal access to the resources of God's creation." -Dr. John Perkins

History has taught us that without justice/ownership freedom is lost. Segregation and sharecropping replaced slavery - a system that is a few notches above slavery. They were freed from slavery but there was no just system that followed. No justice and no ownership. "40 acres and a mule" was just a pipe dream.

The question of 'who owns the pond?' is one that can be applied to any number of situations. It speaks to who and what operates the systems that are in place? In my opinion, it's a good starting point in discovering where injustice occurs on a systemic level because it'll uncover where power and privilege lie. What you'll most likely find, is that the answer or solution can be something deep and embedded and just plain nasty.

It'll mess with your head a bit and seem overwhelming when you start to connect the dots. Brokenness, sin, or injustice isn't something that is contained and isolated, instead it overflows and effects all.

Lucky for us, Jesus' message was centered on the good news of the kingdom. The good news of the kingdom doesn't just give hope for the future. It also gives hope that a better present is possible. And what's interesting.. is that we don't have to look far in order to find the kingdom..

"The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21

The kingdom of God is within us. I'm not a theologian, nor did I go to seminary (not yet) but that passage has always been hard for me to comprehend. One of those verses that I liked to skip over because it wasn't easy to grasp. However, I think Jesus provides much needed clarity in some later teachings:

"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7

This is another one that is puzzling because on the surface it doesn't seem to make sense that it would be any better for Jesus to go than to stay. However, He is sending the Counselor (or Holy Spirit) in his place. It's a promise that God will be with us. And in Acts 1 before the ascension he reminds the disciples of this promise. In Acts 2 this promise is fulfilled and the church begins...

And it's through this institution of the church, that God has chosen for his message of the kingdom to be carried out. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). If our motives are of human origin they will fail (Acts 5:38). But if it is from God you will not be able to stop it (Acts 5:39).

So.. who owns the pond?