Five Principles
Central to the ethos of Servants is a belief that God has called us to embody and practice the following five biblical principles:
Living with the poor
We intentionally live with the urban poor, learning from them, building genuine relationships, participating in their lives and struggles, learning their language and their culture, and working out how Jesus’ love can best be shown in their context.
Setting Aside Affluence & Comfort
We commit ourselves to lifestyles of inner and outward simplicity, in order to be free to love and serve God and the poor. Setting aside our ‘right’ to affluence while there are still those who live in abject poverty, we desire to be a relevant yet prophetic voice in a world preoccupied with self.
Empowering Not Overpowering
We follow Jesus who came in humility “not to be served but to serve,” the path to true leadership. We empower the poor by placing control in their hands and not overpowering them with outside resources or expertise. With courage, we embrace sacrifice and suffering, share faithfully in the life of Jesus and the poor.
Working With People Not Just For Them
As well as a commitment to the communities we move into, we have a passion to work together in supportive teams that model the love, care and community that Jesus spoke of. We work with people, not just for them.
Speaking Grace & Promoting Justice
We want to see the good news of Jesus proclaimed in word, deed and power. We have a God who is working to renew all things and to restore wholeness of life to all creation. Our lives amongst the poor call us to care for individuals, families and communities, as well as for the structures and systems of human society and the environment on which we all depend. We work for justice, proclaim God’s grace, and lift all things to Him in prayer.
“It is in the incarnate act of Jesus taking on flesh and dwelling amongst us that we discover what compassion truly means. It is not a bending towards the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there.”
~ An excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s book Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life