Insights for Change: Center the margin
I had never considered a Biblical story found in the Book of Mark the way Stephen Lewis, President of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE), does in a provocative new book, A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation, authored by him and Do Good X co-founder Kimberly Daniel. Mark Chapter 2 tells the story of “some people” trying to bring a paralyzed man to Jesus for healing. Jesus is in a house surrounded by a crowd. Determined and undeterred, these people climb to the roof, dig a hole, and lower the paralyzed man through, just to get him to Jesus. It’s a story of the courageous faith of a vulnerable man and some allies who believed that Jesus could heal and who did everything they could to come to him. I also always read it as a testament to the selfless love of these people, whoever they were, to seek Jesus’ healing power on behalf of this man.
It is a story of all these things. But Lewis asks a question I never had… “at what cost?” Not only did they damage property, they cut in line, forcing Jesus’ attention on this one person while a crowd of others also waited for healing. “‘They’ accomplished what ‘they’ set out to do, not even aware of the impact of their actions on the crowd of people also looking and waiting for healing,” Lewis notes.
And therein lies the importance of Lewis and Daniel’s undertaking, which centers the experience of African diasporic peoples: “So often innovators and entrepreneurs, even those who seek to do good, are shaped and formed by…inequitable forces." Working in the social impact space, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and talking about the harm that good intentions on their own can cause. But Lewis and Daniel’s point hits deeper. Even the most sophisticated innovators with deep understanding of systems and mechanisms of change can unknowingly perpetuate economic forces that systemically marginalize people. If we don’t center the perspectives of those who live on the margins, how will we ever change these forces? How, indeed, will we find a way out of no way for the intractable problems our world faces?
“We need innovative endeavors that reflect compelling alternatives to the status quo which is dominated by white normative values and ways of being innovative. Instead of continuing to support the status quo, we need creative efforts that prioritize people and communities who are marginalized and live on the underside of economic progress, nation building, and American Imperialism.”
As such, the book—which includes the stories of “fugitive innovators” who make a way out of no way, theological reflections on their stories, and action steps for any aspiring Christian innovator—boldly proposes that solutions can only be defined as Christian innovation if they:
“-Start with the least resourced.
-Address structural inequalities that impact the least advantaged.
-Honor the ingenuity of fugitive innovators making a way out of no way.”
Why? Because it’s what Jesus did: “Jesus' idea of trying something looks radically different from the status quo. He provides an alternative to imperial colonizing missions. Trying fresh ideas is grounded in faith, hope, love, and solidarity with those whom Jesus identified as the least among us.”
All of this sparks another question for me about the Mark 2 story: What voice and agency did the paralyzed man have? Did he ask to be taken to Jesus? Did he suggest breaking through the roof to get there? Was this his "way out of no way,” or did “some people” just decide what was best for him? What was his life like before being healed by Jesus, and what trajectory did it take afterward?
A Way Out of No Way pushes us to interrogate the forces and narratives that shape our own thinking. It makes us ask whether and how our innovation will perpetuate or transform the dynamics that exile people to the margins of society. Doing so will undoubtedly make all of us more effective change makers.
Faith communities have a history of focusing on marginalized people when nobody else will. But these efforts generally result in charitable approaches that can inadvertently cause further disempowerment. Lewis and Daniel paint us a picture instead of change driven not solely by the needs of people, but by their ideas and insights as well. To center the margin, we have to see people not just as vulnerable but as powerful, capable of driving change in their own lives and in their communities. It’s the only way out of no way.