Proximity

The friendliest place in St. Paul that I have ever experienced is at the entrance to the ALDI grocery store on the intersection of University Ave. and Lexington Ave. At the entrance to the store you can witness people from every age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background doing the unthinkable: helping each other out. If you have never been to an ALDI, let me tell you about that one unique feature that allows for this helpfulness. In order to get a cart at ALDI, you have to insert a quarter, and when you return your cart you get your quarter back. So at the entrance to ALDI, a grand exchange happens where people are exchanging carts and quarters so they don’t have to go through the hassle of inserting the chain that holds the cart in line. People smile and exchange pleasantries. It is the friendliest place I have experienced in the whole city.

The most angst-ridden place I have experienced in the entire city is in the parking lot at that same ALDI. The lot is too narrow for the number of people and cars that are streaming in, so cars are constantly on the verge of running into each other. People are blaring their horns to try and get someone to move or cutting people off to get into or out of spaces. The St. Paul ALDI parking lot is not for the faint of heart. It takes great courage to enter and exit that small parking lot. To be successful in this lot you must go in recognizing that people are going to be angry at you and if you aren’t careful you might end up getting angry at someone else.

I have often been struck by the difference in posture and engagement at ALDI between the face-to-face interaction at the entrance to the store, and the interaction the same people have once they enter their cars. How can we be so kind, caring and loving one moment but then the next be so mean and angry? I didn’t quite understand what was happening until I heard Bryan Stevenson, the famous civil rights lawyer, say “Proximity changes everything”. Hearing Stevenson say this helped me understand the journey I have been on in moving from a white kid from small-town Iowa who didn’t really see or quite frankly care about the plight of people from other ethnicities to now, after years living and doing ministry in diverse contexts, seeing racial reconciliation as one of the foundational effects of the Gospel. And I am still learning and growing in this journey, but I wanted to share how proximity has changed me and I want to challenge you to find ways to be in proximity with others who are of a different ethnicity than you with the hopes of growing into a more racial reconciled church and district. I have learned that when I am far away from the struggle of another I tend to see things one way, but when I am in relationship with people and face-to-face with them I begin to better understand, relate, empathize, and sometimes even change my views on the given topic.

One of the great joys in my role is that I get to experience close proximity to many different church plants from a variety of contexts across our district. Something that might not have been as personal or pressing of an issue to me all of a sudden becomes more personal and pressing because I am in proximity to people who are living a different reality than me firsthand. So when I saw the news of the Asian-Americans that were murdered in Atlanta and then listened to the stories of people from RiverLife Church who have experienced racism because of their ethnicity all of a sudden I realized this isn’t just their issue, this is my issue too. I have to confess that years ago I would have been able to gloss over the news as something sad, but now, living in proximity, it changes my heart and ultimately the way that I desire to be present. When I see news of war in Ethiopia, I know that our brothers and sisters from our Ethiopian churches are hurting and I feel something that I wouldn’t have felt before. This change is primarily because I am in proximity to my Ethiopian brothers and sisters and somehow in this process my heart is changed. When I watched with bated breath the verdict in the George Floyd murder trial, I couldn’t help but feel something deeper and more raw, because I have had to opportunity and privilege to sit with African-American leaders and hear about the pain they have experienced from this case and countless others, along with their own experiences of profiling and racism.

All of this is modeled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who didn’t stay far from humanity but instead became flesh. Jesus came and dwelt amongst us. He came near in proximity to us. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, and by his proximity near to us, we can more fully see what God is like. And this Jesus who came near to us calls us to be near to all people, to be a presence that exemplifies the mercy and grace and love and hope of Jesus that we have received. And as we come close in proximity to those who are other than us we will find that Jesus is already there, working in their midst.

Back to the ALDI parking lot. Much of what I see in interactions on social media, and in media in general, is the angry drive-by at the ALDI parking lot. Trying to stake out our claims and make sure that our spots are preserved. But Jesus calls us to exist at the door of the store, face-to-face, learning to be present to others just as Jesus became present to us. Might you consider ways to become present to those who are not like you? To change your proximity? Maybe it starts by reading some authors that come from a different background than you. Maybe when you visit the Twin Cities you could drop by one of our churches that is primarily of a different ethnicity than you. Maybe it means asking God to break your heart for the many things that are breaking God’s heart today in our seemingly never-ending racial conflicts. Whatever it is, may you have the courage to draw near in proximity to those who are different than you, that you might understand, relate, empathize and maybe by God’s grace come to conclusions that will bring us all closer to being a reconciled church and district.

Kyle Magstadt

Associate Superintendent for Church Multiplication
North Central District of The C&MA