Service-Learning: A Luxury Reserved for the Powerful?

Is service-learning merely a nicety, an extra-curricular activity reserved for those with the luxury of spare time? The luxury of spare time often correlates with power, constituted by affluence and influence. Is it then that service-learning is the tool of those with power, set over and against the marginalized? As such, do the claims of service-learning theorists and practitioners to promote justice and reciprocity ring hollow with the vacuous tones of hypocrisy? I think these are questions any service-learning practitioner must face, and do so with the real possibility that the answers could draw into question some some of the basic foundations concerning one's interactions with the world. If we cannot question the very motivations and meanings latent within the radical practice of service-learning that we advocate for, then what substantial benefit can we possibly have?

Positioning for Shalom

Nicholas Wolterstorff asks a profound question in his influential work, Until Justice and Peace Embrace, does God take sides? That is, in a world divided by class, gender, race, and sexuality, does God ever stand with one group of people in particular? Wolterstorff argues convincingly that God always stands with the impoverished and oppressed peoples of the world over and against the rich and the powerful. Certainly God is perfect in his love for human beings, but does He especially defend and work for justice and peace among those deprived of basic human rights in this life? If God does stand with those that are impoverished and oppressed, where does that leave the rich and powerful? Who are the rich and the powerful? Are they the richest 1% of Americans? Are they the half of the world's population that is able to earn more than an average of two dollars per day? So often in our society we are captivated by dreams of upward mobility. There always remains someone who has more than us. This materialistic vision, though, ignores the vast majority of the world's population that bears the terrible burden of unnecessary poverty, disease, and oppression. The sinister implication is that in our dreams of upward mobility in our American society that we not only turn our backs on most of the world population, but also on God himself who is standing with the poor and oppressed, asking, "Where are you? What have you done today to bring Shalom?"