Ryan Kuja’s From the Inside Out is, in my humble opinion, required reading for everyone involved in mission work, from local “Social Justice” ministries on up to those who run global mission organizations. Quoting Fr. Greg Boyle, the Jesuit who founded Homeboy Industries years ago, Kuja writes: “We are not invited to rescue, fix or save people. The heart of ministry is to receive people and then enter into the exquisite mutuality God intends for all.” [p. 45].

The goal of mission is shalom, or fulness of life as God intended, for missionary and recipients of missionaries as well. If one’s mission or ministry is not like that, either don’t get started until you know what that phrase means or, if you’re already underway, stop. Kuja states: “…just as the need [the existence of a problem that can be addressed by mission work] does not necessitate the call [in a particular individual], the call does not necessitate the readiness [p. 113]. Mission is either going to be reciprocally redemptive or it is going to be a fraud.

The book is largely an elaboration of this “exquisite mutuality.” From the very outset, Kuja characterizes the root of mission as “deep love and commitment for the church, the poor, the world. Love involves curiosity, a desire to encounter the depths, a longing to know completely [and to be known], in a way where nothing remains hidden” [p. 10].

He then goes on to provide a sobering historical perspective of the colonial thinking (“Empire Lite,” as he terms it, repurposing a phrase coined by George W. Bush) that destroys both mission and missionary. Such thinking underpins what Kuja terms “McMission,” carried out by missionaries unwittingly operating under the aegis of the unholy trinity of “good intentions,” narcissism, and unmet personal needs.

“At the core of one [McMission] narrative is a message about who Africans and other non-Western people are, the soft articulation that the economically poor suffer so greatly because they can’t help themselves and need us (Westerners) to rescue them and solve their problems. The messages often also carry the claim that the Majority World needs development according to the Western template, in line with our way of seeing and our vision of what the world could, should, or must be.” [p. 39]. But there is no room for ego and empire in mission; such missions do not reveal the kingdom of God – they reveal something else altogether.

I saw that in action during my own days of Haitian ministry, presented with the requisite good intentions that insulate us from the errors of our ways. Reading Kuja I was put in mind of the observations of the famous ethnographer Konrad Lorenz found in his book On Aggression, who likewise noted that it is unreasonable to view other people and evaluate their behavior through the lens of our own culture.

Mission, social justice if you will, is distinct from charity work, as Kuja states powerfully and succinctly: “Biblical justice is about the creation of shalom and working to eliminate the need for charity even to exist…. Biblical justice has to do with Jesus. Charity has to do with Santa Claus. And there is no such thing as charity in the kingdom of God. [p. 55]. At the root of mission is not the urge to shame, donate and dominate, but to love, receive and repent, it seems to me.

Kuja has something to say about promoting beliefs as well. Surely communicating the Good News is laudable, but how we do something is as important as whether we do it or not. Beliefs have a way of becoming intransigent and violent ideologies, according to Kuja, whereas faith will always lead to deeper love. “Beware the man whose God is in the skies,” warned George Bernard Shaw, and we should be equally wary of being missionaries who trade food for "belief."

Kuja uses many stories from his own experience to illustrate his points. Those familiar with Rohr, Merton, and other active contemplatives will hear resonances from others’ works. Particularly poignant was Kuja’s honesty about his own need for help. I found the narrative engaging and easy to follow. I was also caught up short recalling some of my own missionary faux pas. At this point though, I’m so used to being up there on the cross with Jesus that such observations nowadays simply cause me to remark to myself “Oh look – another nail hole!”  

I heartily recommend this book to everyone!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author and/or publisher through the Speakeasy blogging book review network. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR,Part 255.