A News of the Good Story
How do we actually become the hands and feet of Jesus? So often, we remain stuck in a church building, revving our engines to serve our local communities but rarely following through in sustainable and truly effective ways. It's no secret that a revitalized Christian witness shaped by the person of Jesus is long overdue, and we need role models to guide us. One of these is Bobby Lopez, the executive director of Passion SoCal Network. This ministry helps at-risk youth in the LA area develop into relationally strong, socially mature, emotionally healthy, Christ led, indigenous leaders. Is it a church? Is it a non-profit? It's both, and it presents a compelling vision for what the church can look like moving forward.
Bobby was raised by drug dealers and gang members in southern California. After falling into a destructive lifestyle of drugs and violence, he found himself at rock bottom, but God intervened, telling him, “what you think is trash, I think is a treasure. You've tried everything. Now try me." Bobby surrendered to Christ and dedicated himself to a life of ministry, but then he had to discern what that ministry would look like. He still carried some disillusionment about the church and immense trauma and PTSD from his childhood, but God was already transforming that "trash" into treasure. Lessons he learned through suffering shaped his ministry into exactly what it needed to be, and it teaches us so much about how to develop impactful local movements for Christ.
DON'T KEEP GOD LOCKED INSIDE
One night in Bobby's childhood, he fled his volatile home and found refuge in the parking lot of a nearby church. He cried as he watched groups of happy folks exiting the church building, hugging and laughing. He longed to belong to a community like that, but when the pastor spotted him, he ordered Bobby, "go back where you came from.” This rejection when he most needed to be embraced was devastating at the time, but it taught him that "sometimes, God is locked in as much as I'm locked out, because His people won't move.” This negative experience inspired Bobby to do the opposite in his own ministry. He avoids locking God inside by mobilizing an outreach movement for Christ, bringing God into the neighborhoods of LA by discipling and developing youth, teaching life skills and social emotional health, and investing in leadership development.
Bobby is often asked whether Passion SoCal is a church or a non-profit. He says it's both. When service is woven into the DNA of a church, it's less likely to keep God locked inside. "The body of Christ was created to be a movement, not a business network of buildings and brands. If you're loving people, if you're loving Christ, if you're discipling people, you're the church. Technically my title is CEO, but I am a pastor because I'm pastoring."
For churches who want to live this out but don't know where to start, Bobby's advice is to find YOUR unique calling. "Every church has a passion for something — I think you have to be willing to go after it and follow the dream that God has put in your heart.” Instead of spreading yourself too thin across many different target groups or needs, it's better to invest your personnel, resources, and passion into serving the one you're most called to. You can always expand from there, but start with one and serve them really well.
Also, don't forget that God's economy transcends the world's economy. You might be called to do things that are countercultural or don't make the most logical sense, but that doesn't threaten God's plans. For instance, the group Bobby is called to serve are kids, and "they don't bring in money - they bring in problems. They're not going to volunteer. Society would look at them as a problem, but I think they're the demographic that God wants to reach.” Bobby's conviction to centralize resources and programming on kids is unwavering, and God's power has shown up. For 6 years, Passion SoCal has expanded, flourished, changed countless life trajectories, and profoundly blessed communities. Partnerships have formed, miracles have taken place, and Bobby has watched the kids grow up and build their own churches.
PRIORITIZE HOLISTIC HEALTH
All ministry work is demanding, but Bobby’s is amplified because he's constantly faced with situations involving death, gangs, violence, and drugs. On top of that, he has his own trauma and PTSD to manage. “Trauma is like a full cup, and then the kids’ trauma on top of it reignites that trauma and it just overflows. So you always have to be ready for anything." Bobby understands that if his mental/emotional health falls apart, nothing else will work. So, he mandates therapy and Sabbath for every one of the leaders at Passion SoCal. “You can only have a healthy church if you have healthy leadership. And we don’t just mandate therapy and Sabbath - we provide it. We pay for their therapy, full cost, all the time. They can have it every week of the year. We provide everything needed for a Sabbath so they have no excuse not to take a day off and get away from all of it.” Bobby's awareness of his needs enables him to care for his colleagues better.
Much of the unhealthiness Christian leaders deal with isn't a spiritual issue, but rather a failure to attend to their mental and emotional health. Stigmas around this - “I don’t go to therapy, I just pray” – remain prevalent in many churches today, or there’s a disinterest in or downplaying of trauma. Bobby says, “You go to the doctor when you're sick, right? This is a physical issue – it's chemicals in our brains. It's trauma that we've been through." It's important for leaders to recognize that tending to your holistic health isn’t something to be ashamed or afraid of. “Telling me to be ‘normal’ without taking my medications and doing all my mental health work is like telling somebody who has no legs to walk faster. It's just cruel and it's just not possible. I need help and I'm okay with that. I do this for the kid who's struggling who needs to be able to see that they can go through this and come out healthy.”
LEAD LOCALLY
Passion SoCal also exemplifies the importance of cultivating local leaders. Youth are discipled in emotional health, leadership skills, and spiritual development, fueled by the strongly-held conviction that they can have a profound impact on their city. Through on-the-ground training, they learn how to fight for their neighborhoods effectively, while having the advantage of being indigenous to the space. This came in handy recently when Bobby and his colleague Che Che were trying to break up a gang fight. They knew exactly how to handle it and were able to read subtle behavioral cues because they had made all of those moves in the past. After successfully diffusing the situation, Che Che said, “man, it feels like another day growing up.” Indigenous leadership is powerful because you aren't intimidated or tempted to retreat because you're already home. You actually know the spaces and people you're serving, and it's a good reminder for all of us that outreach should start at a local level.
WHAT'S GIVING BOBBY HOPE?
“If you’re feeling frustrated with the church these days, view that as God telling you that something needs to change, and remember: we are that change.” Change is enacted through individuals. Bobby sees this happening really effectively in Passion SoCal because it breaks down the barriers between non-profit work and our traditional understanding of church. We can be the church in homework clubs, Bible studies, and communal meals. We can partner with other groups doing good work in our local areas. We can trust God to transform the pain of our stories into a path forward. Bobby and his ministry teach us that the more we integrate communal action into the life of our churches and faithful gatherings, the less God will stay locked inside a church building.
Learn more about Passion SoCal Network here: https://www.passionsocal.com/
Do you have a News of the Good story? Send it to us here! All stories matter and your story may be exactly what someone else needs to hear right now.
Emerson Slaughter is the Community Engagement Coordinator at the Holy Post and she wants to hear more good news about church and community. Send her your stories here.
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