Dignified Interdependent Relationships

By Dan Crain, South Atlanta Community Facilitator/Pastor

Dignified Interdependent Relationships

What a weird sounding term.

It loosely means to give and receive with Christ and people around me.

Independence means I don’t need anyone.
Codependency means I need everyone and everything in a very unhealthy way.
Interdependence means you can exist in your world and I can exist in mine in a healthy way.

Add Dignified into the mix and you have something beautiful when each person lives this way as the center of our being is rooted and grounded in Christ. Everyone’s gifts is honored and engaged in this relationship.

It was seven years ago when I was first introduced to this phrase and as a white guy with a masters degree that thought I knew it all it shook to my bones. It changed everything for me.

Why?

It meant that I didn’t know everything.

It meant that God was inviting me to ask for help from those that I was serving rather than just always giving.

It meant that it was okay to ask for help from others because as God’s child I am fundamentally worth whatever that person wants to give me.

It meant that I didn’t have to be in control and when I was with people or places of distress and that Christ was asking me to just sit and be present listening to what God was doing.

It meant that I could be vulnerable with a few trusted people around me and allow them to speak into my life.

It meant that I needed to deal with the false self of codependency that was leaking out into what I was doing.

 

Dignified Interdependent Relationships are at the core of the training Dignity Serves and begins the process of being reconciled to our neighbors. http://dignityserves.org

We invite you to take Dignity Serves and begin the journey towards being the kind of servant Christ calls us to be.