Irresistible Revolution - Shane Claiborne
From Saturday, February 13, 2010
So today I was reading "Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne...and oh my goodness this book is broadening my perspective in so many ways. Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," is truly truly becoming a reality to me in a way that it never before has. I mean seriously...DO NOT CONFORM TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD. That means challenging the culture we live in...the "normal" way things are, the way things have "always been." I've always thought of not conforming as just an individual thing - as far as not giving in to sin...living in the spirit and choosing everyday to seek God rather than do what everyone else is doing. All of that is legit and true but there's so much of a bigger picture too....I've also been very very convicted by what's presented in this book...and am faced with the question...what am i going to do about it??!!!
I'm not going to type out the entire chapter - but some really awesome passages. SO WORTH READING
"Layers of insulation separate the rich and the poor from truly encountering one another. There are the obvious layers like the picket fences and SUVs, and there are the more subtle ones like charity. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, can also function as outlets that allow us to appease our consciences and still remain a safe distance from the poor. It is much more comfortable to depersonalize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the catastrophic human failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedrooms in their homes."
"There are plenty of Christians who talk about how much God cares for the poor but don't know any poor folks. There is nothing more sickening than talking about poverty over a fancy dinner. Or how about this one: I saw an advertisement for a dialogue on global starvation, and the sign boldly read, 'Refreshments will be served.'"
"When we talk of materialism and simplicity, we must always begin with love for God and neighbor, otherwise we're operating out of little more than legalistic, guilt-ridden self-righteousness. Our simplicity is not an ascetic denunciation of material things to attain personal piety, for if we sell all we have and give it to the poor, but have not love, it is meaningless (1 Corin 13:3). Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic relationships, and interdependence."
"Redistribution is a description of what happens when people fall in love with each other across class lines. When the Bible tells the story of the early church in the book of Acts, it does not say that they were of one heart and mind because they sold everything. Rather, they held all in common precisely because they were of one heart and mind, as rich and poor found themselves born again into a family in which some had extra and others were desperately in need. Redistribution was not systematically regimented but flowed naturally out of a love for God and neighbor. I am not a communist, nor am I a capitalist. As Will O'Brien of the Alternative Seminary here in Philly says, "When we truly discover love, capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary."
"We have no right not to be charitable. The early Christians taught that charity is merely returning what we have stolen. In the 17th century, St. Vincent de Paul said that when he gives bread to the beggars, he gets on his knees and asks forgiveness from them. The early Christians used to write that when they did not have enough food for the hungry people at their door, the entire community would fast until everyone could share a meal together."
"The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away."
---Theology of Enough ----
"In addition to rooting simplicity in love, it also seems crucial that economic practices be theologically grounded. I'm convinced that God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough stuff. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves. Gandhi put it well when he said, "There is enough for everyone's need, but there is not enough for everyone's greed." One of the first commands given to our biblical ancestors while they were stuck in the middle of the wilderness somewhere between Pharaoh's empire and the Promised Land was this: each on e was to gather only as much as they needed (Exodus 16:16). In the story of exodus, God rains down manna from heaven and assures the Israelites that there will be enough. When they save some for the next day, God sends maggots to destroy their stockpile (Maybe we need some maggots today). They are ordered to carry with them one omer of mann (about 3 pounds) as a symbol of their daily providence of bread."
"There is deep wisdom in the early desert monastic asceticism and the vow of poverty of centuries-old monastic movements, and yet whenever I talked to my nieghbors and homeless friends about a "vow of poverty" they either laughed or gave me a puzzled stare. "Have you ever been poor?" some asked. I began to see how myopic my vision was, and how narrow my language. It reeked of privilege. So I would suggest we need a third way, neither the prosperity gospel nor the poverty gospel but the GOSPEL OF ABUNDANCE ROOTED IN A THEOLOGY OF ENOUGH. As Proverbs says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'" (30:8-9)
"I used to say, 'Jesus was homeless.' And while there is truth in that, I believe the deeper reality is that Jesus had homes everywhere he went. He impressed this reality on the disciples as he commanded them not to take anything for their journey - no bag, no extra food, no clothes, no money. They are sent out not in the simple poverty of ascetic life but with a new vision of interdependence, trusting that God would provide for them. When I go on speaking engagements, I always request to stay in homes rather than hotels, dependent not on the market economy but on the hospitality of the church. And it is much more beautiful to spend an evening with a family in a home than alone in a hotel flipping channels, trying not to be seduced by dirty movies and dirty advertisements."
"We need the imagination to dream what this sort of radical interdependence could look like. In our community, one question we continually revisit is health insurance. Many of us feel uneasy living without it, especially as we have kids entering our communal life. And yet it is difficult to use that privilege when many of our neighbors go without health care. It conflicts my spirit to take assistance from the government when I believe it is the primary responsibility of the new community to care for one another. A few years ago, I came across a collective of thousands of Christians who pool their money each month in order to cover one another's medical bills. This feels much more in harmony with the spirit of the early church, the sense of being a big family with a parent with a big wallet. So I am now a part of that community and each month I get a letter telling me who's in the hospital, where my money is going, and how to pray for my sisters and brothers."
"The reality of divine multiplication is realized only when we allow ourselves to be dependent on God and live in radical interdependence with one another. A family very dear to our hearts owns the Josefina minimart across the street from our house. Over the years we have become inseparable. Their kids come over for homework, to do our theater camp, and to beat us at Uno (though they cheat sometimes). We helped rehab their house, and they helped teach us Spanish. Oftentimes they need transportation to restock the store or pick up the kids. We found that we could insure them (at actually no extra cost) under our policy. So we share cars, and they never take our money for groceries. We are not Good Samaritans, nor are we an efficient nonprofit provider. We are family with them, and money has lost its relevance. Not long ago, we had to take our car in to the mechanic and after it was repaired, it was returned without a bill. When I asked about it, our mechanic told me we were taking care of a family he cared deeply for, so the repairs were a gift to us, since we all have to take care of each other. Funny how money loses its power."
"No wonder it is easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom as Jesus said to that rich ruler. That doesn't mean rich people are excluded or not welcome. It means that it is nearly impossible for them to catch the vision of interdependent community, dependent on God and one another. Rich folks, while they may be spiritually starving for God and community, still believe the illusion that they are self-sufficient autonomous individuals, and that belief is incompatible with the gospel that says wherever two or more are gathered, God is among us."
"One of the communities I have bumped into is a bunch of middle-aged families in the suburbs who had decided to do a little experiment in community. They started sharing garden tools and lawn mowers. They would do laundry together and share machines. They found it was more fun to do their laundry together, spending time with each other while they waited. Before long, they had a community garden and set up cooperative childcare. A few of them even moved in together. It felt so natural. Eventually they made the front page of the newspaper, and one of the folks who had started it said to me, 'Isn't that weird? What we are doing is front-page news. It just seemed to make sense."
So today I was reading "Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne...and oh my goodness this book is broadening my perspective in so many ways. Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," is truly truly becoming a reality to me in a way that it never before has. I mean seriously...DO NOT CONFORM TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD. That means challenging the culture we live in...the "normal" way things are, the way things have "always been." I've always thought of not conforming as just an individual thing - as far as not giving in to sin...living in the spirit and choosing everyday to seek God rather than do what everyone else is doing. All of that is legit and true but there's so much of a bigger picture too....I've also been very very convicted by what's presented in this book...and am faced with the question...what am i going to do about it??!!!
I'm not going to type out the entire chapter - but some really awesome passages. SO WORTH READING
"Layers of insulation separate the rich and the poor from truly encountering one another. There are the obvious layers like the picket fences and SUVs, and there are the more subtle ones like charity. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, can also function as outlets that allow us to appease our consciences and still remain a safe distance from the poor. It is much more comfortable to depersonalize the poor so we don't feel responsible for the catastrophic human failure that results in someone sleeping on the street while people have spare bedrooms in their homes."
"There are plenty of Christians who talk about how much God cares for the poor but don't know any poor folks. There is nothing more sickening than talking about poverty over a fancy dinner. Or how about this one: I saw an advertisement for a dialogue on global starvation, and the sign boldly read, 'Refreshments will be served.'"
"When we talk of materialism and simplicity, we must always begin with love for God and neighbor, otherwise we're operating out of little more than legalistic, guilt-ridden self-righteousness. Our simplicity is not an ascetic denunciation of material things to attain personal piety, for if we sell all we have and give it to the poor, but have not love, it is meaningless (1 Corin 13:3). Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic relationships, and interdependence."
"Redistribution is a description of what happens when people fall in love with each other across class lines. When the Bible tells the story of the early church in the book of Acts, it does not say that they were of one heart and mind because they sold everything. Rather, they held all in common precisely because they were of one heart and mind, as rich and poor found themselves born again into a family in which some had extra and others were desperately in need. Redistribution was not systematically regimented but flowed naturally out of a love for God and neighbor. I am not a communist, nor am I a capitalist. As Will O'Brien of the Alternative Seminary here in Philly says, "When we truly discover love, capitalism will not be possible and Marxism will not be necessary."
"We have no right not to be charitable. The early Christians taught that charity is merely returning what we have stolen. In the 17th century, St. Vincent de Paul said that when he gives bread to the beggars, he gets on his knees and asks forgiveness from them. The early Christians used to write that when they did not have enough food for the hungry people at their door, the entire community would fast until everyone could share a meal together."
"The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away."
---Theology of Enough ----
"In addition to rooting simplicity in love, it also seems crucial that economic practices be theologically grounded. I'm convinced that God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough stuff. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves. Gandhi put it well when he said, "There is enough for everyone's need, but there is not enough for everyone's greed." One of the first commands given to our biblical ancestors while they were stuck in the middle of the wilderness somewhere between Pharaoh's empire and the Promised Land was this: each on e was to gather only as much as they needed (Exodus 16:16). In the story of exodus, God rains down manna from heaven and assures the Israelites that there will be enough. When they save some for the next day, God sends maggots to destroy their stockpile (Maybe we need some maggots today). They are ordered to carry with them one omer of mann (about 3 pounds) as a symbol of their daily providence of bread."
"There is deep wisdom in the early desert monastic asceticism and the vow of poverty of centuries-old monastic movements, and yet whenever I talked to my nieghbors and homeless friends about a "vow of poverty" they either laughed or gave me a puzzled stare. "Have you ever been poor?" some asked. I began to see how myopic my vision was, and how narrow my language. It reeked of privilege. So I would suggest we need a third way, neither the prosperity gospel nor the poverty gospel but the GOSPEL OF ABUNDANCE ROOTED IN A THEOLOGY OF ENOUGH. As Proverbs says, "Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'" (30:8-9)
"I used to say, 'Jesus was homeless.' And while there is truth in that, I believe the deeper reality is that Jesus had homes everywhere he went. He impressed this reality on the disciples as he commanded them not to take anything for their journey - no bag, no extra food, no clothes, no money. They are sent out not in the simple poverty of ascetic life but with a new vision of interdependence, trusting that God would provide for them. When I go on speaking engagements, I always request to stay in homes rather than hotels, dependent not on the market economy but on the hospitality of the church. And it is much more beautiful to spend an evening with a family in a home than alone in a hotel flipping channels, trying not to be seduced by dirty movies and dirty advertisements."
"We need the imagination to dream what this sort of radical interdependence could look like. In our community, one question we continually revisit is health insurance. Many of us feel uneasy living without it, especially as we have kids entering our communal life. And yet it is difficult to use that privilege when many of our neighbors go without health care. It conflicts my spirit to take assistance from the government when I believe it is the primary responsibility of the new community to care for one another. A few years ago, I came across a collective of thousands of Christians who pool their money each month in order to cover one another's medical bills. This feels much more in harmony with the spirit of the early church, the sense of being a big family with a parent with a big wallet. So I am now a part of that community and each month I get a letter telling me who's in the hospital, where my money is going, and how to pray for my sisters and brothers."
"The reality of divine multiplication is realized only when we allow ourselves to be dependent on God and live in radical interdependence with one another. A family very dear to our hearts owns the Josefina minimart across the street from our house. Over the years we have become inseparable. Their kids come over for homework, to do our theater camp, and to beat us at Uno (though they cheat sometimes). We helped rehab their house, and they helped teach us Spanish. Oftentimes they need transportation to restock the store or pick up the kids. We found that we could insure them (at actually no extra cost) under our policy. So we share cars, and they never take our money for groceries. We are not Good Samaritans, nor are we an efficient nonprofit provider. We are family with them, and money has lost its relevance. Not long ago, we had to take our car in to the mechanic and after it was repaired, it was returned without a bill. When I asked about it, our mechanic told me we were taking care of a family he cared deeply for, so the repairs were a gift to us, since we all have to take care of each other. Funny how money loses its power."
"No wonder it is easier to fit a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom as Jesus said to that rich ruler. That doesn't mean rich people are excluded or not welcome. It means that it is nearly impossible for them to catch the vision of interdependent community, dependent on God and one another. Rich folks, while they may be spiritually starving for God and community, still believe the illusion that they are self-sufficient autonomous individuals, and that belief is incompatible with the gospel that says wherever two or more are gathered, God is among us."
"One of the communities I have bumped into is a bunch of middle-aged families in the suburbs who had decided to do a little experiment in community. They started sharing garden tools and lawn mowers. They would do laundry together and share machines. They found it was more fun to do their laundry together, spending time with each other while they waited. Before long, they had a community garden and set up cooperative childcare. A few of them even moved in together. It felt so natural. Eventually they made the front page of the newspaper, and one of the folks who had started it said to me, 'Isn't that weird? What we are doing is front-page news. It just seemed to make sense."
posted by jcw at
10:24 PM
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