Irresistible Revolution
Chapters 2-5
“Debate”
Well, well, if Shane hoped to ruffle some feathers, he was gloriously successful. I can’t begin to even communicate the range of emotions these chapters have drawn out. There are moments I am deeply convicted, and at others I am outraged and insulted. I have a feeling that is exactly what Shane hoped to invoke in guys like me. Our small group is struggling as well. Our small group is made up of incredibly hard working, self made folks. Several of the folks in this small group literally arrived in Westcliffe with little to no money at all. Yet, instead of crying foul, and blaming others, they simply got to work. One began pouring cement, another borrowed a tractor, yet another found himself jobless and hurting. Yet each one got to work, and slowly worked themselves out of a hole. The thought of potentially enabling people to continue to be victims is deeply bothersome to these folks. Some poor do choose to be poor, and they choose not to work. Not all poor are victims, and so we have wrestled with how to be the body of Christ to the poor. How can we discern between true poverty, and laziness. Maybe that is not our job to discern, but yet it has been a struggle to know how to respond. It is very true that there are many who are victims. There are many who are victims of a system, of back luck, or of downright oppression. There are many in poverty due to no choice of their own. We want to respond.
So, we sit and wrestle, and argue and try to find truth as we read. Some have already dismissed the book, others are hanging on, and still others are deeply convicted. All of us long to do more, to be more aware of the poverty around us and engage in a solution. Yet, we wrestle with some plaguing questions.
How does the message of the Gospel play into Shane’s ministry to people dying in Calcutta? Yes, Jesus would be with these people, and indeed he is present amongst these poor. But, in helping people die, did anyone prepare them for life after death. Was the gospel message shared, did the dying understand their need for the forgiveness of Jesus, and did they know of the brutal death he endured so that they might have eternal life? Maybe they heard it, but there was no mention of it, and it had us perplexed. We are in desperate need of the transforming Grace of Jesus, and if we do not live in that, not only are we in jeopardy of hell, but we are in jeopardy of living lives full of self reliance, arrogance, pride, judgementalism, selfishness, greed, and much more…
There has to be a balance between content (theology) and action. Truly James says faith without deeds is dead. But our deeds, without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit are dead as well. Our hearts, our works, our lives truly have no eternal meaning if they are not rooted in the transforming Grace of Jesus death, resurrection, and life. How does this content, and this foundation play out in Shane’s ministry?
Shane’s life is amazing. His work, and deeds amongst the poor are amazing. His focus on feeding the poor, on teaching the poor to feed themselves, his work with kids and their homework, his heart for single mom’s and drug addicts and many others is incredible. I do love how he seeks not only to help these people, but to live with them and have true relationships with them. Yes, it is far easier to help from a distance, and I applaud his complete life investment. It is convicting. I want to be challenged to examine my own life and decisions, and I hope that I will continue to cross examine my life decisions and be willing to make some changes.
When Shane mentions carrying the cross and cheap grace, it would be helpful to understand more of what he means. He seems to allude to the fact that if we are not amongst the poor, we must not be carrying our cross. Yet, I think carrying the cross is much more comprehensive than just living amongst the poor, and giving all we have. Truly living for Jesus has many contexts. The whole world needs Jesus, whether rich or poor, whether in the slums or in city lofts. Jesus is needed in the suburbs, and in marriages, in small towns as well at cities, in parenting, and on the sports field, on the college campus, in Starbucks, and at the office. We are all called, but I do believe Jesus calls us all to different contexts. We need to be accountable, to follow where Jesus leads, and if we don’t, we may not be carrying our cross. But to assume Jesus had only one main ministry to the poor may be a bit of a stretch.
So, where are we? Well, we are going to keep reading, but we are also going to begin to study Jesus words and actions for ourselves. It is true we have neglected Jesus emphasis on poverty, and we want to be accountable to him. So, as we are reading we are going to spend more time just wresting with what Jesus actually said and did, and how that should affect how we should live. Stay tuned..
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Irresistible Revolution Chapter 2
Irresistible Revolution Chapter 2
So last Monday March 16th, our small group of couples met to talk about Chapter One. Now, there was not a whole lot of content in Chapter one, but there was enough to get us all talking, and talking, and talking….How do we relate to a guy who is writing about ministry in the city, when we all live out here in the mountains in a county of a few thousand. Yet, as we talked, it became clear to us that there is poverty, both spiritual and physical, right under our noses. At one point, Shane Claiborne made the point in Chapter 1, that to truly understand poverty, one has to understand what poverty feels like. I think Mother Theresa first said that. Shane began to spend nights in the city with homeless people, and his experiences there changed him profoundly. He began to see things he never saw before, he began to experience God in profound ways. He saw compassion, and sacrifice, and even evil at work. So, in our context here, what does that look like? If we are truly to understand what it feels like to go without, to truly not know when our next meal is coming from, how do we feel that? Furthermore, there are other needs in this community. There are a lot of single moms struggling in our community right now…. What must that be like? I have no idea how hard it is to be a single mom. I mean, how do they do it? How do you support a family and all their needs, and at the same time work? How do you find time for yourself, or just have a cup of coffee alone? And what about the stereotypes out there? In many situations, people may frown on you for being a single parent. How intimidating it must be to walk into a church, or bible study, and feel normal and accepted? People are so quick to judge… “What are people thinking?” “Do they think it is my fault?” To be honest, I have never quite let myself go there, and try to feel what it must be like. But, I hope that changes….
Furthermore, Shane talked about being pro-life. Yet, he stated that most Christians miss the whole point of being pro-life. If we are to truly stand for life, then we also need to be willing to care for un-wed mothers, and be ready to adopt babies. Sometimes we think just holding up a picket sign is enough. What does that help anyway? We are called to care, to truly care. Now on this point, we had some amazing discussion. It will be fun to see how that bears fruit over the next few months as we walk forward. We all know unwed mothers in our community, and so we all brainstormed what it would look like to truly reach out as the church to them. We have some action steps in mind, and it will be really fun to see how we can help come alongside some single moms with support and care.
We will be reading the next two chapters over the next couple of weeks. We won’t meet for another two weeks, but there is quite a bit of anticipation about what is next. I think there is the tendency in all of us to fight change, to fight the idea that someone can come in and radically challenge our worldview, our perspective on scripture, and our lifestyle. My hope and prayer is that I am open, truly open, to what God wants to reveal to me. Am I willing to be humbled, to be proven wrong? I do not know what will happen, or if I am wrong in my thinking yet, but I pray that I am an open book and a willing disciple. When confronted with the radical words of Jesus Christ, am I willing to take them for what they are, and change accordingly? I sure hope so.
So last Monday March 16th, our small group of couples met to talk about Chapter One. Now, there was not a whole lot of content in Chapter one, but there was enough to get us all talking, and talking, and talking….How do we relate to a guy who is writing about ministry in the city, when we all live out here in the mountains in a county of a few thousand. Yet, as we talked, it became clear to us that there is poverty, both spiritual and physical, right under our noses. At one point, Shane Claiborne made the point in Chapter 1, that to truly understand poverty, one has to understand what poverty feels like. I think Mother Theresa first said that. Shane began to spend nights in the city with homeless people, and his experiences there changed him profoundly. He began to see things he never saw before, he began to experience God in profound ways. He saw compassion, and sacrifice, and even evil at work. So, in our context here, what does that look like? If we are truly to understand what it feels like to go without, to truly not know when our next meal is coming from, how do we feel that? Furthermore, there are other needs in this community. There are a lot of single moms struggling in our community right now…. What must that be like? I have no idea how hard it is to be a single mom. I mean, how do they do it? How do you support a family and all their needs, and at the same time work? How do you find time for yourself, or just have a cup of coffee alone? And what about the stereotypes out there? In many situations, people may frown on you for being a single parent. How intimidating it must be to walk into a church, or bible study, and feel normal and accepted? People are so quick to judge… “What are people thinking?” “Do they think it is my fault?” To be honest, I have never quite let myself go there, and try to feel what it must be like. But, I hope that changes….
Furthermore, Shane talked about being pro-life. Yet, he stated that most Christians miss the whole point of being pro-life. If we are to truly stand for life, then we also need to be willing to care for un-wed mothers, and be ready to adopt babies. Sometimes we think just holding up a picket sign is enough. What does that help anyway? We are called to care, to truly care. Now on this point, we had some amazing discussion. It will be fun to see how that bears fruit over the next few months as we walk forward. We all know unwed mothers in our community, and so we all brainstormed what it would look like to truly reach out as the church to them. We have some action steps in mind, and it will be really fun to see how we can help come alongside some single moms with support and care.
We will be reading the next two chapters over the next couple of weeks. We won’t meet for another two weeks, but there is quite a bit of anticipation about what is next. I think there is the tendency in all of us to fight change, to fight the idea that someone can come in and radically challenge our worldview, our perspective on scripture, and our lifestyle. My hope and prayer is that I am open, truly open, to what God wants to reveal to me. Am I willing to be humbled, to be proven wrong? I do not know what will happen, or if I am wrong in my thinking yet, but I pray that I am an open book and a willing disciple. When confronted with the radical words of Jesus Christ, am I willing to take them for what they are, and change accordingly? I sure hope so.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Rocky Mountain Oysters
Saturday, May 7, 2009
Tonight was an educational experience, to say the least. Our friends Lance and Gretchen Villers invited us to go to the FFA (Future Farmers of America) Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry at Custer County High School. Leslie and I saw this as a great opportunity to hang with Lance and Gretchen, and also further acquaint ourselves with our Westcliffe culture. Westcliffe, a town of 900, and a county of a few thousand is a unique mix of ranchers, tradesmen, school teachers, mountain folk, retirees and several other types. Now that we are beginning to work at our local church in town, along with working at Horn Creek, we have been making an effort to engage more in the community. This was another step.Now, before a couple of years ago, I had no idea what a Rocky Mountain Oyster was. I would have guessed it was some sort of clam-like critter that came out of the local mountain streams, that people would fry up and eat. Though such food would not interest me at all, I didn’t think much of it when I heard people talk about these oysters. I never really picked up on the half smile people had when they talked about eating them. Come to find out, I was way off base. As many of you may know, a Rocky Mountain Oyster is actually a cow testicle, that people slice up and deep fry – somewhat of a delicacy around these parts. So every year, here in the small little mountain town of Westcliffe, there is a Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry to raise money for FFA. I’ll be honest, I was looking forward to going – but also a bit terrified. I am used to sticking to the OTHER parts of a cow if you know what I mean.And let’s be honest: I am not much of an FFA guy. I know nothing about Future Farmers of America, having spent most of my living years in suburbia. I figured there would be lots of cowboy and cowgirl types, so I pulled out the only Wrangler shirt I could find. I did purchase a pair of cowboy boots a couple of years ago, but I figured I might as well write POSER in permanent marker on my forehead if I was going to wear those in public! So, with the wife in tow, and my shirt on, we headed into the high school cafeteria. There we met our friends Lance and Gretchen and jumped into line. I quickly got back to my fear of the impending encounter. I could clearly smell something being deep fried. I certainly could not tell it was testicles, but let’s face it, my imagination was running wild. As we pulled up to the counter, where several FFA students were serving up food, it was suddenly my turn. What was I going to do?? Were there going to be options, or would I have to just smile and take em?Well, as I gazed down at the food, a young man picked up something with some tongs and held it towards me. Whatever it was, it was huge, a little squishy, and definitely very fried! I thought to myself, “This is the largest testicle I have ever seen in my whole life!!” It seemed to taunt me, and I thought of my own (if you know what I mean) and felt instant nausea. I quickly got chills down my body and said to the young man, “Not a chance!” He had a puzzled look on his face and said, “you don’t want any deep fried biscuits?” What? As I got over my gag reflex, I soon realized what I was staring at was not a huge bulging cow testicle at all, but rather a simple deep fried biscuit. The relief was immediate, and so was the continued awkwardness. So, I decided to take one of those after all, still not totally convinced it wasn’t the dreaded testicle. Later I got some chicken (thank the Lord), and passed on the local delicacy. I have to say, the testicles actually looked like chicken strips to me, but I passed on them anyway.So, the night went on, and I actually did take a bite of a Rocky Mountain Oyster at some point just to say I did. We stayed and watched the FFA auction, won a raffle prize, and almost walked out with a bottle of Elk Urine that someone else won as a raffle prize. (Yes it is true, you actually buy the stuff and spray it on trees and bushes to attract Elk while hunting.) It was a great night and another in a line of unique experiences in Westcliffe. We really love this town, and continue to be thankful God has placed us here: in an amazing little town in the middle of nowhere.
Tonight was an educational experience, to say the least. Our friends Lance and Gretchen Villers invited us to go to the FFA (Future Farmers of America) Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry at Custer County High School. Leslie and I saw this as a great opportunity to hang with Lance and Gretchen, and also further acquaint ourselves with our Westcliffe culture. Westcliffe, a town of 900, and a county of a few thousand is a unique mix of ranchers, tradesmen, school teachers, mountain folk, retirees and several other types. Now that we are beginning to work at our local church in town, along with working at Horn Creek, we have been making an effort to engage more in the community. This was another step.Now, before a couple of years ago, I had no idea what a Rocky Mountain Oyster was. I would have guessed it was some sort of clam-like critter that came out of the local mountain streams, that people would fry up and eat. Though such food would not interest me at all, I didn’t think much of it when I heard people talk about these oysters. I never really picked up on the half smile people had when they talked about eating them. Come to find out, I was way off base. As many of you may know, a Rocky Mountain Oyster is actually a cow testicle, that people slice up and deep fry – somewhat of a delicacy around these parts. So every year, here in the small little mountain town of Westcliffe, there is a Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry to raise money for FFA. I’ll be honest, I was looking forward to going – but also a bit terrified. I am used to sticking to the OTHER parts of a cow if you know what I mean.And let’s be honest: I am not much of an FFA guy. I know nothing about Future Farmers of America, having spent most of my living years in suburbia. I figured there would be lots of cowboy and cowgirl types, so I pulled out the only Wrangler shirt I could find. I did purchase a pair of cowboy boots a couple of years ago, but I figured I might as well write POSER in permanent marker on my forehead if I was going to wear those in public! So, with the wife in tow, and my shirt on, we headed into the high school cafeteria. There we met our friends Lance and Gretchen and jumped into line. I quickly got back to my fear of the impending encounter. I could clearly smell something being deep fried. I certainly could not tell it was testicles, but let’s face it, my imagination was running wild. As we pulled up to the counter, where several FFA students were serving up food, it was suddenly my turn. What was I going to do?? Were there going to be options, or would I have to just smile and take em?Well, as I gazed down at the food, a young man picked up something with some tongs and held it towards me. Whatever it was, it was huge, a little squishy, and definitely very fried! I thought to myself, “This is the largest testicle I have ever seen in my whole life!!” It seemed to taunt me, and I thought of my own (if you know what I mean) and felt instant nausea. I quickly got chills down my body and said to the young man, “Not a chance!” He had a puzzled look on his face and said, “you don’t want any deep fried biscuits?” What? As I got over my gag reflex, I soon realized what I was staring at was not a huge bulging cow testicle at all, but rather a simple deep fried biscuit. The relief was immediate, and so was the continued awkwardness. So, I decided to take one of those after all, still not totally convinced it wasn’t the dreaded testicle. Later I got some chicken (thank the Lord), and passed on the local delicacy. I have to say, the testicles actually looked like chicken strips to me, but I passed on them anyway.So, the night went on, and I actually did take a bite of a Rocky Mountain Oyster at some point just to say I did. We stayed and watched the FFA auction, won a raffle prize, and almost walked out with a bottle of Elk Urine that someone else won as a raffle prize. (Yes it is true, you actually buy the stuff and spray it on trees and bushes to attract Elk while hunting.) It was a great night and another in a line of unique experiences in Westcliffe. We really love this town, and continue to be thankful God has placed us here: in an amazing little town in the middle of nowhere.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Irresistible Revolution
Irresistible Revolution
Friday, March 13, 2009
Here begins a journey of sorts, a step into a new room….Seven couples, from a unique little small town in the mountains of Colorado called Westcliffe are about to embark on an adventure. We are all white, mostly middle class folks that can stay pretty isolated from the politics, traffic, crime, noise, and chaos of city life. Most of us actually have chosen to live here, and enjoy lives set apart from what most of America experiences on a daily basis. Yes, there is some true good in our motives to live far away from the city. We all love the beauty of our valley, the simple life on mainstreet, and the unique and special relationships that develop in such a small town. We love our schools, we serve in our churches, we reach out to our neighbors. We hunt, fish, build stuff, and enjoy the outdoors with a passion. It is a great place to live and raise kids! Yet, for some reason, we are willingly choosing to read a book that has a context far from what we currently experience. We all know enough about the Irresistible Revolution to know that it may really rock our worlds, and challenge us all to live a different life. Though we are all in different places in our spiritual walk, we long to be challenged to live authentic lives for Christ. So, here we begin a journey of the unknown. I hope to journal through our process as we read this book. As we all grow, I will share what God is revealing to us white folks way up in the middle of no-where. Chapter 1 will commence on Monday.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Here begins a journey of sorts, a step into a new room….Seven couples, from a unique little small town in the mountains of Colorado called Westcliffe are about to embark on an adventure. We are all white, mostly middle class folks that can stay pretty isolated from the politics, traffic, crime, noise, and chaos of city life. Most of us actually have chosen to live here, and enjoy lives set apart from what most of America experiences on a daily basis. Yes, there is some true good in our motives to live far away from the city. We all love the beauty of our valley, the simple life on mainstreet, and the unique and special relationships that develop in such a small town. We love our schools, we serve in our churches, we reach out to our neighbors. We hunt, fish, build stuff, and enjoy the outdoors with a passion. It is a great place to live and raise kids! Yet, for some reason, we are willingly choosing to read a book that has a context far from what we currently experience. We all know enough about the Irresistible Revolution to know that it may really rock our worlds, and challenge us all to live a different life. Though we are all in different places in our spiritual walk, we long to be challenged to live authentic lives for Christ. So, here we begin a journey of the unknown. I hope to journal through our process as we read this book. As we all grow, I will share what God is revealing to us white folks way up in the middle of no-where. Chapter 1 will commence on Monday.
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