Platforms are not where ministry happens.
Ministry happens in the neighborhood;
With life rubbing up against life,
With the sharing of the miseo dei,
participating in Christ,
seeing the imago dei in others.
You can’t phone it in.
–Michael Frost, PGF 2007 closing talk
What does this mean for us? Living as Jesus did, being incarnational as He was, “dressed in his cloak” takes on many different faces. How do we do it in our lives? Does this mean we all move to marginal areas of society? Do we abandon our comfortable, banal, middle-class, consumer driven lives?
How will you embody Jesus in your community? Imagine for a moment that you are staying in your particular corner of suburbia (or urbanhood). Imagine living your life counter-culturally with in that context. What does that look like? Do you have the courage for that? Do I? I know that I want to. I want to start where I am and be faithful countering all the ridiculous cultural baggage that has been attached to the idea of following Jesus. I want to identify it all and burn it up.
Most of the time.
Sometimes, I’m lazy and give in the numbing ready-made society I live in. Looking around, I see my response is not the minority.
My prayer is that I will not close my eyes. I will follow Jesus in the midst of suburbia, taking the necessary risks of letting go…of the institution, of the baggage, of materialism, consumerism, of the creature comforts, of my sin of omission, of not caring for those suffering around me, of the fear of being rejected, ridiculed, ignored…
Will you join me? Can we take in God’s love for us and then live it out?
August 28, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Inspiring words…Yes, I want to live that way too!
August 28, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Here we go then!
September 9, 2008 at 4:34 pm
“Do we abandon our comfortable, banal, middle-class, consumer driven lives?”
If we did that, where would the comfortable middle class neighbors turn? Sometimes I think it would be easier to sell everything, move to the city and care for the homeless, than to be a light where I am…living beside and with good-school-demanding, volvo-driving, target-loving soccer moms and dads.
It seems harder to be a light where no one knows they are in the dark.
But in the dark they are. Hurting and alone, looking for satisfaction where it won’t last.
To me the risk seems to be having those conversations, bringing up spiritual ideas, listening and sharing our stories. When is the relational trust built enough to ask that intimacy? That is the wall in suburbia – we won’t let the neighbor’s know our fears, our inner life. So the outer life is the focus instead.
still pondering….
September 10, 2008 at 10:38 am
I agree. For example, going on a short term mission trip is much easier than ministering to our neighbors.
There is a lot more at stake: comfortable co-existing, professional and personal reputations, not being able to hide, the risk of being vulnerable…
Right now, I’m focusing on Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor” in a very literal way. It’s so much easier to go hide in my house after a long day, then take the time to interact and open my life to my neighbors.
It would actually be easier for me in the margins than where I am at. I’m not so judgmental about the people in the margins!
Great thoughts, Christine, Thanks for sharing your insight, as alwys!