the chistian way

‘you will be known by the Love you have for each other.’ [Jesus Christ, john 13.35]

that’s almost very completely different from ‘you will be known by the lack of love you show to each other’

it blows my mind that this concept has been abused all over the world in many different ways by people quoting scripture ‘[or at the very least chanting ‘the bible says’ in response to any criticism] to justify things, that when lived out, don’t sound or seem or feel like Jesus very much at all.

in many of those cases it feels like people are not being intentionally misleading – they somehow really believe that that is what the bible is telling them to do – the dangers of holding a verse or even a passage by itself without trying to read it within the context of the story as a whole – without asking questions about the character and action of God and in particular this Jesus that we are called to follow.

it astounds me that people can read ‘if you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow Me’ [luke 9.23] and then live lives that are very much about the opposite of self-denial, chasing fame and attention and material things and the lack of any kind of instrument that calls them to die…

i mean, it really does seem so easy to me [not to do, i find it rarely easy or comfortable to do, altho completely worth it] in terms of reading the story of Jesus and having some kind of understanding of how He wants me to live and who He calls me to be… someone who is known for Love, for Loving [even, and maybe especially, those i don’t agree with and even those who don’t share my faith – be reminded again of how Jesus responds to the rich young man who ultimately walks away and refuses to accept what Jesus is freely offering, but at a huge cost in Mark 10.21], for building up and for bringing hope and life and peace and sometimes simply a glass of water [Matthew 25]

may we return to the story of Jesus and read it and reread it and constantly hold it up as a mirror to our lives and our speech and our actions and our purchases and our treats and our celebrations and our missions and our conversations…

together, may we seek the Christ-following way as opposed to the way which just gives lip service to our King.

a last little point is that i left the ‘r’ out of the word ‘christian’ in the blog title on purpose, just as a little experiment, because i was curious as to whether anyone would respond with the correction of what i had done wrong, before even bothering to finish taking the time to see if i had maybe done something right [possibly the only reason i did this was because of the deep down fear in my gut – especially as someone who responds while reading something instead of afterwards, hm, i should maybe change that – that i would have been that person had this not been my blog] and the prophetic jab to the spleen of the question of which is our go-to place? pharisee, disciple, crowd or Holy Spirit filled child of God?

Downward Mobility in an Upscale World – shane claiborne speaks…

been wandering around the simple way page and reading thru a couple of shane’s articles and really being inspired and challenged and challenged to inspire…

here is an extract from ‘Downward Mobility in an Upscale World’, an article by Shane Claiborne

“Over the years I have come to see how charity fits into — and legitimizes — our system of wealth and poverty. Charity assures that the rich will feel good while the poor will remain with us. It is important that the poor remain with us, because our capitalist system hinges on it. Without someone on the bottom, there is no American dream and no hope for upward mobility.

Charity also functions to keep the wealthy sane. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, also function as outlets that allow wealthy Christians to pay off their consciences while avoiding a revolution of lifestyle. People do their time in a social program or distribute food and clothes through organizations which take their excess. That way, they never actually have to face the poor and give their clothes, their food, their beds. Wealthy Christians never actually have to be with poor people, with Christ in disguise.

If charity did not provide these carefully sanctioned outlets, Christians might be forced to live the reckless Gospel of Jesus by abandoning the stuff of earth. Instead, thanks to charity, we can live out a comfortable, privatized discipleship.”

you can read the full article here and i encourage you to.

what would Jesus play? [and other reflections on Arisefest 2010]

sometimes i like to picture Jesus in a modern day setting and wonder how His life and ministry would have looked if it was 2011 when God decided to come to earth in human form to settle the original score instead of 2000ish years ago

would He have watched movies or played computer games? Would He have had His own Facebook page or blog? Would Jesus own a cellphone (my thorts are He probably wouldn’t because He seemed to be quite an in-the-moment in-the-place kind of guy) or gone and watched five days of a cricket test (i suspect He might have done this, and used it as an opportunity to spend some time bonding with His little band of followers throwing out “The kingdom of God is like a slip cordon…” and other teachings)

we don’t really know and i imagine if we put even three people in a room and asked them a bunch of those type questions we would have a variety of strong but differing opinions on most of them

looking back over the last two days of Arisefest – the christian band festival i was privileged to be a small part of (as mc for the main stage) – i thort through that scenario again and came up with a few thorts on the matter

in the unlikelihood (i.m.o.) of Jesus being part of a rock/hardcore/hip-hop/indie etc band that played at the festival…

…He wouldn’t invite girls to throw themselves at the single band members and then take off his shirt and call on people in the crowd to do the same…

…He wouldn’t disrespect the festival organisers and the other bands in a tightly packed band schedule by ignoring signals from the side of the stage to end His band’s set so that the next band could go on, just because He wanted to stay on the stage…

…He definitely wouldn’t lead crowds in vociferous “Jesus is my King” chanting or intense praise and worship and then follow it by launching into “just one more song” when told to leave the stage because He was already a few minutes over…

…and i’m fairly certain He wouldn’t have one of his band members try and physically back the mc off the stage and then Himself physically push him away just for a last few minutes of crowd fervour as He played an extended instrumental ending to the “just one more” song He’d decided to do making Him now 15 minutes over His allotted time…

at the same time as some of this was going on, there were a couple of moments that really stood out for me, and reflecting back on them now, the ones that come to mind pretty much all involved bands that i am friends with some or all of the members of (that makes me happy) – moments like the Harbourlight guys playing their set with such a Jesus-focused passion that spilled over to the crowd, Rash from Versus the Wolf taking some precious minutes out of their playing time to address the crowd and share their hearts for doing what they do (which is glorifying God and reaching people with the hope that is in Jesus) and Tyron from Skylit City – the organiser of the festival – full on passionately singing their bands songs and later on leading the crowd in a time of rampant worship and then finishing their band set and leaving the stage ten minutes before their time had even run out (maybe something along the lines of “It’s all about You” honestly being lived out there)

what would Jesus do? We wear the bracelet, maybe we ask the question, but to be honest i’m not sure it’s hitting the heart of the matter because we can only guess and ponder and hypothesise and possibly argue about it… what might be a better, more accurate question is “What would Jesus have me do?” and it really was a festival for me of seeing some bands and people legitimately answering that question while others simply chased the applause of the crowds or got caught up in the experience of the moment…

to Be The Change (festival theme) you HAVE to start with being changed…