Thursday, October 1

"It's Okay to Compromise" (but not when one's heart and mind is the Tower of Babel)

The other day in our missions practicum class, we discussed missionaries and money and eventually got on the topic of the question, "Should missionaries live exactly like locals?" Popular opinion stated that it was okay to live in better conditions from the native people. You have white skin, so they expect you to have more wealth. (To this I ask, does that expectation permit your wealth?) Many of my fellow USPers even suggested that it was okay to lock one's personal possessions in case of thieves (which are common - some of our Bibles have already been stolen in church).

I was talking to Drew about why that class discussion was so difficult and stressful for me to have. He agreed with me, suggesting, "Sometimes it seems like people are saying, 'I know the Bible says this, but considering the circumstances we can act otherwise'."

I renounce wealth. I renounce possessions. Are we going to get back to the early church, where the believers shared all things in common? From now on, every time I use the word "my," I am going to do ten, no, twenty push-ups. The scenario of true discipleship is what? Nakedness. We are to walk in the greatest and lowliest humility. We are to follow Christ with our lives, and that means death. There is nothing we are to do apart from Him, for we do all things for His sake. He will look back at me in my ascetic poverty and ask, "Phil, what do you lack." I cannot say that I will tell Him, "I lack nothing," but I know I can tell Him I lack the strength to follow Him. But I will know that my renunciation enhances my ability to cling to His strength.

So what? We are no longer living in harsh desert cultures where sackcloth is our costliest treasure. As this may be true, the cost of discipleship stands firm. We can live in bigger homes, we can eat more creative foods; but we cannot HAVE bigger homes or HAVE more fancy products in which we indulge. If our partaking in something is lacking the fellowship of the Church (or of a part of the human race), we shall journey long and hard until we discover that fellowship.

So why? How is this even applicable to me? I have amassed thousands of dollars in college debts (thankfully less than others). This frustrates me. God uses the foolish to shame the wise, and yet I pursue a formal education in a society where science has blinded the minds of millions (I am not saying science is inherently bad). I feel as if I went into college being led by the notion that I would get a degree which would earn me a job which would in turn pay my debts. How many have fallen into this trap (and along the way developed the "I'll pay for it later" attitude of purchasing (multiple) vehicles and buying large suburban homes)? What things of these are necessary? I am all too often told by adults that I love that it is possible to follow Christ while owning a home, a vehicle, even having a career....you know....American Dream stuff. My response is that yes, it is possible, but why bother? Statistically and just as I look around: the American Dream has only made us lonely and unhappy. ($50000/yr is not the poverty line. Walking 4 miles twice a day for water is the poverty line.) With less attachments, I seek greater joy in Christ. Label me what you want for that. I don't know about you, but in this life I am looking for the real thing. And the only way I can do that is by losing my life for His sake.

I am not unthankful for education. I wish to continue with it in a formal manner, as it has in many ways benefited myself and ultimately, others as well. But from the looks of it, staying at Messiah will not be possible. If I can "drop out," go to class and not receive the "credits," and not receive the "diploma," I will be quite happy. But I'm sick of relying on my reason to establish how much I am valued. I hate letting down my parents, relatives, friends (I have to a great extent appreciated all of their direction) - but in the end I know that they will be grateful for my decisions, however seemingly incorrect and revolutionary and from an outside perspective - unnecessary. Some say, "Phil you have the potential for great things - so go get your degree." It is true that all human beings have a great capacity for both good and evil. I want to use my capacity for good. Good is not spending the rest of my life in debt. Good is not hoarding wealth from the homeless man or single mother on my block. Good is not neglect of the rural poor of Southeast Asia by blowing off world issues that are "beyond my control." Soren Kierkegaard tells us that we know how to read the Bible, but we pretend we can't understand it so we don't have to follow it.

For you, it might be good and fine to possess some material things, but stop telling me that's what I must do (for these things will pass away with moth and rust). I understand you want the best for me, and the best for me is the ability to cling to Christ. The way of gaining this ability is by renunciation of my self. Renunciation of my will. Renunciation of my things. Renunciation of "my." Let me live simple so that others may live. If you truly care for my wellbeing, you will supply for my immediate need (bodily, emotionally, spiritually, etc), but more importantly, you will keep me in check, you will keep me accountable for making my things not my things. You will make sure I am loving my neighbor as myself, always knowing that there is someone somewhere who needs what I currently have more than I need what I have in that moment. I am no longer looking for the easy love from my neighbor that says "all is well with you, keep going as you are." I am looking for the hard love from a neighbor who boldly directs me to drop my worldly ties, education, money, and selfish ambitions in pursuit of the only real God, the one who walked in search of a place to lay His head, preaching good news to the poor, and causing political and societal and religious uproar everywhere he stepped (bare)foot. I am looking for that brother and that sister that will read these words I write and not just appreciate, but believe that this is truly me speaking, that it is truly possible and inevitable for me to become this seemingly-deprived disciple of which I speak. These words are not a mere challenge to the reader, but also a call to you!

The Jesus Africa has been asking for has in many ways not come. But it is only the communal organism of the African people that can invite Him. The African must be a self theologizing person and be able to see that cultural condemnation from Europe and the west does not override the similarities between Biblical circumstances and his modern society. Elaborate on the good. Not everything I have gained has been bad, but everything I have renounced has been good. So let me not give the devil a foothold. Help me give. It's going to be impossible to do so with the debts I have. So I must stop compiling these debts. I must work my way back up to the world I knew before which was apart from indebtedness. A world in which I could be free, unbound to the prison of owing to the wealthy so that I could give to those who are in need. And don't give me the whole "well you can still provide for them now," the whole "well it's not just financial needs they have," the whole "it's okay to keep some for yourself and ten percent to others as long as you aren't greedy." No! The Bible speaks of economics. I am rich, and world statistics indicate this. Jesus tells the rich man that he only lacks the selling of everything for the sake of the poor. He is telling me the same, and if I have to be one of the first of my culture to step forward and say "okay," then I will simply acknowledge that suffering is part of the Spirit's fruit (read Galations 5 if you must). Suffering characterizes the Christ-follower, and it is his joy. If I perish, I perish. So what? That shall be my joy. It's no longer okay to compromise. Give all: everything you have. Please friends, boldly help me say to others to follow such a path. I am weak, completely unable to do this, but nevertheless I tell you that I have the faith to cling to Jesus so that it will all happen. His Kingdom is not be advanced through justification of our subtly selfish lifestyles. His Kingdom is moving forward through those who are not lukewarm, those noticing their endless flaws and passing them off as crumbs which God walks upon with joy, those taking the step of complete and holistic self giving.

Danielle just gave me a pixie stick and I ate it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.

That, is all I have to say to this entry.
Phil, I simply cannot wait for you to get back so I can bounce these ideas off of you.
All this has been going through my head.
(Including the compiling of debt, giving, living simply etc.)
-Abigail(dependable)

PS. I will finally be attending Providence Community this Sunday after a terrible churchfail at a small Presbyterian church last week. I thought that perhaps because the church was still small, 100 members that the ritualism and tradtional legalism would not be so present. Boy was I wrong! The only thing I enjoyed about the church was that they didn't take an offering, but rather left the "giving box" on a chair along side the door and you gave as you felt need.

Unknown said...

Phil, your comments are certainly thought-provoking. It is as with hearing Calvin and Bob speak at church, as they have experienced Christianity through the eyes of a different culture, and can offer perspectives we don't normally see from within our own culture. It is good to be continually reminded that God is advancing His kingdom throughout the entire globe, and not just in select corners of it, and we appreciate your reminders to that effect.

Dave and Sue Hoffman

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