Intro and Chapter 1
August 9, 2006
Have not had time to put down any thoughts yet, traveling between home, Wilmington and Beth’s. I will post some thoughts tomorrow but if anyone wants to start out with some thoughts, feel free. You can just add comments to this post.
Some initial feelings as I started off…he definitely is not hesitant to say what is wrong with the Church and Christianity as a whole. He brings a pretty strong taste of criticism to his writing. This style can be irritating, but it wasn’t for me so far. And I guess that is because he is someone who really has actions to back up what he is saying.
In the first chapter he talked about how he had become a believer but had no idea what it means to be a follower. In another section he comments how most good things have been said far too many times and just need to be lived. He is attempting in this book to give us examples of how it can look today to really follow Jesus. And these examples are pretty radical. So do we all need to quit our jobs and live downtown with each other???
While he is not the most eloquent of writers, his lifestyle speaks louder than what he even needs to express with words. My favorite part of the chapter was when he admitted that he was giving all of the proceeds to charity. It was funny how he realized that he was taking the chance of tooting his own horn by letting us know, but to me, it showed that there really are people who are giving it all away. I mean, I can’t imagine myself giving all of the proceeds of my book away, that is just impressive.
To answer Michael’s question about whether we should give all of our money away and start living like he does, I can only think of a couple responses. Of course most of us have more people to support than he does, so we cannot abandon our responsibilities, no question about that. But, I have seen some of my friends be so concerned about providing for their children and their spouses in a physical (financial) sense that they have limited passion for God now. It is like the ultimate excuse for not trusting in God. What could be a better one, I mean your child needs food! Yet, as that responsibility for providing becomes so crucial to their lives, I believe that they lose touch with who really is providing…they (and I have seen myself go through this) become so consumed with the providing that they forget what it felt like to be with God. I have even seen how doubts arise about Christianity and they then start questioning the validity of what they have believed so long.
The emphasis for taking care of ourselves financially is way too strong, and providing for our family is very important, but our sinful nature combined with the materialism of ourselves and our Christian neighbors makes it too easy for it to become an excuse.
And one more thing, are you really providing for your family when you have no spiritual or emotional backbone?
While I feel I am being hard on our need to physically provide for our family, I have to make a dialectical response (Michael and Charlie would find that word funny, so sorry for the inside joke). The only thing I have to say in regard to our need to physically(financially) provide for our family is that Jesus definitely understood its importance. Whenever he ministered to someone, he always met their physical needs first. Meeting someones physical need surely allows us to be freed up to focus on the Lord, no doubt.
Overall, I I think the first step toward charity is not giving all of your money away but giving your life away. God captures the hearts of those who have given their lives to Him, then the giving is authentic, and the giving of our money is just a consequence of the life already given.
Anyway, sorry for the essay, but I think charity is a huge issue – no question I struggle giving and even thinking about living like Claiborn does. It has been no doubt a struggle to enter into a profession where I feel like I would have a tough time (to say the least) providing for a family if Melissa got pregnant, so this is very pertinent for me.
Well we are off to a good start. We will just have to reign Matthew in with his essays
Michael’s question about how we respond is probably the number one issue that this book will cause us to think about. But I guess what has had the most impact on me is thinking, wait a minute if I am going to follow Christ pursuing anything else ahead of Him is not an option. Christ is pretty clear about what it means to follow Him. So for me to think well maybe I will follow Him once I get financially safe is not an option. For us to think, well Shane is just one of those people that can live that way, is to say that Christ does not demand us all to love others as ourselves to pursue Him before anything else, to love our enemies and to trust in His ability to provide.
Specifically, in Chapter 1, I thought is analogy of spiritual bulimia is right on. We have a lot of people in the church today who take in a lot of christian stuff and spit it back out at people without processing what they have taken in and allow it to change them. I am certainly guilty of spiritual bulimia.
This book has been good for me to consider how much do I really need.
The physical need/spiritual need debate is interesting here, I’ve discussed this in the past with friends and it is a topic at mars hill. When missionaries go to another country, should they first meet the physical needs (food, clothing, shelter) or should they first bring the message of Jesus?
Rob Bell says we need to first make sure they have food before we bring our agenda. I think I agree, I guess the question is how far do we go. Do we solve every hunger issue and then finally share? Or what about the idea that Jesus meets a need in someone that goes beyond (or transcends) the needs we have on earth?
Also, to know Jesus doesn’t just get you ready to go to heaven – to know Jesus brings a knowledge of how to live well right now (righteousness means right living). So maybe if we get to the root of the issue (them not knowing God who teaches us the right way to live) they can eventually pull their society out of the chaos that has ensued from evil ways of living. I feel that in many ways why America has been so successful is because we have been built on good values and hard work (Protestant work ethic).
So anyways, just realized im getting off the topic…but I think these kind of questions are good for us to think about. Where is the line where we have met our needs and we can then move on? Or do I have this backwards? Is this saying that we cannot be seek after the Lord if we do not have food and shelter? We may say, “of course not! we can seek after God in the midst of nothing.” But then think about how we react when we really don’t have much. Or can we even relate to that, because we’ve always had so much.
The thing that I keep struggling with is where does need end and want start? The Bible study group that I am in discussed this last week, and our sermon last week was also on this subject.
Interesting to bring in wants to this. It is probably good to think about what was once a want for us and our culture, and what now has turned into a need because we have had it so long. To be without it now would cause so much distress that it would get in the way of our relationship with God.
I think it is helpful to think of needs versus wants in terms of what is motivating us towards something. I know for me I can experience what I think is a need but when I look at why I think I need it, I realize that it was because it would help me fulfill an image that I want to portray or something like that. We probably need a lot less than we think. On to chapters 2 and 3. I guess Matthew, Beth and I will have to pick of the slack this next week as Mom and Michael will be on their cross country adventure.
I am enjoying the book and find it extremely challenging! One of his 1st statements is how distant christians are from actual human suffering and this seems so wrong when you look at how Jesus ministered! Can we just offer people Jesus without showing them Jesus? I think not.. maybe that’s why we fail to really portray to the world what Jesus looks like. People want to SEE love, mercy and justice in us before they would ever accept what God has to offer. Not to say God can’t reveal himself to others but maybe what he really wants is to change us before he allows us to see him change others. I love the verse “no eye has seen nor ear heard nor mind conceivedwhat God has prepared for those who love him.” So like Shane we should be excited about what he has for us when we seek to love him and others with our whole heart! More later… this is fun.