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Contemporary culture is plagued by the passion to posses.
That's the opening line from Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster. Go to the link and buy it at Amazon for 98 cents. I'm 60 pages in and I can already tell that it is going to get me into a lot of trouble. Here's a couple quick excerpts:
"Today we need to hear again that God alone is worthy of our worship and obedience. The idolatry of affluence is rampant. Our greed for more dictates so many of our decisions. Notice how the fourth commandment of the Sabbath rest strikes at the heart of this everlasting itch to get ahead. We find it so very hard to rest when, by working, we can get the jump on everyone else. There is no greater need today than the freedom to lay down the heavy burden of getting ahead." (20)
"The attractive ability to surrender our rights for the good of others is central to everything about simplicity." (55)
"It is quite possible to obey the law of the tithe without ever dealing with our mammon lust. We can feel that our monthly check to our church meets the new law of Jesus, and never once root out reigning covetousness and greed. It is quite possible to tithe and at the same time oppress the poor and needy." (59)
WOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!
4 comments:
that last one is a "OH SNAP".
Found this comment already on your site without a real response to it - so, although I didn't write it I am re-posting it because this person is probably thinking the same thing after reading this...
This response if found in response to the "RevRock in the Pulpit" post...
i have three minutes left of your sermon. i am stunned. shocked. i appreciate your words. i do think that americans need to "spread the wealth".
on the other hand, with three minutes left there has been no mention of your church. no mention of the fact that you are preaching from a brand new multi-million dollar facility that took years to build. i don't understand how a church that just spent so much money on a building can sit back and listen and not consider what they have just done.
how many kids in third world countries could have been saved if the grove decided to get one less flat screen tv for the foyer? i understand that your church does a lot - but just as you said... shouldn't the grove be sacrificing even more? you talked about the square footage of homes... how about the square footage of church buildings? you spoke of people entering homes and asking how many people lived there? what about your church building? if your church is about this "mission" open up your building. change it to low-income housing. let people live there for free. instead of promoting concerts and art shows draw the trash of society and let them LIVE where you worship. wouldn't that be fulfilling the greatest command "for the least of these..."
i would love to see a church, someday, actually do this. actually, literally open their doors and do this. probably won't happen in america.
yes, i appreciate your words but i'm not sure how a guy who promotes concerts for a living and goes to work every day at a church that has more space and is richer than many cities in africa can really be saying it.
it is your process and i wish you well on your journey. i hope you don't take offense to my "soap box".
i'd love to hear from anyone that goes to the church. thoughts or anything. i'm really not trying to be harsh, just real, with my feedback.
In Dan's defense I do not believe this is the correct place to discuss such things.
I'm sure he'd much rather discuss this privately in an email, or in person. But that is a little hard when the comment is posted as anonymous.
Also in his defense, how does a church acquire a million dollar missions budget?
I suppose if you were to hold a bake sale, a million dollars to reach the opressed could easily be raised. Cookies are like gold nowadays.
Sarcasm aside, there is MUCH more to it all than wild idealism.
I guess it is easier to write a 7 paragraph anonymous rant on the Internet blasting one person and an entire church, than it is to actually go and make some real change based on the ideals you believe in.
The third world is waiting for you.
-Another Anonymous Lurker.
It's difficult to respond to anonymous people. That's why I didn't respond last time. This is a real process that I am going through and I am sharing my thoughts with the world. I have as much problem with the consumer attitude in the American church including my own as the next person. That's why I'm bringing messages about helping the poor and overlooked and I'm writing about making my life more simple. I appreciate your willingness to correct my sinfulness but I am in the process of making big changes in my life and I repent for a lot of the excess my life has been about up to this point. If this is truly going to be a conversation then I'd like to hear the process that God has anonymous and Annie in. What are the things on a day to day basis that God is putting on your heart to make the kingdom of God your number one priority? I'd like to take the posture of a student if there is something more I should be learning. And please leave an email or way to get a hold of you if you really want to work through this. Thanks.
ps. My blog welcomes people that disagree with me. I'm always willing to learn when I'm out of line. I only ask that we are nice in the process.
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