Lately God has been doing a number on my heart and mind. He has been saying things to me like "How can you say you love the poor if you don't know anyone who is poor?" or "Hey Jamie, I gave you a passion for the church, for community, for justice, for the environment, for wholeness, for inclusiveness, would you just go and do something with these things already?" So maybe the second sentence isn't an exact quote, but you get the idea. For the last 8 years or so God has put this intense tugging on my heart to be a part of a Christian community that lives more closely to the model we are given of early Christianity in Acts.
"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."
I am realizing that there is so much truth and depth to what God has called the Church to be. I don't want this next bit to be a postmodern deconstructionist rant, but I see and sense that the American Church has greedily taken the form of capitalism and consumerism rather than the body/physical presence of Jesus in the world. I have seen in my own life that I too am guilty of losing site of my brother and sister, because I am more concerned with myself. Yet this is not at all what God has created the Church to be. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of the Church as his literal body. His presence here on earth. In order to understand this concept we have to understand that in order for the body to be effective all parts must work together. Yet look at the Churches, we are competing for members, for our geographical plot of land, for members wallets to pay for our glorious buildings and our slick media presentations. I'm not convinced that God is happy with the fact that we spend 90% of our budgets to maintain our massive facilities and hierarchical salaries. Let me ask you what else do we see Jesus' body doing? For one he serves others with it. He uses his hands to touch the leper, make the blind see, to feed 5000, to accept a nail and even to wash the filthy feet of his disciples. If we are his body should we not be doing the same? Wasn't Jesus body resurrected? Shouldn't the Church then live in the Resurrection? I could go on with this metaphor all day but I will leave that up to you. This is a portion of my anguish over the Church. I feel as though somewhere along the line we have missed a few things, a few big things. In the midst of this tension I absolutely love the Church and God has called me to look at things differently. He has called both Kelly and I to begin to embrace and live these values. When, where and how I am not positive.
I have been reading a lot about this river of thought and community called "New monasticism." The irony of New Monasticism is that it is not new at all. In fact it has very old roots. New Monasticism is a prophetic call of resurrection for the Church. I am not going to go into it much tonight because I am tired, but I will leave you with the 12 principles of this river. Here they are...
1) Relocation to Abandoned places of Empire
2) Sharing economic resources with fellow community members and the needy among us
3) Hospitality to the stranger
4) Lament for radical divisions within the church and our communities combined with an active pursuit of a just reconciliation
5) Humble submission to Christ's body - the church
6) Intentional formation in the way of Christ and the rule of the community along the lines of the old novitiate
7) Nurturing common life among the members of intentional community
8) Support the celibate singles alongside the monogamous married couples and their children
9) Geographical proximity to community members who share a common rule of life
10) Care for the plot of Gods earth given to us along with support of our local economies
11) Peacekeeping in the midst of violence and conflict resolution within communities along the lines of Matthew 18
12) Commitment to the disciplined contemplative life
These 12 principles make our hearts rejoice with hope and freedom for the Church. Our desire, in the not so distant future is to either be a part of community livings these principles or to form one ourselves. I encourage you that if these 12 grab you internal being and shake it at all, please look into it more. Check out TheSimpleway.org - Read books by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. They will be well worth your time. Also Id love to talk with you about it as well. That is all for now my friends.
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