It’s Time To Push Our Congregation’s Limits
admin May 8th, 2009
The time is ripe for simple livers to foment a change – to seriously push the simple living agenda, not just as an ‘alternative’ to consumer culture, but as the way we have to live if we are to survive into any kind of reasonable future.
The recession has created the most fertile ground for the growth of simple living we have seen in several generations, and we shouldn’t miss this opportunity…
And I believe the change should start in our congregations.
Where we’ve come to
We have witnessed the nasty turn our culture has taken over the past half century: the race into increasing materialism, self-gratification, and the belief that making a lot of money in any way possible, and piling up as much stuff as we can, is the highest and best use of our time and resources.
This, coupled with “the end justifies the means” thinking, means that most of our society feels that it is just fine to ignore or turn a blind eye to the social, economic, and environmental damage done in the pursuit of these goals, as well as abandoning the ethics and values that we used to live by, and which are now considered ‘quaint’ and obstructionist.
We see the evidence of this every day. Our communities are awash in stuff we don’t need, food that is killing us, and debt we can’t repay. Globalized conglomerates virtually control whole societies and their governments while impoverishing many and decimating their environments in order to produce ever more ‘product’, increase profits, and escalate their market capitalization and share price – to feed our consumer machine.
Supporting all of this, of course, is the huge and voracious banking and securities industry that feeds it with “other people’s money” while nearly bankrupting us in the process.
Here’s the point
Almost all of us has been sucked into this machine, putting us in the unwilling position of participating in and condoning it – every time we buy ‘product’ or services, use any media, or invest our money, because virtually none of it comes without sticky strings to the whole Consumer Industrial Complex (CIC) and the detritus of its operations.
In defense of our lives and communities, some of us have taken up simple living to help us avoid participating in this death spiral with the hope of making our lives, congregations, communities, and the broader world better, more caring places… and not in small part because Jesus taught us that this is Kingdom living.
What difference can we possibly make? There are few of us compared to the size of consumer culture as a whole and the vast business complex supporting it. We certainly have little money or power to change things, other than the actions each of us personally take.
But the time is ripe for change!
There has not been a time over the past 30 years when so many people have been so receptive to our message and way of living. The Recession has been a wakeup call for many who previously paid little attention to their faith, values, or lifestyle. Many of these folks are now ready because their consumer chickens have come home to roost, which makes this the ideal ‘teachable moment.’
A modest proposal
Since we are a small group, I propose, that we begin where we are – changing our own congregations.
Why?
I’ve noticed, and probably you have too, that our congregations, regardless of denomination, are often as much a part of the CIC as anyone. Yet we have been taught in these very congregations, not to do these things because they are destructive of others as well as ourselves. We have been taught to care for others rather than primarily looking out for ourselves. We have been taught that wealth, money, and power are not to be our concerns, but rather that we should be building up our communities and our relationships with others – even caring for strangers and our perceived enemies. Yet each Saturday or Sunday most of us worship in beautiful, expensive buildings with soft seats and A/C. Sitting in this comfort we are rarely directly confronted with the disconnect between our values and our behavior.
When was the last time your pastor or a congregation member asked you personally,” if Jesus said we should not put money first, then why do you have such an expensive car or house, or such an expansive waistline?”
The Church may have become the problem rather than the solution. In practice, not just in sermons, The Church demands relatively little of us in terms of how we actually live our day-to-day lives. It most often doesn’t hold us accountable for whether or not we walk the Christian talk. The Church has allowed Jesus’ parables such as “the rich young man,” to become entertaining stories rather than directives for our lives. The old joke about the Ten Commandments becoming the ten suggestions really isn’t a joke in consumer society.
So there is work to do in our congregations as well as in our own lives. I believe that we need to bring Christian simple living into the mainstream of our congregation’s norms, values, and actions. We need to say, and have our churches and our ministers say, that living simply is the way, if we care at all about the world or Jesus’ Church. And the Church should expect us to act on it.
What can we do?
Maybe we need to give up the idea that in church we must always be nice and polite, and instead be honest and confront these difficult issues, even if it causes rumbling in the pews – some of it directed at us.
We could:
- · Have a very direct talk with the pastor and/or the church board about what we believe the congregation should do to begin living more simply and walk the talk;
· Request a series of sermons and church school sessions on this topic;
· Question where the congregation puts its money – a local bank, mutual funds, or, in socially responsible funds, community investment funds, micro loans, etc. Then ask the same questions of each family.
· Ask where the congregation and its families shop, what we buy, and how much. Are we really only buying what we need? Are we using socially and environmentally responsible stores, brands, and products? Do we really use what God gave us in a loving, caring way – or do we spend it mostly on ourselves?
· Propose a new set of formal, published norms and values for the congregation as an organization and its member families that support the practice of simplicity and genuine loving kindness as marks of the church in this place;
· Start intimate discussion groups where members can say what they truly feel about these issues and come to grips with their own successes and failures with simple living;
· Start support groups for members trying to practice these principles – it’s NOT easy and we all need encouragement, support and hard information to make these kinds of shifts.
What Would You Do?
Got some better suggestions? Got comments?
More than ever we need your input for how we can move this agenda forward before it’s too late, if it isn’t already.