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It was tough living in the First Century Roman Empire. For most people it was cruel and dominated by brutal self-interest, slavery, and poverty. People tended to respond by saying, “look out for yourself and the devil take the hindmost”, so Jesus’ message of love and non-violence was quite a radical change.

The early church took Jesus' message and turned it into "The Way" - a radically new way of living. It was based on caring for others, and living justly and peacefully which applied to every aspect of their lives. It radically changed their relationships with their neighbors and the Roman Empire. It changed their economic and household systems from self-serving hoarding of money and goods into putting their energy and resources toward the welfare of the community… and it also got them fed to the lions.

The modern concept of living simply springs from this ancient, if dangerous, tradition.

Christian Simple Living is a Little Different

Christian simple living is different than most secular simple living, environmental, and social justice programs. Secular programs (many of which are very effective and worthy of support) usually aim to address specific contemporary problems such as environmental destruction or poverty, or attempt to make life more enjoyable through simplifying lifestyles.

Christian Simplicity, on the other hand, is a holistic way of life. It is an all-encompassing way of living that frees us from the tyranny of a secular, ego-driven, profit-obsessed world. It gives us a joyful clarity of being and purpose based on the unconventional notion of mindfully loving and caring for each other and the world God has given us. It is a Christ-driven, compassionate, and responsible way of living which encompasses and empowers our day-to-day lives – and, fortunately, it also addresses most of the ills secular environmental and social justice programs attempt to ameliorate.

It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Simplicity

Western society is blindly, selfishly lurching toward an unsustainable social, economic, and environmental future that will damage far more people than the Caesars could have imagined. And keep in mind that today’s ‘American Empire’ is far larger and more powerful than Rome, and what we do in our modern empire will affect far more people far longer than what the Romans did.

As you read this, we are inflicting damage on people around the world as well as on our own grandchildren’s future, through policies and practices designed to ensure our comfort and security regardless of the cost to others. Economists tell us that the gap between rich and poor is growing steadily larger virtually everywhere in the world,¹ and some experts predict that as a result we will be facing environmental and economic collapse at some point in the not-too-distant future.²

If Christ taught us to love our enemies and not to put ourselves in the place of honor at the table, then how can western Christians justify satisfying our every wish by using up the world’s resources to satisfy ourselves while leaving in our wake increasing economic and social injustice, decreased natural resources, and monumental amounts of pollution? Is this the love Christ taught us to live by?

Today's Radical Christian Simplicity

We need Jesus’ and the early Church’s radicalism as much today as it was needed in the First Century, and although the term ‘simple living’ sounds innocuous if not wimpy, it is anything but! It is a true radicalism that  rich, powerful people in the First World do not want to deal with.

Today, in the tradition of the early church we have to apply the radical criterion of love to Twenty First Century consumer culture and the ‘American Empire’:

• We have to buy, use, and trash much less of everything because of the damage our high rate of consumption does to so many people.

• We have to admit to our lack of caring for God’s earth, and change our destructive behavior because we injure so many others by degrading it - perhaps for millennia to come.

• We have to change our personal finances by re-thinking our faith values and financial expectations and by investing our money so it helps, rather than harms others.

• We have to go way out of our way, to work for social justice and peace in our own communities as well as around the world.

• And most important, we need to let The Spirit re-create us into more loving, accepting, and responsible people, who "live simply so others might simply live."

This is Good News for the World and Good News for Us … because it brings genuine freedom, joy, and fulfillment:

• Freedom  from having to live as prisoners of consumer culture and its multinational corporations and marketing executives.

• Joy, in finding ourselves and discovering what we can really accomplish.

• Fulfillment in using our lives to make a real difference for God's people.

But We Need Courage!

A simple life is not for the faint-of-heart. It takes more courage, commitment, and willingness to take risks than going along for the ride with consumer culture – and it won’t win us many popularity contests because our society does not want its parade rained on. Consumer society will fight back - hard.

Are we up to this challenge? Can we really make a difference?

The pages on this site provide information on new ways of living The Way in the Twenty First Century, as well as articles and discussions designed to support the Church’s transition from a co-opted institution to a vibrant group of committed people, living simply, peacefully, and justly in a complex, self-interested world.

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