Christian Simple Living
Is A Little Different!
Where Did The Idea for Simple Living Come From?
It's Not Your Grandfather's Simplicity!
Today's Radical Christian Simplicity
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 the ills secular environmental and social justice
programs attempt to ameliorate.
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Where Did the Idea for Simple Living Come From?
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.
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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,* 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.**
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.
* WorldWatch Institute: http://www.worldwatch.org/features/vsow/2003/11/12/; and
Share International:
http://www.share
** For example:Dieoff: http://dieoff.org/;A
World Scientists' Warning Briefing Book, and
Union of
Concerned Scientists: See synopsis at
http://deoxy.org/sciwarn.htm;
Puppetry for Christian living and simplicity
Please visit our collaborating organization, The New Community Project website:
www.newcommunityproject.org