I have a dream

My boss gave me a book to read yesterday; The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. When this happens you feel kind of obliged to read it. Given that it was also highly recommended by, among others, Tony Campolo, Rob Bell, Tom Sine and Brian McClaren I really felt I should give it some attention.

I’m only half way through the book, but I am already extremely challenged by its message. It confirms a message that has been coming to me time and again over the last two weeks from a wide range of different sources. The message in its most basic form is, live simply so others can simply live. However, I think that requires some explanation as it is very easy to misinterpret that as nothing more than the naive dream of a liberal, social activist.

Forty years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. If there is one thing he is remembered for saying it is, “I have a dream.” These days the prevailing dream in the world is probably what has become known as the American dream. I think it is more accurate to talk of the Selfish dream, as the values embodied within it are to be found as much in Europe and the rest of the western world as they are in America.

For me living simply so others can simply live is about not only rejecting the Selfish dream but embracing the Community dream. It is about embracing a dream where the needs of others are at least as equally important to me as my own needs. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and most important command. And the second command is like the first: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”

If we truly loved God with our whole life then it would be a natural overflow of that love for us to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are very good at loving ourselves, making sure we are well cared for and having many things beyond those that we need. We work hard to surround ourselves with comfort and avoid suffering. The truth is we don’t work anything like as hard to alleviate the suffering of those around us. We should weep and repent over our selfish indifference. To quote MLK once again; “At the end of the twentieth century most of us will not have to repent of the great evil we have done, but of the great apathy that has prevented us from doing anything.”

Following Jesus is not just about personal holiness anymore than it is just about community living. Following Jesus is about both. All and Everything. Whole life discipleship that affects every single aspect of or lives. The featured topic of the day on desiringgod.org is, “Faithfulness Is Better Than Life - Faithfulness means that you trust God and obey, no matter what impact it has on your safety or standard of living.” In answering the question, what does it mean that faithfulness is better than life, John Piper suggests that it means to “set your face like flint against the American dream.”

Anyone who knows me and who is reading this is probably thinking, “What a hypocrite! Who are you to say any of that to anybody else?” They would be right to think that. I haven’t got it right, not even close. I just want to begin to respond to the challenge. I want to respond to the love of God in a way that changes me, not comforts me. I have said before that I have some fear about going to Ghana in the summer. Today I still have that fear, but I don’t know whether is a fear of how much it might change me or a fear that it won’t change me at all!

I stumbled across this youtube clip while getting my thoughts together for this blog post. It is well worth 3 or 4 minutes of your time.



For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15