To live "set apart....."

There is no doubt that Christ calls us to live differently, to live "set apart" for Him. To be foreigner in this land. But we are called to be in this land. So how do we actually do that? How can we live like Christ, in our world today? In our culture today?

It was said about 18th century Christian and politician William Wilberforce that “One of the first manifestations of… 'the great change’…was the contempt he felt for his wealth and the luxury he lived in…Seeds were sown almost immediately at the beginning of his Christian life, it seems, of the later passion to help the poor and to turn all his inherited wealth and his naturally high station into a means of blessing the oppressed...Simplicity and generosity were the mark of his life…riches were… ‘the means of honoring our heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind’…this was the way his mind worked: Everything in politics was for the alleviation of misery and the spread of happiness.” (excerpt from John Piper's book, "Amazing Grace in the Life of William WIlberforce)

Like Wilberforce, a sign of our faith in Christ should be our simplicity and our generosity. These are two qualities that I think have faded from the church recently, especially in our American culture. Therefore one of the biggest ways we can live differently in our culture is to live simply and generously, recognizing that everything we have been given - as Wilberforce recognized - is a means of honoring God and loving others. All we have – our money, our job, all of our blessings – is not ours to do with as we please, but is a way to join with Christ in spreading God's redemption and love in this world.

This is something that God has been teaching me and emphasizing so much to me lately. It is not right that so few live with so much and so many live with so little. As we come to know Christ, we become less and less settled about the reality of the world around us: we, like Wilberforce, begin to feel contempt for all that we have when so many have so little. At least we should begin to feel this way. I think I was able to ignore this unsettled feeing for a long time, as I think many others have been able to as well, because of the culture we live in. But even if we try to ignore it, our hearts tell us that there is something wrong with how things are. God makes it clear in His Word that this is inherently evil: "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God" (Proverbs 14:31) God is not saying it is just a nice thing to do to help the poor: He is saying we are literally showing Him contempt - basically saying we hate Him - when we oppress the poor. It is not an option: if we claim to love God, then we must love and care for the poor and oppressed! Even though America,and much of the Western world, has helped us think it is "normal," and even right, that we have so much and some have so little, this is a lie that will be seen clearly tyhrough the truths of the Bible and through just a few minutes of honest reflection: it is not normal for there to be such an incredible divide in wealth. It is not normal for so many to be oppressed while so few are free. This is not how our world was meant to be,or how it shold remain. Just because some - because of family,location,or whatever other belssing from the Lord - are born able with and able to work for wealth,does not make this right. God blesses some to be a blessing to others, to do His work and be His hands and feet. And even though the culture may at times lend a hand to thinking the dispartiy in the world right now is normal, even though we may get used to how things are, this does not mean this is how they should remain. God has called His people to STAND - throughout the Bible and now today, He commands His people to affect and help change the culture they are in, according to His vision. He calls us to help make things they way He intended them to be. And the imensity of wealth some have while others have close to nothing is not how God intended things to be.

I would take it so far as to say that we are helping bring about oppression if we are comfortable with the way things are right now - which, as Proverbs states, means we are showing contempt for God by how we are living. I believe that by the way we live, by the things we buy and the opulence of our lifestyles, we are not just allowing, but promoting the oppression of others. That is why I do not think it is enough to say that because we go to church on Sundays and give money to a charity every so often we are living differently. I believe more needs to be done - I believe our very lifestyles need to change - or we need to at least attempt to change them - in order to resist oppressing the poor.

So how do we do that? I think we can start with one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s principles in his Nonviolence Pledge: "Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free." I think this is a key principle for us as the church today, espeically the American church today. A spirit of selflessness is not one that is naturally bred in us Americans - we are told from a young age to do all that we can for ourselves, to seek the American Dream.to work hard and get what we "deserve." But really, this is opposite of what Christ tells us - but we as Americans have gotten really good at smehow twisting the whole message of the Bible to agree with the American Dream. What Christ actually says is to be so unattached to personal belongings,to selfish ambition, to what we want, that we would be able to drop it in a heartbeat to follow what He tells us. This means that we are to live in the reality that there is MORE to life than US. More to life than what I want,and maybe more than my dreams and what I always thought my life was about. This reality leads us to live, instead of doing all that we can to accomplish our goals and our ends, in a way that looks to Christ's bigger purposes and bigger vision. And because He told us to love others and work for the redempton of others in this world, truly living differently for Him means being willing to give up something I want - maybe a part of my dreams, maybe some money, maybe a part of my lifestyle - to bring Christ's freedom to all people. Working for Christ's dream and not our own means working to bring His justice, freedom, and peace - His salvation - above working to accomplish what I want. A selfless lifestyle is what Christ calls us to. But the great part about it is the more we separate Christ from the American Dream, the more we will see that this selfless lifetyle is way more in line with the dreams and passions He has given us than the self-centered "all about me" purposes our culture tells us to live for.

"Sacrificing personal wishes" can take on all shapes and sizes. As was said about Wilberforce, though, I think it means we are all called to live more simply than the world around us. We are called to not hold as tightly to money or value personal possesisons as much. There is a reason Christ talked so muchaboutmoney - He wanted to teach us to find our treasure elsewhere, to not place as much value on it as others. Living simply and not placing as much value on the material is the most counter-cultural, selfless way we can live for Christ in this world.

For example, there is an amazing organization called Advent Conspiracy. (www.adventconspiracy.org) They have come up with a simple but radical way to sacrifice personal wishes: instead of spending hundreds of dollars buying gifts for others on Christmas - and instead of asking others to do the same for you - give that money to people that really need it. They choose to sponsor digging wells in Africa to provide clean water for families that have none. Water. Talk about equaling out the incredible disparity between rich and poor: how can we not do this? Make Christmas what it is really about: spending time with family, fellowshipping and worshipping Christ, and give the money that you do not need to help provide people with one of their most basic needs: water.

Other people I've met ask family and friends to donate to a certain organization instead of buying them birthday presents. We can give up coffee (or go down to buying only one cup per day!), limit the amount of times we eat out a month, limit the amount of clothes we buy, etc, and give away what we would have spent. We can be more intentional in general about spending less money on clothes and other “extras” and giving that money away - like to an organization that is doing community development and nation-building, an organization that is truly helping make things more equal, more the way God intended.

I have a personal rule for myself that I do not buy new clothes unless it is something I need to do the work God has called me to (which I know is subjective!). Something that is objective though, is that every time you buy new clothes, whether you really need it or not, make a rule for yourself that you have to give an equal number of clothing away. If you buy two new shirts, go in your closet and take two shirts out to donate. You'll be suprised at how much you really don't need! Every time I have done this, I've realized there are at least as many clothes as I've bought, if not more, that I have not worn in months.

We can also be careful of the things that we do buy. Without us knowing, many of the clothes, food, electronics,and other prodcts we buy fuel oppression in other countries. Often we are supporting child-labor, the sex-trade, unfair wages, and civil war - we need to look into the products we buy and make sure we are not unknowingly supporting oppression! For example, right now we are fueling civil war in the Congo because of a mineral that is neccessary for our cell phones and laptops. So before you buy an electornic device like these, make sure it is not one that is using minerals from the mines that are feuling war, rape, and genocide in the Congo! (http://blog.sojo.net/2010/09/03/human-atrocities-in-congo-what-can-we-do/) There are resources all over the internet and elsewhere that willl help you make sure you are not oppressing others - it is up to us to make the effort!

Other practical ways to live differently and sacrificially (depending on where you are in life): be a foster family, adopt - use the blessings and resources that God has given you to always be taking in the widow and the orphan, the stranger, the one who has less than you. Always be mentoring, discipling, reaching out: pray about and find someone that you can teach and disciple in the way of Christ. This is our mandate in the world!

Be an advocate. Be involved. Christ has called us to be His voice, and when we stop doing that, injustice grows and His love is not seen. Deep, systemic change occurs when Christ’s love is taught and lived out – and how can that happen if His people are not speaking up or living out His commands? Election time is always the perfect opportunity to speak out and live differently! Speak up and demand politicans who will work for Christ's truths in this world! Have a high standard for who you vote for and who you support - do not follow the partisan ways of the world and, unfortunately today, the church as well. Support those leaders who are actively living out Christ's truths, and who will truly stand for those! It is Christ's truths that will change the world: his justice, mercy, peace, and love - so take advantage of the blessing God has given us of living in a nation where our voice can be heard, and demand a politian who will seek to further these truths when in office - and who is furthering them in his/her life. During election season right now there are dirty, partisan politics all around us: politicians are focusing more on winning their election than on the issues, and we are hard-pressed to find a politician who is living out the truths we see in the Word.‎ "Only when we have people who will win the right way will we have people who will govern the right way." If a politican is not even running in a moral and just way, how can we trust him/her to govern in a moral and just way? We need to speak up more, demanding a higher standard for our politicians, letting them know we care about people and the issues, and will not vote for someone who cannot even run in a way that lets me know they care about what I care about. This is the perfect time to live differently - what if the Church stood up now and demanded something different, a different kind of politics, a higher standard among politicians? This would make the world take notice, and see the character of Christ in the standard we demand. See this article to read more about how to demand greater morality in our politics and politicians, thereby showing more of Christ to the world:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/10/07/7-steps-to-civility-this-election-season/

When God used Gideon to fight for Him, Gideon very purposefully yelled "For the Lord, and for Gideon" as he ran into battle. (Judges 7:20) It is essential that we as well yell both and see the neccessity for both. We as people can do nothing good or monumental without God working in us and through us. But if we throw uipour hands and sit waiting for God to do everyhting, we are being lazy. God wants to use us! He wants to make us His hands and feet, His tools - and we must be willing! Just sitting and not doing, not loving or living any differently, is denying God the use of His tool. He wants to use us, even in the smallest things in our everyday live’s, to affect change for Him. We are not our own – our lives are His. We are called to partner with Him in His work!

“All men desire peace, but very few desire those things that make for peace.” (Thomas A. Kempis) It is one thing to say we are Christians, to say we want His will to be done in this world and for all people to know Him - and it is another thing to actually do the things that will make all that happen. I think any Christian you talked to would say they desire peace in this world, but how many of us are living our daily lives in such a way as to promote peace? Are we actively speaking out in favor of politicans, policies, and legislation that promote peace? Are the products we are using promoting war, or peace? Do our interactions with those around us promote peace? The same questions can be asked regarding the kind of life God has called us to live: I think we would all say we want to do God's will in this wolrd, but are we willing to do what it takes to actually see His will done in this world? Are we willing to give things up that make us more comfortable? Are we willing to live in a way that puts others before ourselves? Are we willing to put in the extra time, effort, and heart that it takes to live differently for Christ in our culture? I pray that as we come to know Christ more, we would naturally seek to do this. I pray that, like Wilberforce, we would see all our possessions and all our blessings as "a means of honoring our heavenly Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind." Through His Spirit in us, I pray that He would give us the strength to have this perspective daily!