That’s “radical”

Just a warning again for those three of you who actually read this blog; I’m not sure today really has much excitement or coherence… Just a few thoughts.

You know how some words kind of hang around for a while and become, in a sense, the word of the month?  Maybe this is just something odd that happens in my head that no one else has ever experienced… Anyway, by my observation, one of the “words of the month,” or even words of the quarter, has been radical.  Let me offer  a bit of context.  I’ve been hearning this word in the context of being radical disciples of Christ, living radical lifestyles for Christ.

I have been known to be wrong every once in a while, so I’ll just throw my thoughts out as a form of thinking out loud… My feelings on “radical” are somewhat few, but pointed.  Radical in the context of following Christ seems to me to be typically watered down, either on purpose or without knowing.  Here’s what I mean.  I think that “radical” by it’s very nature is in a way, unfamiliar, totally other, something not recognized by the majority of society.

So, with that in mind, what does a radical life in Christ really look like?  Especially since there has been a call or challenge to radical living.  Is radical doing what we’ve always done while inserting token conversations of Christ?  Is radical making decisions and living a life that is outside the boundaries of comfort and familiarity?  Does radical mean quitting my job to begin releasing myself from the empire?  Does radical mean practicing a completely different form of economics that what we know now, such as jubilee?  What does living radically for Christ really mean?  And if and when we can nail that down, or at least have some semblence of a definition, do we have the courage to follow the convictions God has placed on our hearts.  Or, will we turn a deaf ear to James when he says, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (emphasis added)

the Beast…

If you haven’t yet read Jesus for President, I highly recommend it.  Most of, if not all of, my thoughts have been sparked by one of the chapters on this book.  So, for the sake of time, and my laziness refusing to italisize, or quote specific lines, I’ll let those few of you who actually read this decode what thoughts are mine and which ones come from the book.  Just a hint… It should be pretty easy to tell; scholarly language vs. construction-worker babble…

The greastest sin of policial imagination is thinking there is no other way than the filthy rotten system we have today…Is it possible that we can’t see the destructiveness of our economy not because it’s terrible but because deep down, we feel that it’s necessary and therefore it’s hopeless to criticize it?

I have seen a beast.  He stakes his residence in the depths.  Keep a sharp eye, for this beast is not the hunter, but the hunted.  Beware of those who pierce his boundaries.  Slithering through the dark places, gliding through the rock, he seeks not to rule; but rule he does.  As a slave to his master he submits; wars are waged, blood is shed, what was once “good” is now polluted.  His captors bind him, selling him to the highest bidder, or those with greatest army.

Ignorance is bliss… We are all slaves, some by choice, others by necessity.  “We cannot live without this system,” we say.  Why ask questions?  No one else does, no one else cares.  Why should I?  “There’s no beast here.”  Ah, but there is…

We who are followers of Christ must understand that we are set apart in all areas of life, including economics… We must understand that Christ does not offer reform to these systems, or even a better government, rather he offers another world altogether.  Scum of the earth… this is Paul’s snapshot of the early Jesus movement.  Do we have the courage to follow?

Carving out time for God…

Isn’t it sad that we have to now “make” time for God, as if time is a commodity that we have mined on our own and God is outside of it’s boundaries…

Nearly a month into working three part-time jobs, sadly, I feel like I’m back in the boat of “making time for God.”  It’s almost like I’m paying bills.  I know it needs to be done, but I can’t, for the life of me, just sit down and do it, because I would be “wasting time.”

Then again, when I let this concept roll over in my head for a while, I wonder where I got the idea that I am “supposed” to have these special, one-to-one, deep, heartfelt conversations with God in order to be right with him.  My hunch is, I’ve got a screw loose.  I remember C.S. Lewis once writing that, in our relationship with God, we are to be like a horse and it’s master.  We don’t do certain things to receive certain other things, gifts or blessings.  Rather, we live as we were created to live, for the admiration of our Master for simply being and living as He created us to be.

So, what am I getting at?  I’m not really sure because my eyes can’t stay open long enough for me to read back over what I wrote so that it will make some semblance of sense…

Hopefully more coherency later…