Trying to follow

We’ve had a fabulous discussion over at the Home Sweet Mortgage post, and I’d love to continue it. The thing is, the direction I would really like to take it is into the area of creatively brain storming how a Christians might live and function if they decided Debt really was completely unacceptable.

I’m not saying it is (Mindy and I have chosen to take loans out for her to finish school), but I’m contemplating what things might look like if we firmly believed that it was. You see, I think too often we are quick to interpret and justify away some of scripture because we can’t figure out how it would “work” in our world today. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t believe in non-violence (a topic for another post). I think this is also why most people give the “buying is better then renting” statement and then give the short financial advice to back it up.

Again, I’m not saying buying is bad, I’m just saying maybe we can think of ways to think of all of it in a completely new way. Jac, mentioned people in the church giving others loans. That’s a neat idea that is outside the box of what we ever consider. I want to brainstorm ideas like that.

So, the floor is open. The one rule is that what ever idea you present, it has to be given with the assumption that Debt is unacceptable and not an option.

How do we live? were do we live? College? Cars? the floor is yours…

Note: I’ve been posting these posters on Friday’s sans commentary in hope’s that it would create a discussion. The only person that’s engaged me in discussion about it has been my mother.

She pointed out that all the women in the pictures look like actresses/models/famous people (which they are), and that it doesn’t seem as real as it does just dressing up. In other words she wondered if these pictures actually force people to think about the reality of domestic violence, or instead make it seem even more fictitious.

I’m curious to know others thoughts. Do these images cause you to think about the reality of domestic violence? Are they just one of the posts you breeze past without much of a thought?

ACT is the new campaign brand of Women’s Aid:
admit domestic violence is a problem, call it by its name, talk to someone.

My friends, Chris and Rebecca, are on a long journey learning about themselves and serving in a community in Uganda. They have thoroughly been enjoying their journey and their experience has been wonderful to hear about and grow from. I wanted to continue a small series highlighting some of the great insight that they’ve been sharing with folks through their emails.

I think sometimes since we have so much knowledge and info at our fingertips we don’t see the greatness and glory of God, because we don’t need to. We have everything we need in our own home
to meet our own needs. We don’t need to worship a God who created everything, because we have everything we need and if we need something, we can usually find it.
It is a challenge we face more in the West simply because of our self sufficient mentalities. In essence we end up worshiping man instead of God. And if you say that you don’t worship man then look at society and who is given glory, man or God? We are products of our culture. To say that we are somehow removed from our culture and society would be a big mistake. Even as Christians we are
susceptible, our worldview affects all we do, and believe me I have a much different worldview than a Ugandan does. For example the question, how far is too far to walk? We were asked this during our
class, and the response of a Ugandan is far different then my response. Ugandans will walk many times 20 or 30 miles one way to then return 20 or 30 miles back all in one day! For me a westerner, I
will not walk to the grocery store if it is less than a mile or even across the street because I will opt for my car. If my way of thinking about the world regarding distance is affected so much just
by owning a car, how much different is it when you take into account computers, tv, media, money, how food is found, education, role of parents, physical vs. spirit world, climate, children etc.

The US Flag in a series of interesting media pieces put together by a sweet Brazilian artist. You can see the rest of the series here.

ht. plasticmind

At it’s very foundation, Capitalism works because of people’s selfishness. Adam Smith the Father of the modern capitalist economy said,

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

I’ll begin, for the sake of Virgil, by saying that in practice in our society, I have not seen or know of a better system then capitalism. I’ve thought that there is a chance a different governmental or economic system would better serve society, but I’m not sure, nor do I know enough to argue, that it would. That being said, Capitalism still has it’s downsides.

We often make choices and contribute to systems that we believe in and agree with. There are personal and moral reasons people boycott stores, flee countries, choose not to vote, refuse to pay taxes, or live off the grid. It’s a much more daunting task, but I wonder if we should not at least consider the same possibility as it relates to our economy.

If our economy by it’s very structure encourages us to act in our own self interest, it goes quite counter to the life that Christ calls us to. And if our economy by in it’s flaws creates a structure of economy that oppresses people, then it goes against our calling to love our neighbors. Is there a way to remain a part of that system, to contribute to it, play a role in it, and benefit from it, yet in a way that still allows us to fully follow Christ?

We don’t know much about a large portion of Jesus’ life but it seems likely that he was a carpenter for most of his adult life. It’s possible he paid taxes and was involved as much as the next person in the economies of that day. Yet, during his ministry we see challenges to the structures in place. He makes satirical play of a question about taxes. Jesus when the tax is required conjures it up out of the mouth of a fish. He dines at people’s homes, relying on the hospitality of others rather then his own wages to provide food and shelter. When he dines at a Tax Collector’s home though, isn’t he benefiting from the corrupt system?

It just seems that economy is another area that Christians don’t think about at all. We just take for granted the system that is in place and don’t consider whether it’s appropriate to be involved or if there is another way. When Mindy and I went to Papa Festival they tried to use an alternative currency during the event. It was similar to the Ithaca Hours, which a whole city adopted. It seems like a creative way to step out of the current economic system (though it seems like it’s just replacing it with a similar one, although more local and maybe less corrupt).
Maybe we are supposed to be moving off the current economy and joining the Amish. Or maybe there is a way to involve our selves in the economy of the world in such a way that it is still honoring to God and not involving ourselves in a corrupt structure.