Pastor's Blog

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Dan Edelen over at Cerulean Sanctum has started another series called "Unshackling the American Church." Dan can be a bit of a curmudgeon sometimes (no offense meant, Dan) but he always makes you think and I appreciate that. His latest post is a full-course buffet of food for thought. Dan can also be a bit paradoxical at times, using a technology like blogging to warn us of the evils of technology, but he has a valid point. Technology must be a tool we use when needed, not a fixation that rules our lives.

He also makes an interesting point about "home-based economies" that I need to give more thought. I think a "home-based economy" is more than just people working out of their homes, but I think that's certainly a move in the right direction. That idea seems to perpetuate the paradox, since it is generally technology that enables people to more easily work from home. The key, once again, is to not allow the technology to rule over us. If you're working from home but still working 12 hours a day, how is that an improvement?

Dan also goes off on consumerism and materialism, of course, but it isn't always that simple. Our economy, the cost of housing and energy in particular, is such that it is difficult for many to simply make ends meet. I think local churches need to find ways to create their own "micro-economies." I'm not talking about Waco-style communes, but I am talking about having more of an Acts 4:32 mindset. We're no longer an agrarian economy so we can't completely duplicate the first century church (apologies to Frank Viola), but we must find our own way within our current culture to share our lives more fully. I've seen the beginnings of this in our church, and I pray it continues.

Community

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 09:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Comments [1]

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 8:17:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

I'm glad to hear you (or anyone) say that "it isn't always that simple" to get away from materialism and work that (whether at home or elsewhere) takes us away from our families and other more noble pursuits. I find Dan hard to read, frankly, because while much of what he writes is wonderful as an ideal, it's hard to live up to and ends up just piling guilt on. Dan seems to have made his fortune in Silicon Valley, and has now bought a farm and writes for a living. Well lots of us would love to live on a farm and write for a living, but we don't have the start-up capital to make that possible. (It's the old conundrum: "Don't do what I did to get where I am now.")

Anyway, now that I've vented, I also want to say that I'm extremely grateful to be the recipient of an Acts 4:32, on more than one occasion, and in more than this church. I wish--deeply--that I could be on the giving side of that equation. Maybe some day I will be. And I pray, with all my heart, that I will never forget the blessing that others have been to me, and that I will be willing and even eager to give self-sacrificially to others.

Keith

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