Jesus Life 87 - Jesus Army

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seem all that radical, compared to, say, living
in an intentional community, but it starts where
an awful lot of people are actually at.
It starts helping people question the consumer lie?
Christians are on a spectrum on this issue.
It’s like a wedge. Some Christians, like some
of you in the Jesus Army or Shane Claiborne,
are on the radical edge, the thin edge of
the wedge: they’re doing simple living and
intentional community; it’s amazing and
inspirational – though there’s the danger of
superiority creeping in.
At the other extreme, there’s the “prosperity
gospel” (the fat end of the wedge!)
Through Breathe, we’re after the
mainstream, the middle people: interested,
maybe passionate – but clueless. What does
simplicity mean for them?
There can be a lot of defensiveness in this
area – so we’ve tried to use humour; we’ve
tried to be creative; we’ve tried to offer options
and be gracious.
I guess there can be a tension between not
wanting to be heavy and yet having something
serious to say?
That was where we started six years ago.
Actually, these days I’m seeing that you do
have to require something of people; there’s got
to be challenge.
I sometimes worry about what I call
“radicalism by proxy” – someone else does
the radicalism on my behalf. I read their book,
buy their badge – I’m a fan of Shane Claiborne
or I’m a fan of the Northumbria Christian
Community – but I don’t change my life. It’s
too easy to look on and say, “Woah, it’s so
radical” and somehow feel that this makes a
bit of radicalism rub off on me. But it doesn’t.
Is that where your book, Consumer Detox,
comes in?
The book came out of where we were going
with Breathe. In 2008 and 2009 we held
Breathe conferences, then last year we did
www.jesus.org.uk
something called Conspiracy of Freedom and
produced four short films, one of which has
been seen by more than 5,000 people on
YouTube, which is encouraging.
The time came when I felt I’d learnt enough
to have a first stab at the book. It’s in 12
chapters – 12 steps for starting to walk away
from “addiction to stuff”: how it affects our
relationships; how it affects the environment;
how it affects our spirituality, our relationship
with God.
So how are you personally doing simplicity?
Good question… Complicatedly!
We try to maximise our giving, so we keep
a careful budget to stay in control of money
and increase the amount that we are giving.
We’ve looked at lifestyle choices. We don’t
go for foreign holidays. We try and live more
sustainably, growing food in raised beds; we’re
getting better at our composting! We’re trying
to reduce our heating; we insulated the house,
stuff like that. My shoes are from a charity
shop, my watch was given me, my t-shirts are
old (I don’t know what that tells you). We’ve
just disconnected our TV for nine months.
But it’s the deeper things, too, the attitude
things – like cultivating gratitude, simply saying
grace before meals. This is what I try to get in
the book: aiming at a more thankful life. On
Saturdays, I only pray prayers of thanks. It’s
part of being consumer resistant.
Earlier, you mentioned intentional community
as part of the radical edge of Christianity.
What do you make of community?
I think it’s vital and it’s prophetic. Christians
are called to live in ways that anticipate the
kingdom. Those who give up their possessions
or share possessions demonstrate the koinonia,
the sharing, that we’re all called to.
Funnily enough, when we moved here, we
rented this house and we didn’t realise our
neighbours are Christians in our church. Now
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Jesus Life 25