Wayne Jacobsen on his blog today:

Until you know you are loved you will be sucked into every religious activity and performance treadmill that exists, hoping against hope that you can do the right thing to merit that deep affection from the heart of the Father. But you already have his affection! The great lie of the universe is that you are not loved by the Creator of all. The question is only do you realize how loved you are?

If you’re interested in hearing more about living loved and loving others, Wayne has a wonderful series of audio teachings called Transitions on his website in the audio library section, or from iTunes, or I’ve uploaded them all in one zip file that you can download here.

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I’ve written at length about Andong Village and Abraham Hang’s work there. Today I was glad to find his story online told well and at length. You can read it here.

A tidbit from the past I didn’t know:

When I saw this take place, I began to help the poor who were being ripped off by the gang. I created my own gang and we had automatic weapons to fight the bandits as I had become a soldier as well during that time. It was now 1998. I ended up killing the leader of the bandits and gang dispersed and ceased to oppress the people. I am the only one left alive from our original group of modern day Robin Hoods, because, as I thought at the time, my good luck came from the magical powers of a Khmer Witch doctor bestowed upon me.

Abraham on the road from the school to Andong Village

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I’m glad Mark Scandrette is blogging again and writing about things like “a Jesus Dojo.” He’s one of the few writers I know who thinks widely and freely enough about what it means to be a follower of Jesus to inspire me. Far from leaving the faith in such venturing, I believe he trusts that there is a resilient reality of life in Jesus that will capture the hearts and minds of people in any age, including this postmodern one. I relate well with his latest post, in which he says:

Changes in our society and resulting consciousness are raising new questions about what it means to be faithful to the way of Jesus, and how to understand the unfolding story of the Judeo-Christian scriptures. Many of us are rediscovering the holistic and integrative nature of the message and work of Jesus– the message and reality that the kingdom of God is present and progressing. We bring new questions to ancient traditions and texts. Instead of primarily asking, “How do I get to heaven when I die?” more and more of us wonder “What does it mean to live conscious of God and God’s purposes in the hear and now? “

Yes, that’s me. He goes on to say that more and more passionate followers of Jesus are not interested in serving in traditional roles: pastor, missionary, etc. They don’t divide their roles in life into secular versus holy categories and roles. They want to live in community that is engaged with a variety of others and serve the poor and marginalized whether in ministries or NGO’s. They want to make a difference.

Skeptics will wonder where these people are, and why they hardly register statistically. I think many don’t indentify themselves as evangelicals, even though they share a similar faith in Jesus. They affirm Jesus but hesitate to call themselves Christians. They don’t want the religious and political baggage that comes with the label.

But they — well, we — believe the good news Jesus announced is worth sharing. We want people to experience forgiveness and love in a way that truly changes everything, starting with ourselves and extending to the world. I grew up going to a place called church listening to sermons about our duty to tell everyone about Jesus and invite them to come inside. But there was remarkably little vision about how following Jesus would alter my daily life and relationships out there.

Growing numbers in recent generations have disdained faith by proxy through participation in religious systems, and they are sick of illusions and mere words. They want to know and experience God in reality.

In a holistically oriented environment skeptical people are less convinced by the rationality of Christian belief and more curious to see if Christ-oriented faith actually makes a positive difference in the quality and character of a person’s life….People of all ages and cultural backgrounds are sensing a pull towards a way of faith that is more holistic, integrative and socially engaged… It is a quest to embody a way of life that reflects the goodness and beauty of the kingdom of God.

These days I don’t feel compelled to tell everyone about my faith. I want to live it out. If it’s real, and the Love of God is in me, then people will see. If they respond, or ask questions, then I may invite them to share the journey for awhile.

We’re taking steps to move forward with our work in Cambodia. Tomorrow we’ll meet with several people I’ve brought to Cambodia in the past year, and we’ll make plans to launch our Japanese NPO by the end of this month. About half the people who will meet are followers of Jesus. The other half are not following Jesus, but they are drawn to the journey of learning to love with us. As we travel and share our hearts in words and action along the way, I trust they’ll see whether Jesus is a reality in us or not, and the Spirit of God will be at work in us all.

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I could imagine a large chunk of the aid industry drying up in the next 25 years without much of a loss, but I don’t think it will happen. There are too  many vested interests, like governments who want to buy favor in emerging markets and people whose income and future careers are on the line. What I can realistically hope for in the next 25 years is that a new school of foreign aid will eclipse the old school. This new school will be characterized by dignity over dependence, freedom and choice over charity, and real empowerment over imagery and token words. I think an encouraging sign is the movement toward investing in social entrepreneurs. One key player is the Acumen Fund. They are not only doing this, they are raising up young leaders who can share and multiply the vision.

Check out this very worthwhile video of Seth Godin addressing an inaugural Student Leader’s Workshop:

Quote (5:41 mark):

Making change is addictive. Making positive change — doing things that matter to people — will change your life forever for the better.

Doesn’t this have a spiritual ring? It’s a gospel message: make a change, change your life, forever…

Why not call people to live for something bigger and better than a high paying job and working for the system? (Okay, a quick rejoiner, it’s a bad idea if you can’t deliver. It’s got to be more than a sales job.) Anyway, I’m hopeful and heartened to see them going for it.

I’m a bit skeptical, given my spiritual perspective, about how far the changes will go or how purely motivated the movement will remain without a God-sized love at the core. I know “markets” are supposed to be neutral, but greed may cause people to act unreasonably and warp a good thing. Still, as Seth Godin says, we move forward through failures. I’d like to see followers of Jesus humbly leaving the sanctuary of buildings and religion to join in these kinds of efforts as investors and learners. We are, after all, seeking a reality beyond politics and institutions in which (as Jesus said) captive and oppressed people are set free, not merely given a handout.

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