I met with a film maker from Los Angeles yesterday who’s interested in making a documentary about my family’s transition from bloat to a somewhat simpler life, the connection between simplicity and generosity and Jesus and the rub that even the smallest lifestyle and theological changes causes sometimes with culture at large and family and American Christainity-as-usual and, well, you get the idea.
I told him – and I mean it – that I don’t think what we’ve done is all that radical. It feels more like too little change too slowly to me most of the time. And it’s not a dramatic and compelling story. And it’s still happening. We haven’t arrived. And we’re making lots of mistakes. We’re not consistent. And…
We moved from a big house to a medium house. We stopped watching TV. I don’t have as many clothes as I once did. I still can’t shake my addiction to caffeine though. I do eat out – especially on the road. I do have a car. I do rent movies. I do have a smokin’ laptop. I’m not St. Francis of suburbia.
I’m not radical, though I want to be. Or, I guess, to be honest, I want to want to be.
I know radical. I meet radical all the time. I met it last night, in fact.
This guy came up to me at the end of a talk I gave about finding rest in generous living. This guy was the COO of a media company once upon a time – Christian internet edutainment. Then he went to Ghana and saw poverty. He came back and quit his job and sold his house and bought an RV. 280 square feet. He and his family have no debt, no cable, no car, but – he says – they’re extremely happy. I’m not clear on what he does for work – maybe he doesn’t work – I don’t know. But I walked away from that conversation with a deep admiration and awe of this man’s sacrifice and scared out of my mind of being just like him someday. Please God, don’t make me live in an RV. Amen.
The film maker guy says I’m missing the point. See, when I used to think about simplicity I’d think of Saint Francis, Rich Mullins, Mother Teresa, and Shane Claiborne. Radicals. (Also, all single with no kids.) All a bit eccentric. And I’d think to myself, “Self, you can’t make your own clothes out of hemp and you definitely can’t pull off the whole dreadlock look.” And last night I thought, “I can’t live in an RV with my wife and three kids. And I’m a terrible driver.” Through no fault of their own, radicals make it easy to dismiss their great ideas and admirable model lifestyles. Film maker guy says that’s the point: Simplicity and generosity meets suburbia. Make a case for compassionate living that’s convincing and attainable.
I don’t know. I’ve got a long flight home to think it through some more though. I’d love to read your thoughts when I get back to my laptop tomorrow.
Thanks for being so honest as to say that you “want to want to be radical.” I’m in the same boat. I want to want, from my heart, to live simply. But I don’t know how to start or what it looks like now, next year, 20 years from now…etc. And, like you, I don’t want to live in an RV… because, honestly, I’m not big on road trips.
Are the radicals prophets? What if suburbia (and all the comfort it represents) is the real problem? What if it’s not a choice between the house and the RV, but rather between living somewhere comfortable and living somewhere that involves risking something?
In less than a generation, we watched a major social shift that left most Americans living in less diverse, more economically and racially segregated neighborhoods. Christians did it on purpose to keep their kids in “good” schools (leaving the inner city schools behind to falter) and to deliberately avoid contact with people who were different from them. I’m just not convinced that it’s okay.
There’s a hymn we sing at church called “Stir Your Church, O God Our Father.” It’s about social justice, but musically it’s horrible (minor key, very dissonant, long, painful). I like it a lot more since I learned that the powers that be changed the words in the 1991 Baptist Hymnal from “to the suburbs where men flee” to “to affluent suburbs, too.” They changed the words of the song to reflect the new reality of an affluent demographic that isn’t interested in being made to question our lifestyles and our comforts.
I don’t have any answers. But I’m not convinced the choice is an either/or, and I don’t know if the slimmed down version of suburban life should be the model just because it’s “attainable.”
Be careful what you jokingly pray for. I used to thank God that He hadn’t called me to be a missionary in Africa.
And then I learned about Compassion (from you and your friends, thank you very much). And God changed what I want.
I’m just sayin’ – be careful! God may very well stick you in the tiny RV of your dreams one day!
It’s not about you doing everything, but everyone doing something. And, I think most people want to do something, they just get overwhelmed when they hear about those radicals.
The film is a great idea. Give people ideas about how a real person did little things to make a huge difference.
That, my friend, is how you inspire people!!
I’m with Film Maker Guy. Show us how to make small changes that matter, because sometimes radical is just too dang scary.
I agree with filmaker guy too but from the stance that Jesus is the one who woos me away from stuff to kingdom. And it is a process that He begins and fuels with the Word. And I can’t compare my ‘paring’ with anyone elses. I’d either get grossly proud or self hating. I think when one walks to the rythym that God taps out, we find incredible joy and eagerness to expand the adventure. But the first step is probably the hardest: agreeing with God that I don’t make a good steward.
I think film guy is right too. People look at a Mother Teresa type person and it’s just too daunting. Especially if they have a family to feed. It doesn’t seem possible so they despair and don’t do much of anything beyond write an extra offering check for a special cause.
You should be attuned to this because several nights a month you stand in front of people and talk about how $32 a month, which for most people might mean a sacrifice of giving up a Starbucks run before work or bringing a sandwich from home instead of eating out all the time for lunch. It’s doable, practical, attainable. The other choices you’ve made show someone in suburbia how they can take subsequent steps:
If I turn off cable I’ll save X dollars a month and that can do ______ for someone less fortunate.
If I move into a smaller house that still meets my family’s needs, we can save $400 a month on our mortgage and help this many people.
…and so on. People might not go to the lengths you do, but they can incorporate some of your ideas. And who knows, once they adjust to that level of sacrifice, they may add some of your other ideas. Or they might be really creative and think of ones you haven’t even considered. But it all started because they saw an example in you of someone they could relate to and had some practical steps forward for them to emulate.
Go for it, Shaun.
”…compassionate living that’s convincing and attainable.”
I love that idea. And I’m with pretty much everyone else who commented here. I think showing people ways to change their lives by baby steps will be much more effective than asking them to take a GIGANTIC, life-altering leap of faith.
Besides, generosity is addicting. Once people start realizing how good it feels like to live without – to be free of the chains of materialism – I doubt they’d choose to go back anyway.
So I say GO FOR IT. I’d watch the documentary.
Hmm. I get what your saying. My husband and I talk at great length sometimes about what we could do to live a simpler life. Some ideas we’ve implemented, others not yet. I catch myself radically thinking, “you know, we could really live better healthier lives and help others more (ie: more families in poverty) if we had our own supply of electricity (solar panels aren’t expensive, neither are hydro or wind things), we could grow a huge garden to feed our family, have a few chickens and a cow…we’d have to do it with another family on large scale to make it work…” the list goes on. We would love all that. BUT here we are, living much like the rest of the population, consuming, overspending and not recycling as much as we could. How many families in Uganda could we support monthly if we sent our $$ there instead of into a mortgage? Great intentions but like many other do-gooders out there we need a place to start. Got a 12 step plan in the works to go along with that documentary?
Go for it! The world needs a picture of an alternative lifestyle that glorifies God!
I think a story about how changes happen over time and that there is not really a perfect way to do this is great. At least for me I always think I am not keeping up with how other folks are living what God called them too…I think it is a great idea.
Hi Shaun,
You haven’t changed my life, but you have shaped my perspective on life. I’m with Mr. Ragamuffin. I think as long as you continue to be willing to point to “the kingdom” (rather than yourself) then you should avail yourself of all opportunities to do so. And I know you come in contact with some incredible people but out here in mainstream middle America, you ARE a radical. Let’s change that – for the sake of the good news!
I’d watch it!
But I’m not understanding your point Texas in Africa…are you saying it’s not about simplifying it’s about a total shift in thinking?
I’m not disagreeing…in fact we (my husband and I) find ourselves in a similar place. We’ve read Shane’s books, and Dallas Willard’s and it seems that there is a discrepancy with the way we live and the gospel of the kingdom.
I am not saying this from personal testimony, more as a sincere pondering…
Maybe it really should be a GIGANTIC shift, not just comfortable and attainable. And maybe not for everyone, but maybe for me. My husband and I have talked about the fact that Shane is single and that makes things a bit different…but truth be told, I want to be a “peculiar people”, and I’m not sure if getting rid of our cable and relational tithing goes far enough at all.
I am not saying that those things are not enough for everyone, just wondering if they are not enough for me and what He wants for and from me. I mean honestly, there are some things I really don’t want to let go of…as pathetic as it sounds, I love my ipod, and playing Wii. But if loving those things if the very paradigm that keeps me from being completely His, I want to want to let them go too.
I don’t see a precedent in scripture for us to reach for comfortable or attainable (although that is certainly where I find myself settling). Why do we dismiss the sell it all mindset when it is so obviously a stronghold for most Christians in America?
It’s like the way recycling was introduced to us in school, “If we all do our part.” But does simply doing our part (by recycling a can here or there) change the world? Yes…every little bit helps. But does it change me? Does it thoroughly renovate my heart? No, probably not. It doesn’t even inconvenience me.
Thanks so much for posting this. It has stirred more thoughts and questions that I need to not let go of.
You may consider yourself a work in progress, but at least you are asking challenging questions and are seeking to understand. Even your statement about the most noticeable examples of simplicity being single is unusual today. It’s really tough to simultaneously be a responsible parent and also live one’s life with balls-to-the-wall imitation of the homeless Savior’s simplicity, but most people never even notice the difficulty.
Even the fact that you meet radical simplicity in families with kids on a regular basis (e.g., the RV guy) is pretty impressive. About the closest I’ve come to seeing that, was a pastor’s family of 10 that lived in a (barely) 3 bedroom house in the sticks of WA (six rooms total including the bathroom). I’m honestly not sure, though, if that was by choice or necessity. I did know a couple medical doctors who lived in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati with their several children by choice. The guy ran a non-profit medical clinic in the hood and moved his family to the top floor of a house in OtR, right down the street from the busiest prostitute and drug abuser hangouts in the city. He parked his in plain view (not in a garage) and raised his kids as the only white ones on the block, sending them to a public Montessori school in the neighborhood for many years. However, even that radical family had their limits, and when the public Montesorri school moved to the burbs, so did they. Two medical doctors living in a nondescript, 70’s suburb sounds relatively spartan to some, but compared to the way they had been living, it was posh. I’ve yet to meet any married family that lived in Francis of Assisi, Rich Mullins, etc. simplicity for the long haul.
I think that’s a long way of saying I think you have a story to tell and great questions to ask, even if you question whether you’re getting it right yourself.
Of course, in sharing, you advertise yourself and this blog. This will probably result in more sponsorships (very cool), but it can have a downside. You may phrase something in a way you regret or have the context edited away from a profound statement that was really cool. You will increased awareness of this blog may open you up to not just encouragement, but criticism and challenge. Some of it will be well-intentioned, but some if it likely won’t. Even if it is well-intentioned, how do you process all of it and will it be helpful to your own journey right now?
I look forward to learning of your decision and (hopefully) watching the result.
MB
What a great post! I think yours or his statement on radical living is so true- if it’s too radical it just gets shrugged off.
I remember your post titled ‘enough’ from a few years back. If it were the first post I had read from you, I may have just balked that you too were a radical. But since I had been reading your blog for a while, I felt strongly that you were in a similar place as me and could connect better with your thoughts. And it took me 2.5 years longer than you, but we too sold our house and downsized.
But like you, we certainly didn’t go radical. We definitely downsized, but in a way that was palatable to all of us- I now wonder if we didn’t take a radical enough step. With the economy further and further waning, I wonder if it was enough as we struggle to reduce our spending and luxurious lifestyle even further.
So there is certainly a balance- a balance between being radical in your changes, and being lukewarm in them. Of course, any change to your lifestyle seems radical at the time. It’s just after the dust settles that you find if it was enough to make a difference.
The majority of us who live in “bloat” aren’t going to sell it all and live in an RV…but we might make some small changes that lead to bigger changes that lead to increased generosity and a whole new perspective on what is truly important.
That, my friend, is what you can show us…show us what you’ve done and be real with it. Show us areas where you can improve – show us areas where you’ve got the thing down. Spur us on to love and good deeds! Don’t let the enemy tell you that you’re not qualified cuz you’re not doing it perfect (ie: radical enough). None of us are going to do it “perfect” and who defines that anyway? We each have to follow the Lord’s leading and see what simplicity looks like in our own lives. Whether we view the world through the windshield of an RV or through the plate glass of a high-rise penthouse we can all make a difference…we need someone like you to show us how!
I think we’re all missing the real question here: who will play you in the film? Joe Pesci? Patricia Arquette? Big Bird?
This is a very poignant film that addresses (among other things) the notion of being radical enough; even among devout people, like monks. It’s in Russian, and I realize some people abhor foreign films, but God’s provided subtitles and the ability to read for a reason so don’t let that stop you from checking it out. I borrowed it from our local library.
And it’s still happening.
Due to the ongoing nature of your family’s journey, you may consider ditching the documentary idea and embracing the reality show phenomenon.
I have some friends who live on half or less of their income. They gave us $6000.00 last year to help with our adoption from Africa. They do stuff like that all the time.
I want to be more like them.
Sadly I know very few preachers and church leaders that live like that. Once they get to that kinda status they seem to forget what they tell their congregation.
I am glad you are wanting to, trying, making progress.
It’s very encouraging.
i agree with amanda… most of us aren’t even slightly inconvenienced most of our lives. well, we think we’re inconvenienced if we get caught at a red light, or the wal mart line isn’t moving fast enough for our liking.
but we have so much… so much stuff, money, resources… even in this current economic downturn.
i remember awhile back when you did a coupla posts about some of the things you guys were going to try and do in order to simplify (i remember wondering about running a dishwasher vs. washing by hand.. did you ever figure out which one was better?)
i think you’d do a lot of people a great service by shooting the documentary.
Radical, it seems to me, is stepping out in faith and doing whatever God is calling us to do. What looks radical to someone, may seem like no big deal to someone else and vice versa.
I love the song “Crazy” by Steven Curtis Chapman that speaks about making crazy (radical) moves (“and it’s crazy when love gets ahold of you”). God recently moved us (family of four) radically out of our comfort zone (suburbia) and into, yes, you guessed it…and RV
We didn’t do it because we wanted to be “radical”…we were simply following God where He led us.
If He is leading you to make the movie, then go for it! The body of Christ needs as much encouragment as it can get! If not, then that’s ok too.
Blessings to you and your family as you participate with God in bringing the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
I think doing the film would be a great idea. I think regular suburban people need to challenge to take a look at slimming down the luxuries in their life and realize how much that money could help others. If we all did this, it would make a huge, radical difference! You’ve already inspired my family with the choices your family has made; why not reach more with a film? I would definitely want to watch it with all my friends and extended family to challenge each other…
Shaun, I think an “obtainable” simplicity example to suburban America would be extremely impactful. Kind of the walk before you run type of mentality for people that want/need a change in lifestyle, whether for their well-being or for someone else less fortunate but don’t see how to take that step and then how to use extra resources (money, time, love) for God’s kingdom. Even if all it does is gain a little more peace for the suburban family willing to take a step…that decrease in stress through simplicity could open a world of possibilities. Go for it.