Dangerous Surrender

I've had several people tell me this week that they've read and enjoyed my blog. I'm always surprised by this. Yeah, I know that my mom and my dad read my blog, but they're my parents...and they'll love me even if I write dumb stuff.

Now I'm suffering from a smidge of writers block because I've been reminded that people actually read what I write. I feel like I should be especially profound. Original profundity is escaping me, so I thought I'd borrow that of others. A book report should do: I'm reading 2 books right now, one is "Death by Suburb" by David L. Goetz, and the other is "Dangerous Surrender" by Kay Warren. They are quite different books but complement each other well.

The title of Goetz's book grabbed me at the first. It resonated. Almost instinctualy, I understood that something about my Mayberry-esque life keeps me at arms length from my Jesus. Goetz says it better, " I think my suburb, as safe and religiously coated as it is, keeps me from Jesus. Or at least...obscures the real Jesus. The living patterns of the good life affect me more than I know."

There is something wrong with a faith that costs me nothing. And, in my crime-free beige-tinted corner of suburbia, following Christ costs me very little. I would be tempted to grab a $4 latte on my way to church, but our church serves really good coffee and creamer for free. No need to worship at Starbuck's too.

This contrasts with my sister in Christ living in Nepal. She chose to follow Christ and was cut off financially by her Hindu husband. Now her children go to bed hungry. She worships with a handful of renegade believers in a small room that doubles as a children's home during the rest of the week. She sits on the floor with her sweaty, squirmy 3 year old on her lap. There is no children's program, and there is no caramel or hazelnut coffee creamer in sight. Her faith journey is a very different thing than mine. It has cost her much.

David Goetz lays out 8 spiritual disciplines that can be implemented to survive spiritually in the suburbs. I think they have merit, but ultimately I am skeptical of tips and tricks. They bring to mind those ads that promise "30 days to a thinner more fabulous you, AND you'll never be hungry. " Been there, done that, and my butt is as big as ever.

Enter Kay Warren stage right. Her book offers a more authentic if less palatable answer to spiritual comas. Basically, its her own story, her own "Dangerous Surrender." Kay Warren, is the wife of Rick Warren. Rick is the author of "A Purpose Driven Life" and pastor of Saddleback Church. Saddleback makes the top-ten list of who's who in Evangelical-dom. Kay always lived somewhat in the shadows of her well known husband. That is until her heart began to break for those touched by HIV-AIDS. Now she an outspoken advocate for HIV/AIDS victims.

Chapter 1 begins with this quote, "Much is required from those to whom much is given."

Kay writes this of her struggle to leave her comfortable suburban life, "After a month of anguished wrestling with God, I reached a point at which I had to make a conscious decision. Would I retreat to my comfortable life and to my settled plans, pretending I didn't know about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the millions of orphans? Or would I surrender to God's call and let my heart engage with a cause I was pretty sure would include buckets of pain and sorrow?"

She writes, "For you to become a seriously disturbed, surrendered person of faith , you will have to be willing to say yes in advance - to give God your answer before you've heard the question. " So why would anyone want to become seriously disturbed? Why would this be a good thing? I contend that to become seriously disturbed is the only way to escape the soul-sucking quick sand of suburbia. Suburbia is based on Consumerism, the premise that stuff and comfort will satisfy. Trouble is...it doesn't... we are an insatiable people. There is always more stuff to have.

Becoming broken on behalf of another is the only way to escape ourselves. And ultimately it is the only authentic faith. James 1:27 say," Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and to refuse to let the world corrupt us. "

People who aren't Christ-followers find Christianity hollow because we are, on the whole, just as self-absorbed as everyone else, only more arrogant. But that's not Christ. He was broken for others; he was seriously disturbed. Isaiah 61 says, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord's favor has come and with the day of Gods anger against their enemies." Social justice matters to Jesus. His heart breaks for the sick and needy. He sees those who are unseen, the ones who sit on the fringes of society, the weak and oppressed. If we are Christ followers we should care about them too.

Sometimes I am too consumed by what I should make for dinner or checking into the best Cub Scout's den to even notice the hurting world around me. I've got a virtual rainbow of paint chips on my kitchen counter. We're trying to decide what color to paint the exterior of our house. I can honestly say that I've spent more time thinking about paint chips than the plight of the needy. I'm suburban.

So as I the suburban mom of 4 kids the question becomes, "What does dangerous surrender look like for me?" If God called us to adopt again would I be willing to do it? And I think I get "loooks" in the grocery store now. We would definitely be "that family with all the kids" if we had 5, or heaven forbid, 6. We might even have to buy a white conversion van, or small school bus to haul us all around.

Would I move to Tanzania, or Kansas? Or would I forgo our vacation plans to sponsor a child in Haiti? Would I befriend a single mom, and provide free daycare? Would I let my roots grow out instead of getting new highlights so I could send a little extra cash to our Compassion kid in Columbia? What would Dangerous Surrender look like for a suburban mom like me? Has the life of Christ so touched me that, like Christ, I would suffer with those who suffer? Could I become a suburban freak for Jesus?

Two quotes to leave you with:

"Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way to find yourself, your true self." -Luke 9:24 MSG

" Love is the way to maturity. Selfishness stunts growth and keeps us in a spiritual playpen." -Elizabeth Eliot," A lamp unto my feet"