Romantic Scribbles

So this one is a little off the topic we have been talking about regarding simplicity, but I found it interesting and I thought I would share.

I came across an article that dealt with the use of technology in the classroom, and despite the general acclaim to which technology usually gets this article argued  for stripping down classrooms and using a low-tech approach.  In short it says professors use technology as a crutch, and a very boring crutch at that.  Here’s an excerpt:

More than any thing else, Mr. Bowen wants to discourage professors from using PowerPoint, because they often lean on the slide-display program as a crutch rather using it as a creative tool. Class time should be reserved for discussion, he contends, especially now that students can download lectures online and find libraries of information on the Web. When students reflect on their college years later in life, they’re going to remember challenging debates and talks with their professors. Lively interactions are what teaching is all about, he says, but those give-and-takes are discouraged by preset collections of slides.

My experience mirrors this to some degree.  My best class sessions aren’t the ones when I work through a prearranged set of slides, and my best memories of college and professors often had little to do with technology.  In fact my best professors utilized a very low tech approach.  For my own part  I’m passionate about teaching, I got into graduate school because that is what I love to do.  If simplicity helps raise the level of teaching I’m all for it, but then again if you don’t care about students or if you can’t teach it may not matter how much or how little technology you use.

Again if you’re interested you should check out the article.

PS.  I think the same thing is true about preaching.  Technology can enhance a sermon, but all the technology in the world can’t make a bad sermon good.  Graphics, slides, video elements can all be great, but if more time goes into them than into the message I’m willing to bet it won’t matter.

As I admitted earlier I struggle with simplicity, so I decided to do a little experiment regarding simplicity in my own home.  Here is the video that resulted from this endeavor:

Simplicity Experiment from Shawn Grant on Vimeo.

Also a big thank you goes out to Dan Cole, David Cauble, Alicia Esque, Jordan Michael, and the people at Mt. Moriah for their help on this one.

As part of our attempt to explore the discipline of simplicity we offered an invitation to experience simplicity this week.

(I stole this idea in part from CIY:MOVE, although there challenges to students extended throughout the year and seemed to be much more difficult.  I talked about this over at our Crossbridge Students Blog if you want to read more.  By the way I was especially challenged by one girl from Billy Babbino’s youth group who got a challenge to not buy any new clothes for the next year and donate the money she would have spent to charity.  I have told several adults about it, and the thing that makes me laugh is every time they try to come up for ways she can et around it.  Like shopping at a thrift store, or having stuff given to her as gifts.  It just strikes me as odd that she is committed to doing it, but all the adults I meet want to help her out of it.  Girl–where ever you are–please know that I think your awesome, and I’m praying that you make it through this next year.  What an amazing story you’ll have to tell!)

Anyway as a staff we came up with 10 challenges for our people.  We tried to think of the things that most distract us from God or from serving others and then come up with a challenge to try and help us practice simplicity in that area.  The goal for every challenge was that you simplify your life in some way to either serve others, or connect with God.  Every person picked a card at random that allowed them to do their own simplicity experiment this week.

Here are the challenges:

1) Social Networking
Change your Facebook status, or email everyone you know, asking “What do you need?” and find a way over the next month to meet the top five needs.

2) Spring Cleaning
Clean out your house/closet/garage this month and donate the items to Mt. Moriah.

3) Consumer
Identify one thing you’ve been wanting to buy for yourself and buy it and give it away to someone who needs it.

4)  TV Evangelists
Take 3 days off from all entertainment and read through the Gospel of John.  Journal your experience and share it with someone you know.

5) Dinner Out
Identify someone who is lonely or suffering, and take them out to dinner.

6) Will Fast for Charity
Fast every Wed. for the next month and give the money you would’ve used for food and donate it to a charity.

7) Simple Pleasures
Take a night off or take a half day from work. Get together with some friends and family for a picnic at the park.

Everything Must GO
Have a free garage sale.

9) Unplugged
Turn off your internet after work this week.  Take that time to have a family game night, or have some people over for dinner and games.

10) 1 Step Program
ID your addiction.  Take a week off.  Find a friend to help hold you accountable.

There’s no doubt that some of these are more challenging than others, but then again to each person the challenge is different.  Again it’s not some sort of legalistic attempt to demonstrate your moral superiority.  Living simply is about living with less to serve others and to connect to God.

If you got one of these we’d love to hear your story.  Leave a comment, visit the forum, or drop me an email at shawn@crossbridgechristian.com.

The sermon is over, and all I keep thinking is how much more there is to say.  The challenge that I extended this morning was that the way of Jesus is the way of simplicity, and therefore followers of Jesus should live lives of simplicity.  Again a simple truth with a difficult application.  Such a large challenge, one that asks us to move against the dominant push of our culture in profound ways, deserves more the the minuscule amount of time that we were able to devote to it this morning.

While I talked primarily about our addiction to stuff, we easily could have discussed our obese schedules, or our over-extended resources.  We didn’t even have time to talk about the way in which good things can become clutter, and therefore might need to be purged in order to follow a path of simplicity.

I talked mostly of motivations, and tried to explore some of Jesus teachings on the discipline of simplicity, but I desperately wanted to communicate the result of living simply, which is namely: to live with less that we may serve others, and to declutter our lives that we might connect with God.

I have a few more blogs to come on the subject, as I of course need to finish Foster’s list of 10, and I want to talk some about our simplicity experiments, but for right now I feel like I want to take this discipline beyond just a Sunday experience and to do that there is a lot more work to be done.

For those of you that weren’t there I think that podcast will be up soon…

AMERICAN CONSUMPTION

•    The average American buys 53 times as many products as someone in China and one American’s consumption of resources is equalvalent to that of 35 Indians. Over a lifetime, the typical American will create 13 times as much environmental damage as the average Brazilian. Sierra Club via CNN

“If everyone around the world lived as those in America, we would need five planets to support us.” World Wildlife Fund

TOP 20% VS. BOTTOM 20%

•    … Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures — the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%. More specifically, the richest fifth:
•    Consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%

•    Consume 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%

•    Have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5%

•    Consume 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%

•    Own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%

CREDIT CARD INFO

•    Overall, consumers had an average of 5.4 cards.

•    The average balance per open credit card — including both retail and bank cards — was $1,157 at the end of 2008. That’s up from $1,033 at the end of 2006, a growth of nearly 11 percent in two years. (Source: Experian marketing insight snapshot, March 2009)

•    Americans make over 1.5 trillion dollars worth of credit card purchases annually.

•    Over 40% of US families spend more than they earn.

•    Only 2% of homes in America are paid for.

•    The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a credit card was $10,679 at the end of 2008. One year earlier, that average was $10,637. (Source: Nilson Report, April 2009)

•    76 percent of undergraduates have credit cards, and the average undergrad has $2,200 in credit card debt. Additionally, they will amass almost $20,000 in student debt. (Source: Nellie Mae, “Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards in 2004: An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends.”)

I came across an interesting stat while researching for this sermon.  It won’t make the sermon, but I thought it might be nice to share.

Below are the estimated stats for what we in the developed world spend on a few items, versus what it would cost to take care on some vital needs in the developing world:

Cosmetics in the United States                                  8 Billion
Ice cream in Europe                                                   11 Billion
Pet foods in Europe and the United States            17 Billion
Business entertainment in Japan                            35 Billion
Cigarettes in Europe                                                  50 Billion
Alcoholic drinks in Europe                                       105 Billion
Military spending in the world                                780 Billion

And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries:
Basic education for all                        6 Billion
Water and sanitation for all               9 Billion
Basic health and nutrition                 13 Billion

I’m not saying we cut our budgets for pet foods and cosmetics, I’m just saying I find this interesting.  On a final note I haven’t rigorously tested the veracity of these statics, but I have heard very similar stats on several occasions.

So here are some more tips from Richard Foster, although I must admit his presentation far out shines this one.  If you have time I encourage you to work through this book.

4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.

Here’s a little secret for you.  The IPhone hasn’t changed my life.  In fact recently I have thought about giving mine to my mom who wants one.  It’s great and all, but almost everything it does I could live without, and the cost is beginning to outweigh the benefits. Most gadgets seem to be that way after a while.

5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them.

This one is a little hard for me.  Erica and I buy a lot of movies, and I buy a ton of books.  Many of the books I buy I never plan on reading more than once, but I love to watch my library grow.  Lately I have got into the habit of buying faster than I can read, and I think its time to committ to not buying another book until I have at least read 10 of the ones I’ve already got.   The same principle can be applied public parks.

6. Develop a deeper appreciation of creation.

7. Look with healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes.

Most of us struggle with generosity because so much of our money is going to pay off debt.  “The average outstanding credit card debt for households that have a credit card was $10,679 at the end of 2008. One year earlier, that average was $10,637 (Nilson Report, April 2009).”  Credit card debt in American families has grown steadily over the paste several years, and as you can see from the stat above it is growing daily.  Buy now, pay later schemes feed on the fact that we are undisciplined and my credit profile demonstrates that fact.

***As a side note: Congress has stepped in to try and regulate credit practices, but since the new legislation does not take affect for another several months credit card companies are drastically changing their rates.  Some of the the biggest credit card companies are increasing their rates to as high as 30%.  We recently received a letter from our credit card informing us that they were switching from a low fixed rate to a variable interest rate that could climb as high as 18 percent!  We will be cancelling that card shortly.  So watch your mail.***

8.  Obey Jesus’ instructions about plain, honest speech.

Most of us don’t practice the simple art of telling the truth.  I wonder what a typical day for us would look like if we did?

One of my  favorite books on Christianity, and one that has a special place in my heart is Richard Foster’s book entitled Celebration of Discipline.  Part of what he has to say about simplicity has been particularly useful to my thoughts regarding the topic for this Sunday.

Foster has a gentleness in the way he approaches every topic that is disarming.  He walks a line between those who could not care less about discipline/discipleship and legalistic fanatics gracefully, and I always walk away simultaneously challenged and tempered by his treatment of his topics.

On simplicity he is uniquely adept.  While there are several portions of the chapter that deserve treatment, I want to include 10 steps he gives at the end of the chapter to help us develop the outward art of simplicity.  (Note that before including these Foster has worked dilegently to set up the inward motivation for simplicity.  Even here he cautions that these 10 suggestions, “should never be viewed as laws but as only one attempt to flesh out the meaning of simplicity” (90).) I also include them here, because I probably will not have space for them in my sermon for Sunday.  Here are the first three:

1.  Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status

Part of living simply is being able to say no to the rapid consumerism that dictates our culture.  We can set an example by how we live, not always how we look.

2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.

Does living simply mean getting rid of your tv, iphone, laptop, morning coffee, or favorite Chinese buffet.  No, not necessarily.  It’s not a legalistic list of rules and prescriptions to follow, but, if any of these things move beyond a healthy sort of relationship, then maybe it is time to take more drastic measures.  Put the iphone on ebay, find the tv a more deserving home, and the coffee, well, maybe try a cup of water.  (You do that and I’ll eat a salad once in a while. Deal?  Deal!)  I think Foster’s thoughts on finding our addictions is simple yet useful, “How do you discern an addiction?  Very simply, you watch for undisciplined compulsions” (91).  I have seen people go crazy when denied their personal addiction.  It seems ridiculously to watch adults behave like toddlers when deprived of their precious drug of choice, but then again you may not want to see me when the internet and cable are out.   By the way if your desire is for a heaping helping of meth you definitely need to cut that one out perhaps before you worry about the coffee.

3. Develop a habit of giving things away.

I love this quote from Foster, “Most of us could give away half our possessions without any serious sacrifice.  We would do well to follow the counsel of Thoreau: ‘Simplify, simplify’” (92).  I wonder if you or I lost all of our possessions, like literally all of them, how many paychecks would it take before we were stable and on our feet again?  I mean it might take a while to replace the plasma tv and the macbook, but I think I could get most of what I needed pretty quickly and painlessly.  My life is a life of excess, while most of the world’s population lives in poverty.  I tried a little experiment with this principle, but I’m going to save that story for a little later.

The more I look into simplicity, the more I realize what a selfish, self-serving life I have created for myself.  It will take a lot of time, grace, and discipline to restructure my heart into a life of simplicity.  Ultimately the priciple remains clear: Simplify to serve others and connect with God, it’s still just that application that gets tricky.

This Sunday I am preaching on Simplicity.  I thanked Mark for giving me a sermon topic that I am so capable and accomplished in.  (To be honest he gave me the choice of prayer, service, or simplicity, to which I responded, “So basically you want me to preach about the stuff that I suck at the most.”)  If you add in gluttony and being disciplined with your time I think you have an ultimate Shawn sucks cocktail.

In any case I plan on blogging my thoughts over this week as I prepare for the sermon.  Here’s where I’m starting.  We do not live simple lives because we are addicted to stuff.  Our addiction to stuff causes us to:

1. Pile up debt, which leads to anxiety, guilt, and frustration.

2. Value, prize, and guard our treasures.  Therefore dividing us from others, and leading us to become stingy.

3. Ultimately it creates noise and clutter in our lives that divides us from God, our families, and our communities.

So where do we go from here?

I’m reminded of a quote that I read on Alan Hirsch’s twitter, “We have convinced ourselves that the gospel is complex and easy rather than simple and hard.” – Mike Breen**

The simple truth is that Christians are called to live generously. Live open-handed, give to those in need, and don’t take more than you ought.  The teaching is simple, the application is hard.

If you want to leave comments they are always welcome, or feel free to weigh in over in the forums.

** Because I am a thoroughly conditioned academic I tried to hunt down the source of the quote, but my brief search did not return a reliable result.  Mike Breen if your out there, or if someone else knows where this quote comes from let me know.**

Hey I am experimenting with some additional WordPress Content. I’ve added a forum, which necessitated a new design for the site. Try it out and tell me what you think.

Also check out the gallery page as I will be adding some pictures there.