“No, I won’t be protesting at the Republican National Convention.”

I’ve said these words at least a dozen times. I understand why people ask me if I’ll be protesting. It makes sense. When the Republican National Convention comes to the city of someone who is a self-described radical Christian who is very much against greed and war and stuff, it makes sense to assume that someone would protest.

It promises to be a sizeable protest. The USA is at war. We’re about to have a transition in leadership, now is the time to get the message out: “We don’t want this war.” Energy is high. There are dozens of groups planning to march on Minneapolis. There is even speculation that government spies are infiltrating vegan potlucks to curtail terrorist activities. It is easy to see why people are gathering to protest; but no, I won’t be protesting at the Republican National Convention.

It isn’t that I’m against protest. Well executed, thoughtful protest is an invaluable part of our prophetic witness. I am an advocate of protesting in the ways exemplified by Dr. King, Gandhi and others who recognize that faithful protest must demonstrate love to both the oppressed and oppressor. Faithful protest is against the Powers. Faithful protest seeks liberation not only for Iraq, but for President Bush and his party.

I know that many of the folks protesting at the RNC understand this. Most activists are familiar with Gandhi’s practice of satyagraha and Dr. King’s own approach to nonviolence. But just because you’re not doing violent protest doesn’t mean that you’re doing loving protest. The truth is, most folks that I personally know engaging in protest at the RNC strike me as particularly spiteful. If Missio Dei were to be a part of the protest, I’m not sure it would communicate the right message.

I’m not saying that anyone who decides to protest is being unfaithful to Jesus. Not at all. But I’m finding it difficult to conceive of a way in which I can be a part of that protest and remain faithful. Maybe I’ve been tainted by the protesters I know, but the whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Some have argued that it is good to stand in solidarity with all opposed to the war…that it is better to take a stand and get lumped in with some folks who protest in a hateful way than it is to do nothing. I agree. I suppose that protesting the RNC is indeed better than nothing. But it isn’t as though those are the only two options. I’m actively looking for other ways to protest…ways that more adequately express love, yet with a steadfastness to speaking the truth.

I’m hoping to write more about this in coming weeks. I need to spend time developing my own theological approach to protest. There are a lot of resources out there (feel free to recommend one in the comments below). In the meantime, I have some questions I want you to engage:

1. What does it look like to protest in a Jesus-centered way?
2. What are some proactive ways that we can protest the war in Iraq?
3. How should the Church speak prophetically to the US government? Those of you who have been reading Jesus Manifesto for a while know that I don’t believe in speaking to government as an “insider.” How do we speak to rulers and regimes?
4. Are any of you planning on protesting at the RNC (or DNC)?
   

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I really wonder what it would mean for us to believe that the Kingdom of God is like a little yeast tucked into the corners of our unleavened life.

I have been in some conversations lately that have made me think a lot about what it looks like to see the world we live in as the living and growing Kingdom of God. My mind seems to be so oriented to seeing life in terms of the culture and human empires we live in that it seems almost as if the Kingdom is an alternate dimension into which I cannot pass.

In learning to have eyes to see into the imaginations of God for the world, I believe that we can lean into the dream of the Kingdom. It is, however, a slow process. It takes time to baptize our minds into the vision of God’s love alive and at work in the world. It takes learning to discern, listen to, and move with the rhythms of the Spirit.

It is a bit like learning to lean into a dream. That place where the mind is active in a way that we can’t seem to control. Sometimes I find myself in that in between place where I know that I am asleep and dreaming, but I am aware enough that I could wake myself up. In many ways I think it is the same in learning to live in the reality of the Kingdom of God. We know good and well that there is a “real world” waiting for us to wake up and get with the program of another day’s daily grind of production. But there is a choice. We can choose to lean into the dream of God instead of settling for the “reality” that we have come to believe so easily.

As we discipline ourselves to lean into the dream of God’s Kingdom, we may have a new awakening in which we realize the dream itself is the reality that we have been longing for. The Kingdom dream is inbreaking on the world around us, and it is actually when we are living by the empires of the world that we are sleepwalking through life. To live in the dream of God is to allow our imaginations, consciences, and actions to be baptized into the Kingdom of God. It is be soul awake and alive to the Holy Spirit at work in renewing our world and moving us towards the glorious coming completion of the restoration of God through Christ.

I am reminded of the magical realism of the film The Science of Sleep. This film offers a beautiful parable of what it might be like for us to learn to lean into the inbreaking dream of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps in time we will learn to see the dream as the reality into which we are called to live. Perhaps with enough imagination, our forms of discipleship may make this more possible for future generations.

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For some time now, I’ve had the itch. The itch to do something more, something real. Something to make my faith more than mere intellectual assent or warm feelings in my chest. And the itch has been getting worse. Its like I’ve been rolling around naked in poison ivy. Sites like Jesus Manifesto, the faith of a Shane Claiborne or the challenge of a Thom Stark only make it worse. And the things I see around me everyday - people wasting their lives in pursuit of mindless consumption, or worse, at the end of a life spent alienated from loved ones due to apathy or pride, being unable to overcome the barriers - add a note of desperation to the itch. It makes the itch more than frustrating and uncomfortable; it makes it downright painful.

And yet the effort it takes to scratch seems almost insurmountable. The sheer inertia inherent in my daily status quo feels like a mountain. Predictably, this results in very little forward momentum and my faith remains nothing more than assent and warm fuzzies. I see the posts. I read the stories and books. I listen to the talks. I am challenged and uplifted, but only to quickly settle back into the quicksand that has me so thoroughly trapped. And what I’ve noticed is rather than making the itch worse, this is starting to make me numb to it. Instead of the ecstasy of a scratch at just the right spot, I’m losing sensation all together. Apathy and surrender are laying claim to the throne.

Why do I fail? More importantly, why do others succeed? How do they gain sufficient momentum to surmount the seemingly insurmountable? From what I’ve gleaned from their stories, I think it comes down to four things. First, they have a desire to see things change because they are not content with the world as it exists. Second, they have both the courage and the faith to move forward, even when risking significant loss. Their faith makes them bold. They are able to trust that God will provide for their loss as they have need. Finally, and in my mind this is the linchpin that truly holds it all together, they have a community that shares their desire and bolsters their faith & courage. They have people around them cheering them on, dressing their wounds, inspiring & encouraging them, thinking with them and lighting each others paths.

I now see that it is only in community that desire, faith and courage can work together synergistically to create momentum. And when one person finally overcomes their inertia, they start bouncing into other people which may be the little shove they need to overcome their own. I realize now more than ever, that I need to find a community that will give me that shove. Frankly, I need a cheer squad to get me taking those first few hesitant steps. Without such people around me, I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to scratch the itch.

How do we find and build communities where we can start transferring momentum? Are we looking for ways to cheer each other on?

Author Bio:: Nathan recently had a son, finished nursing school and moved to Indianapolis. He’s trying to figure out how to live in allegiance to the slaughtered Lamb.

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It’s that time of the year again; that blessed calendar season in which I always find myself annually infuriated and simultaneously guilty. Most people look forward to the advent of summer, meanwhile, I’m always trying to sleep through the entire first weekend. Four hints that my religious life is about to take a turn for the worse:

(1) The Indianapolis 500

(2) Click-it-or-Ticket Campaigns

(3) Picnics and BBQ’s

(4) Mass amounts of American Flags

That’s right, it’s that beacon of American civil religion, that last Monday of the month of May…strike up the John Phillip Sousa kids, it’s Memorial Day!

In years past, I’ve reacted to the infiltration of this holiday into our churches in what some would call bad taste. This usually involves a cynical blog post and spending the Sabbath day before Memorial Day in solitude and contemplation outside the walls of the local church. Last year, I bucked my own trend and sluggishly attended the United Methodist Church in the small town near the college I was enrolled in. Not to be confused with my brothers and sisters who were drunk on nationalism, I made sure to excuse myself from the choir, who on that day would be belting out The Battle Hymn of the Republic, followed only by Lee Greenwood’s civil religious anthem God Bless the USA (which was ironically re-released after the invasion of Iraq and rose to #16 on the singles chart). When everyone was shouting and standing during the key change reprise, there I was, sitting triumphantly in the pew. Sure it was lonely, but at least I was being a witness to the solitary Kingdom allegiance I had been called to. My legitimacy was proven by my haughtiness.

And this is all well and good (well actually, it’s quite pretentious and self-righteous) when I am just another visitor to just another church. But what happens when I assume a ministerial position? What happens when I am the pastor, who is expected to honor Memorial Day just like every other year, in the church I serve? Am I to send a letter to the many veterans who faithfully chair committees and take up the tithes and offerings, explaining why we won’t be honoring the troops before we take communion? Do I completely ignore the obvious holiday season? Or do I take the exact opposite track, find a Biblical text to use at my disposal, and proclaim the eradication of the idol of nationalism (but in the process, crush the hearts of my most dedicated sheep)?

If there was ever a time for the buzzword of all postmodern Christian buzzwords—imagination—it’s on Memorial Day weekend in a traditional church setting. The ground is sensitive. Any treading must be done lightly. But we also must be faithful witnesses to our residence in the Kingdom of God. The answer is rarely as simple (and destructive) as detuning the piano so Stars and Stripes Forever is left off the bulletin. There is a creative tension that exists between being prophetic and being edifying. Using Jesus Manifesto as my open-air confessional, I admit that although I usually strive to live in this tension throughout the course of the year, I dismiss it on Memorial Day and often opt for less constructive protest.

But I want this year to be different. This year has already included a switch in my thinking similar to what I’m looking for out of this, as I went from being a faithful Buy Nothing Day advocate, to being challenged by the idea of Make Something Day as a more creative alternative.

So how will your faith communities celebrate Memorial Day, if at all?

What creative solutions can you bring to the table for frustrated pastors like myself?

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We must desperately seek to be poor in spirit. When we have much, and we are focused on our own needs and our own lives, we think everything we have is earned of our own works, or owed to us because of who we are. When we have nothing and seek nothing, all we are given is more than enough and we can share this freely with one another. And truly, dear brothers and sisters, we are poor.

We have nothing to offer our Creator, and we can give Him nothing. But in our spiritual poverty, he has filled us in His pleasure to be overflowing. We cannot take his grace and horde it for ourselves; we must share his grace with others. We cannot keep His forgiveness in jars in the basement; we must take it to others who are spiritually starved. We cannot live in our comfortable homes in our comfortable lives without all of our blessings given freely away. We cannot go on in this life accepting everything and giving nothing. Dare I say it is spiritual constipation?

Because we have received such great a love we cannot contain it, we must share this love with others. We can say “those in need,” but who is not in need of grace? Who does not need the love God shared with us? How dare we keep it to ourselves! When I read the scriptures I find our Savior lived a scandalous life. He had lunch with capitalists and tax men. He shared dinner with whores and homos. He stopped off for coffee with rebels and vagrants. Our Lord, the Creator of all, shared a sandwich with the sick and dying, and a drink with the political powers, outcasts of society, and ethnic enemies. This is a daring life to be sure (it did kill him after all). It seemed as if everywhere he went, Jesus was eating with someone. Always at some one’s place breaking bread.

Our church fellowships certainly carry on this tradition with potlucks and banquets. But there is so much more to this than we know. In that culture of 1st Century Palestine, a meal was an invitation to a deeper relationship, and equity. When two men broke bread together, they were equals, and they were sharing their lives with one another. The symbolism is deep. Then Jesus went and messed things up. He said that when we have a party to invite the poor and oppressed.

Go out to the streets and find the hungry and bring them in for your luncheon. This is an invitation for us to relate with the poor and oppressed. This is bringing the poor onto our level, but more importantly bringing our haughty selves down to their level. We must be careful with this last point, and I will emphasize it once more: We are not simply bringing the poor into the fold of the rich. We are not counting the oppressed in the ranks of the oppressors. We condescend from our place of wealth, from our identity as oppressor and become poor, become oppressed. Christ Jesus lowered himself from the high place of authority in Heaven down to the level of sinful man.

Our example for life did not grasp at his rightful place of power; he humbled himself and master became servant (Philippians 2:5-8). We should not bring the poor/oppressed to the level of the rich/oppressor. We need a new world where neither designation exists. Slave/free, poor/rich, Jew/gentile: Christian. The Church talks about helping the “poor.” That very term is levying a wall of separation between two worlds. “Us” the church; “them” the poor. When the church can identify with the poor, and become poor themselves, we have equity and mountains are brought low and valleys are raised high (Isaiah 40:4). And all nations stream to the great mountain of Zion and learn the laws of the King of kings (Isaiah 2:2, 3). A

nd the challenge is not in the understanding, but in the practice. How do I, as a white, male, Christian, middle-class American identify with the black/brown/red, female, Muslim/Buddhist/tribesman, poor foreigner? I identify by my very being as “oppressor” in everything I am. And I hear Scripture screaming at me that Jesus condescended to the lowest level: the Samaritan, adulterous woman and identified with her where she was. This is a great challenge I may struggle with my whole life.

Author Bio:: Steven Kippel hosts the humble Branch Community in La Quinta, CA and facilitates materialism as a day job.

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We’ve tossed out several Bible story books in our home. In a Western world painted with pictures of Middle Eastern “terrorists,” the last thing we want is for our children to forget that Jesus looked a lot more like bin Laden than their white dad. We realized this one evening when reading out loud one such book that had been given to us as a gift. Our daughter quipped to her brother, “Maybe you’ll look like Jesus when you grow up!” Jesus did have blond hair in the cartoon, just like her brother. I quickly pulled out a news magazine with photos from Iraq. “I’m pretty sure Jesus looked a lot more like that guy than this cartoon drawing.” Their faces were puzzled. The book was in the trash by the time the kids were in bed.

In great part, my wife and I have practiced “church” the way we have due to our children. When I resigned from professional ministry, my wife was pregnant with our first child, our daughter. Around that same time, I had the privilege of interviewing author and pastor Chris Seay of Ecclesia in Houston, TX. He said something that I thought was quite profound. Out of all the interviews I’ve conducted, his words have stuck with me more than most:

We tend to subdivide the Body in a way that has no natural relationships or interaction because we’re built on felt-need models. Instead, single people need to learn from married people; young marrieds without kids should learn from married people with kids; and married people with kids should learn from married people with grown kids.
(read the article)

I don’t know if Seay would have drawn the conclusion I did from that statement, but it was as if the light was turned on for me. I realized that my Christian experience had primarily been “subdivided” just as Seay explained. As a leader of young people, I often saw the complete disconnect between parents and their children in regards to the child’s spiritual development. That was my responsibility.

Every Sunday morning, we all head in our varied directions. The elderly go to their senior’s study. The children go to Sunday School. Teenagers go to youth group. In an era of obsession with a programmatic approach to ministry, we had completely diced up the Body of Christ. No wonder our divorce rates were as high as any other groups! No wonder young people left after high school, never to return!
With my own child on the way, I wanted to do things different. Not just for my own need as a protective parent, but as a person wanting to provide a Christian paradigm that better prepared my children to be missional people and allow them to learn about life from people from a variety of stages and experience.

Since then, as we’ve met in more egalitarian modes over the years, there have not been any great “solutions” of what to do with children during meetings, worship, and prayer. A long time ago, I stopped trying to do anything about kids during our meetings. It bugs some people. Mostly young, single adults. They’ll get over it. Kids are honest. They don’t pretend to be holy when they aren’t. They don’t pretend to be interested in conversations that go nowhere. But attempting to talk over the noise or putting them in front of a movie isn’t the answer. The answer doesn’t even exist in those moments when a community meets. It is in the rest of life.

We, as parents, need to take back our right to be our children’s spiritual directors. We owe it to our children. I have told families in our community that it is our responsibility as a community to help them be more radical followers of Jesus so that they may do the same for their children. Of course, we welcome children in our meetings. We are a spiritual family. With joy, we work through each of our limitations and abilities, no matter what age or capacity. But we are conscious of the fact that we have to support and empower parents to be just that: parents.

What we discovered is that many of us don’t know where to start with our children. Other people had done it for us for generations. Christian bookstores aren’t much help in resourcing us either. They sell terrible children’s music and offer cheesy white-Jesus story books that typically pull out oversimplified moral platitudes from complex narratives.

The first time I read to my children the story of Noah and the Ark, they were appalled! I decided to read the classic Bible story–that exists on everything from wallpaper to night lights–out of the Message version. I stopped midway through the story, looked up and asked, “What do you guys think about this so far?” With jaw on the floor and eyes wide open, my son replied, “God is mean!”

This storytelling set us into a week-long conversation that we continued to come back to. Was God mean? What does this say about justice? What do we know about God’s promises to us because of this story? What does this tell us about what God thinks about Creation? Our four year old son and six year old daughter wrestled with these uncertainties and came to their own conclusions that were often different from each others and mine. Of course, I told them what I believed about this story but it didn’t make Noah and the Ark a cute story anymore!

Why do I share these stories? Because we need to be deliberate about sharing ideas, stories and resources with each other as parents trying to raise kids that are growing up in a globalized, post-Christendom world. Because we need to root our kids in the fact that biblical narrative is supposed to inform reality today in every context. Because we can’t depend on programs and products to do it for us anymore (not that we ever should have). Because when we’ve dissected ourselves into age-specific quadrants, we’ve been prone to make the biblical story no more than feel-good solutions for minor life problems, rather than an over-arching story that we form our entire lives around. Chances are, your children are more prepared for this than you are.

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Who are you? What makes you who you are? How comfortable are you with the person you are becoming?

These questions grow ever more urgent in a world where the media and society seem determined to form and shape us according their ideals, their demographic categories and their fashions. Increasingly, it seems, who we are is defined at the surface level – body fat percentages, smoothness of skin, awards on shelves, zeros on bank statements. I can’t help wondering, though, how we can really know ourselves without giving attention to our souls. And how we can know our souls if we focus only on ourselves?

In South Africa we have an indigenous word that has become somewhat overused since the birth of our new democracy in 1994. This word is Ubuntu and it means, “I belong, therefore I am” or “I am a person because of other people”. Ubuntu affirms the connectedness of all human beings with one another, and acknowledges that individuals can find little meaning or truth in isolation. It reminds us that we can only really find ourselves in the faces of others.

This truth lies at the heart of Christian spirituality. We proclaim that our God is both One and Three, that God’s essential nature is community, is relationship. God has never existed in some isolated, divine individualism. The essence of God is love expressed and received – diversity brought into complete unity. The challenge of worshiping this Triune God is to live out what we pray and sing in relationships. We cannot love the Trinity without also expressing God’s nature and purpose in communities of love, service and shared life.

And if we will embrace this call, we discover a hidden gift of immense and eternal value. As we join with others to love God and live out our faith, we discover that we are truly connected – that the universe and everything in it is an expression of God’s Word, and is filled with God’s breath. And, as we gaze on all these ‘others’ – God, people, creature, thing - we find our place, we discover our souls, and we learn to know who we really are.

So, let me ask again – who are you? Who are the people that help you to know the answer to this question? And what would happen if you expanded your community to embrace those that you might prefer to exclude? Let me encourage you, in the weeks ahead, to seek God in your community. Not just your church community, but that of your town, your country, and even the world. Seek God in those that you disagree with and those you are afraid of. Seek God in those you consider your friends, and those you consider your enemies – for they are all created and loved by God. And as you find God in these others, as you discover your connection with these others, you may experience a surprising thing – you might just see yourself looking back from their faces.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and forever shall be. Amen!

Author Bio:: John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.

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Come May, most of us tax paying citizens will be receiving a check in the mail. Now, regardless of whether you agree with capitalism, our government, or the Economic Stimulus package, the fact remains that you’ll be getting a check either way. Now, the question becomes how to spend it.

It’s true, once you get the check, it’s your money to do what you’d like with it, but the intent is that you spend it on consumer goods, thus stimulating the economy. You might just save it away for a rainy day or use it to pay off some debt, but I’d like to recommend another idea: A Giving Spree.

What an amazing opportunity to take make a statement flipping a value system on it’s head. The money given with the intent of spending it on ourselves in our consumer society, thus stimulating our capitalist economy (thus saving us from impending doom) basically makes the statement that we can ‘Save Ourselves by Consuming.’ We have the opportunity to take that same resource and use it for good, clothing the needy, feeding the hungry, bringing justice to the captives.

I’d like to propose that come May, when you receive your rebate check, that you take a large portion of it (or all of it) and go on a Christ-honoring Giving Spree. Here are some ideas:

• Take some homeless people you meet out to a fancy restaurant.
• Buy a CSA Share for a needy family in your neighborhood.
• Purchase and give away CFL Bulbs, Cloth Shopping Bags, Fair Trade Chocolate, Fair Trade Socks.
• Host a Pizza Party for students at your neighborhood school.
• Sponsor a child for a year.
• What’s your idea?

If you’re interested in participating then click here and sign the Giving Spree pledge. The hope is to use a pledge to build some momentum to the Giving Spree. You are free to give money away even if we don’t reach the pledge numbers, and you’re also free to give away all of your rebate check. But either way, sign the pledge!

The description of the pledge reads:

Recognizing that the Economic Stimulus rebate checks we will receive in May sole purpose is to be spent to help stimulate the economy, we are willing to follow through, but not as expected.

In a prophetic statement against the rampant consumerist culture that we live in, as a declaration that more money and capitalism will not save us or our economy, and as a statement to those around us that we follow Christ’s teachings (Matt. 23) and the only true hope is through him,

We will take a large portion of these government issued checks and begin a ‘Giving Spree’ to meet the needs of those around us, pressing, important and immediate needs.

[Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on JM on February 21, 2008. Now that the checks are officially arriving, we thought it would be good to once again ponder the idea of how to best utilize the discretionary income in the service of the Kingdom of God]

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There are few things as frustrating as collapsing into your bed in your new apartment, bone tired from moving heavy boxes all day and ready to sleep hard, only to be jolted awake by your new neighbors’ music or video games. Particularly when it’s no different the next night, or the next, or the next…

Even the most devout Christian can lose it and end up screaming in righteous fury – though to no avail – at the offending neighbors, or just your shared wall or floor. We feel powerless and angry about becoming such a hateful person. In fact, when we don’t get to know our neighbors as fellow humans, if we never see them, they can morph into disembodied evil spirits in our heads, whose every noise and move are laced with malice.

Frankly, there’s not much you can do to figure out and avoid noisy neighbors when you’re looking for an apartment beyond trying to visit at night and listening carefully to see if the walls are soundproofed. Asking the landlord about noise problems will more than likely result in a less than straight answer. However, you can do a lot once you move in to feel more at peace in your apartment, all the while putting your faith into practice:

1. Get to know your neighbors. You don’t have to be Mr. Rogers or the newest member of Desperate Housewives to get to know your neighbors. Just being on a “smile and nod” basis with your neighbors goes a long way. You’re both much more likely to look out for each other in small and big ways (picking up stray mail, calling in potential gas leaks, etc). If you are used to smiling at your neighbor and maybe even saying “hi,” it’s then much easier to progress to asking about a building issue (“Is it true they’re going to be renovating the basement next week?”) and much easier to have a calm, rational conversation about noise or other problems— even at 4 am, when he’s drunk or high. And you might find that your neighbor’s laugh no longer seems maniacal so much as vivacious, and that you’re happy for her because you know she needs the joy in her life.

You shouldn’t expect to become best friends with your neighbors. People in apartment buildings usually don’t want to live next to their best friends, but they do like to be on good terms with their neighbors. Sort of like an office environment, but hopefully less stressful and without the awful lighting!

Tips: Bolder people often knock on their neighbors’ doors on the day they move in. If you want to try this, make up an excuse for knocking beyond introducing yourself, like asking them to please let you know if you’re being too loud while you move in. If you’re a shy person or just conscientious about not invading other people’s space, then slip a card under your neighbors’ doors inviting them to your housewarming party. Even if they don’t attend, they’ll probably be flattered to have been invited, and be much more willing to deal with you in a respectful manner.

2. Start a building e-mail list. One of the best ways to create a good overall environment in your building is to start an e-mail list. An e-mail list can be a good way for neighbors, especially younger ones, to trouble-shoot common problems or plan building events, or just share tips (e.g., washing machine is eating quarters).

Tips: Set up a list on Google or Yahoo (or your preferred service) and put cards underneath your neighbors’ doors asking them to join. Be sure to explain what it is, why they might want to use it, and what won’t be allowed (for example, you may want to avoid using it to share grievances about the landlord, since it’s likely she’ll see a copy and try to shut it down if you distribute it around the building). Once it’s set up and you have some users, start using it right away so that the idea will stick.

Now that you have an e-mail list, it’ll be much easier to:

• Throw a building potluck.
• Organize a trick-or-treat set up in front of the building on Halloween.
• Plan, plant and maintain a common tree, flowers or garden.

You don’t need a building e-mail list to do any of these things, but it certainly helps. If you don’t have an e-mail list, use cards and flyers around the building or try the old knock-on-the-door technique to get your neighbors involved. Building events or tools that promote civil interaction and helps create a universal expectation that people will treat each other well, even when we’re behind our apartment walls. The change in the ethos of the apartment building will impact even those who choose to not participate directly.

Please note that you don’t have to be new to your building in order to do any of the suggestions above. It’s never too late to start getting to know your neighbors!

Finally, check out our guide to Neighborly Home Design at neighborsproject.org, which includes more ideas and tips ranging from simple to advanced projects towards making your building more neighborly.

Author Bio:: Kit Hodge is the CEO of Neighbors Project, a 501c3 non-profit that inspires and trains members of the new urban generation to connect with their neighbors through projects that improve the neighborhood for everyone. She has also successfully coaxed her downstairs neighbor to turn down his music at 4 am when he was dead drunk.

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“My grandfather fought so that we could have this conversation.”

I’ve heard these words (or their equivalent) a dozen times after sharing my pacifist convictions. The assumption here is that it is easy for me to be a pacifist in America. After all, I am fat and comfortable, living with the freedom to say and believe whatever I want. And for me to exercise that freedom in such a way that seemingly disregards the sacrifices of those in the armed forces…well, that is plain disrespectful.

At this point in the conversation–at that point when my dialog partner has demonstrated that my freedom is contingent upon the sacrifices of American soldiers–I used to cast my eyes down and struggle to find words. If I agreed with them, I had nothing left to say. If I disagreed with them, I was an America-hater. To disagree was to reject the freedom they secured.

When American Christians use the words “freedom” and “liberty” and “sacrifice” they are usually being patriotic. When asked if Jesus “sacrificed” for our “freedom” and “liberty” they would quickly agree…and wouldn’t see any conflict between the American sense of these words and the Christian sense. If pressed, I would imagine that the typical American Christian would explain that American soldiers die for our physical or political freedom. Jesus, however, died for our spiritual freedom. It is as though Jesus is Lord of the Spirit but Uncle Sam is Lord of the Flesh.

Kingdom Patriotism

The last time I had a conversation about pacifism and someone brought up the fact that one of their relatives fought for my freedom, I responded: “No, I don’t believe they did.” Then I went on to suggest that Christians always have the freedom to speak the truth of Christ. And even if they are imprisoned for speaking their convictions, they are no less free. This is what the New Testament teaches.

The only ones who sacrificed for my freedom are Jesus and the martyrs…all of those who suffer for the Faith. If by adopting pacifism I dishonor America’s soldiers, by renouncing pacifism I dishonor the blood of Christ and the martyrs.

At this point in a conversation, my dialog partner is likely to point out that it is “easy for me to believe this.” True. True. I believe that it is easier to be a pacifist in America than anywhere else. But that doesn’t believe my convictions are cheap. Many Christians have suffered for their nonviolent convictions. For them it was costly.

My Anabaptist fore bearers died for the right to put away the sword. They weren’t cowards. And they weren’t passive…at least not in the beginning. [By the way...despite popular beliefs, there is no linguistic tie between the words "pacifism" and "passive." A "pacifist" is one who practices or makes peace. A peace maker. A peace-ist.] Many brave Christians have died throughout the ages turning the other cheek–laying down their lives so that Christ could be clearly revealed to the world. This is a greater sacrifice than that soldiers makes in service of their country. It is kingdom patriotism…laying down one’s life in the cause of Christ.

Making it Personal

Lately I’ve begun to realize that if I am to truly honor the sacrifices of my brothers and sisters throughout Church history, I too must be willing to lay down my life in the cause of Christ. I am compelled to no longer sit upon the sidelines. Instead, after a time of prayer and discernment, I’m going to serve as a Christian Peacemaker.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams launched as a response to a speech by Ron Sider. 1984, Sider challenged the Mennonite World Conference in Strasbourg, France with these words (which you can find here):

“Over the past 450 years of martyrdom, immigration and missionary proclamation, the God of shalom has been preparing us Anabaptists for a late twentieth-century rendezvous with history. The next twenty years will be the most dangerous—and perhaps the most vicious and violent—in human history. If we are ready to embrace the cross, God’s reconciling people will profoundly impact the course of world history . . . This could be our finest hour. Never has the world needed our message more. Never has it been more open. Now is the time to risk everything for our belief that Jesus is the way to peace. If we still believe it, now is the time to live what we have spoken.

“We must take up our cross and follow Jesus to Golgotha. We must be prepared to die by the thousands. Those who believed in peace through the sword have not hesitated to die. Proudly, courageously, they gave their lives. Again and again, they sacrificed bright futures to the tragic illusion that one more righteous crusade would bring peace in their time, and they laid down their lives by the millions.

“Unless we . . . are ready to start to die by the thousands in dramatic vigorous new exploits for peace and justice, we should sadly confess that we never really meant what we said, and we dare never whisper another word about pacifism to our sisters and brothers in those desperate lands filled with injustice. Unless we are ready to die developing new nonviolent attempts to reduce conflict, we should confess that we never really meant that the cross was an alternative to the sword . . . ”

The Christian Peacemaker Teams ask: “What would happen if Christians devoted the same discipline and self-sacrifice to nonviolent peacemaking that armies devote to war?” Like a Christian alternative to the military, hey are engaged in nonviolent resistance around the world. And I believe that joining them is my act of Kingdom Patriotism.

This fall, I’ll join a 2 week delegation (location undecided). After that, if they’ll have me, I’ll receive training and commit to at least 2 weeks of service a year for three years. Several others at Missio Dei are considering similar service.

In the future, Jesus Manifesto will be sharing the stories and struggles of peacemakers around the world. I’m convinced that in these violent times, Christian everywhere need to take a stand for peace. We need to be peacemakers, not people who enjoy the peace that the State offers as we sit on the sidelines. And so, I encourage you to think about the ways in which you and your communities can stand against violence and pursue peace.

Peace is needed in my neighborhood as well as in Palestine. Our community is exploring ways of fostering peace in our neighborhood…through increased hospitality, through friendship, and through service. In the end, the freedom we are pursuing for our neighbors (both at home and abroad) is the freedom found in Christ. The freedom that comes from democracy, while beneficial, is paltry compared to the abundant freedom we have in Christ. The liberty praised by the Declaration of Independence is worthwhile, but it is nothing compared to the liberty that comes from the Spirit is priceless. And both are possible through the sacrifice of Christ. And both are advanced through the suffering of the saints.

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