On Wednesday, I fly off to the USA for the kingdom to the margins conference at the Desert Vineyard, Lancaster, California. Please do not be jealous because Lancaster is really not the most beautiful place you’ve ever been. Set aside all images of beaches, glamour and palm trees and think more along the lines of Milton Keynes in the desert, without the charm!
I get to speak at this conference – which sounds really grand and makes me seem like I am something. Matt Hyam – “International Speaker”. In fact, I just happen to be good mates with the guy who’s organising the conference, so that gets me through the door!
I am speaking on “Ethical Consumerism”, although I am not entirely sure that “consumerism” can be ethical, so I am calling my talk “Ethical Lifestyles”. I am pretty nervous about this because, first of all, I feel a little bit like I’m going to be a lamb standing before wolves (the North American church is not exactly renowned for its care for the environment and its concern for fair-trade issues); but also, because I feel a great deal of weight of responsibility here. The National Director for the Vineyard (US) will be there. I have a chance to really make a difference.
I feel passionately about this stuff.
I feel passionately that we cannot carry on living the way that we do at the cost of others, especially the marginalised, the oppressed and the poor.
I feel passionately that we cannot consume the world’s resources and leave other without or endangered
I feel passionately that we cannot buy things that are made by slaves or oppressed people and thus keep them in slavery or oppressed.
I feel passionately that we cannot be the reason that people suffer.
I feel passionately that my financial security cannot be dependent on oppressive regimes succeeding, or illegal drugs or pornography being sold.
I feel passionately that this is not peripheral to our faith.
I feel passionately that this is not a distraction to our mission.
I feel passionately, without question or doubt, that this is an integral part of following Jesus.
Jesus said that what we did (or did not do) for the least of these, we did (or did not do) for him. That is quite possibly, the scariest passage in all of scripture! Think about it!
So, that’s why I am going to America and leaving my beautiful wife and my beautiful children for a week. Because I have the chance to tell people about why I believe that Jesus feels passionately about these things.
If I do this well, and can change people’s minds or make people think about things that they have never thought of before, and that starts being something that people then put into practice in their lives and their churches, then it could seriously affect thousands of lives worldwide. If I do it badly, then I could confirm all the worst prejudices that people have and leave them more entrenched in unhelpful views than when I started.
It’s probably nothing like that extreme and I am probably being melodramatic and more than a little arrogant to think that it all rests on my shoulders. I am just telling you how I feel. None of this is helped by the fact that I have actually not spoken in a public meeting since the beginning of December and I am only allowed 20 minutes to speak. TWENTY minutes – that’s barely time for the jokes!
Pray for me. Pray that I can be focussed on trying to be obedient and not on trying to make a name for myself and not on trying to sell copies of my book. Pray that I can really make a difference.
Please.
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