When we first started the church and we were bumbling along with more than half the church being students (anyone left who remembers those days?), in the space of one week, two pastors told me “you can’t build a church with students”. Obviously, when someone tells me that, I get determined to prove them wrong (a side of my character which is not totally gone – er…at all).
Anyway, one of them went on to say that students “are too idealistic”.
Which got me thinking.
Can you be too idealistic? Idealistic means that you have high ideals that you want to see come to fruition.
I concluded that you cannot be too idealistic, but you can be too hypocritical to follow through on your ideals!
Ouch.
Back then, we had one car between the whole church, we lived in shared houses, only a couple of people had “proper” jobs and we were all broke. But, we were ridiculously generous with our time, our energy and our money.
I feel as though, recently, God has been challenging me about that. I think that, with my time, energy and money I have become too hypocritical to follow through my ideals.
Ouch
This morning I was listening to a Nomad podcast. If you have not come across this podcast then I totally recommend it. I I were to list the people who have influence my thinking over the last twenty years, they are pretty much all interviewed on it – Stuart Murray-Williams, NT Wright, Greg Boyd, Brian MacLaren, Brad Jersak, Brian Zahnd, Shane Claiborne, Rob Bell, Bob Ekblad, Richard Rohr… etc etc.
It is run by a couple of guys in Nottingham. The format is them chatting, the interview and then them discussing the interview. Some of you may just want the interview, so skip through the beginning.
The one that I listened to today was an interview with Walter Brueggemann who is “the NT Wright of the Old Testament” – in other words, he is considered to be one of the most respected Old Testament scholars in the world. It is called “Kingdom vs Cash” (bet you want to stop reading now!)
Honestly, I think it is the most challenging thing that I have heard in many, many years.
Here it is.
I dare you to listen to it.
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