Week 2: Clothing

Welcome to week two of “The Project.”  Or as some might want to say “thank God week one is over!”

Take some time in your group to share your experiences of last week.

+Where did God speak (kairos)?                              +What did you learn you were overly attached to?

+What was freeing about this experiment?                         + What changes does the future now hold?

                +Any big kairos moments or events/revelations to process through the learning circle?

(moving into week #2)

Clothing is more than simply a way to keep covered and warm. Clothes, whether we want to realize it   or not, make statements, assume status, and help bolster our self-image.  Some of us agonize about what we will wear and how we will feel, depending on our decision. Others of us pride ourselves on how little energy we seem to put into our wardrobe choices… but if we are honest… this too can bring with it a heightened sense of self-awareness and vanity.  Time spent thinking about one’s self can accumulate nearly as fast as new articles of clothing!

As we begin; take a few moments in silence and think about all of the time, money and energy clothing and accessories have taken up over the past few days/weeks for you.

Matthew 6:25 encourages us to “not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Here we see scripture reminding us that our bodies are more than clothing.  Yet, our consumer culture lies to us with the exact opposite. Aside from the reflection you just did on how much time, energy and mental space you have spent on clothing – here is another shocking exercise:

Mentally (or physically if you are at home) go through your closet and dresser and try and count how many articles or clothing you have.  Sure, a pair of shoes can count as one item, as can sock pairs (even mismatched one’s discarded from the dyer). 

How many do you think you have?     150?      274?      387?      More?

Let’s just say that the average cost of each article is $10 (some more/some less, use $5 if you are a regular at used clothing stores or more if you believe it should be more)  - if  you have 236 items this could translate to $2,360 in clothing.  Yours maybe more or less – either way it is worth thinking about.  The average yearly income for the average Ethiopian family is $410.

At this point you might be thinking “Hey, clothing and people are way different! That is a whole different continent and economy – this is so unrelated!”  

Well, yes…but…really, no.  Clothing, which is really image and perceived power and status are all about people. This plays on both a micro and macro level.

Micro- Think about how much time and money are spent on clothing. Spent on ourselves.  Could this be a place where more margin is needed?  Could this time and money be better used elsewhere?  In conversation with loved ones? Giving money to those in need? Sponsoring a child?

What are some creative ideas from the group?

Macro-  How much, and what we buy matters to God and matters to the world.

               

Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man you have ever seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj (self-rule) for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? (Gandhi)

One does not have to look too closely at how and where many of our clothes are made to see the scary truth that we, often unknowingly, support unethical and exploitive business practices with our clothing purchases.  If you are able, and have choices about where and how to purchase new clothing –  do a bit of research. It may surprise you.

Let us also not be tricked into thinking that we deserve the blessings of clothing, warmth and shelter.

“I am going to bed tonight grateful for warmth, an advantage so expected it barely registers. May my privileges continue to drive me downward to my brothers and sisters without. Greater yet, I’m tired of calling the suffering “brothers and sisters” when I’d never allow my biological siblings to suffer likewise. That’s just hypocrisy veiled in altruism. I won’t defile my blessings by imagining that I deserve them. Until every human receives the dignity I casually enjoy, I pray my heart aches with tension and my belly rumbles for injustice.”                                                                                            J. Hatmaker (“7” p.51)

Whew!  (take a deep breath and remember you are a beloved child of God)

It is easy to get overwhelmed in the face of injustice, systemic sin, and oppression, but God calls us to act justly in the face of this.

So what do we do?                                         Let’s make some space for creativity and to hear from God.

What would it be like for this next week if we only wore 7 articles of clothing?

OK, even if socks and underwear didn’t count – think of how much mental and emotional space might be freed up!  This would also mean a week that was free from purchasing new clothing – or even researching or planning new clothing purchases!

Would this taste of another way of living change us?                       If so, how do you think so?

What could this reveal about us?                              What kind of margins would be created?

What could God call you to do with the extra time, energy, and money that will become available?

Week 1 - Possessions

Christmas of 2013 saw a dramatic rise in shopping for gifts using a simple cell phone. This little device that is always with you, has the capability to have it’s owner connected to shopping opportunities 24/7. In fact, mobile device shopping drastically increased this year, up 46% from the 2012 holiday shopping season.

Did you see that?

I just named an entire season of the year (and a holy one at that!) by a consumerist activity! And, if you are like me, it didn't even perk on your radar.

In fact, it didn't register to me because as I type this I have 2 other windows open on my desktop. One that is monitoring my eBay auction that I am bidding on and another is open to another online retailer as I contemplate how to use the gift cards I got for Christmas.  Possessions, and how to amass more and better ones, are on my mind and desk/tablet-top far too often.

I am torn.            And you may be as well…

On one hand we are marketed to and told that having more and better stuff is what it is all about. The picture of the “good life” that we have been sold one where we amasses clothing, cars, gadgets, toys, devices etc. towards the hope that these things will somehow fulfill us and then also give us a much needed identity.

Matthew 6: 19-21 asks us why we would store up treasures on earth when they are so easily lost or destroyed? Instead Scripture urges us to store up treasures that matter in the Christ’s kingdom, because where our treasure is, there also are our hearts.

Our hearts are called to the picture of the kingdom we see in the life of Jesus. Living simply so that others may more easily see the treasures of His kingdom; love, justice, peace, mercy, and grace. With Jesus and his disciples there was not a lot of “things” cluttering our view of these treasures.

We probably know many Christians, maybe even ourselves, who posses so many of these treasures of the kingdom of heaven, but often times they can be difficult to see as they are cluttered over with all of our earthly treasures.  The Gospel of Matthew continues in chapter 6 assuring us that we cannot serve two masters. We can try, but one clutters the other and ultimately wins out.

So, what would it be like if we began to give things away?

What if, for this one week, each of us gave 7 things away each day?

Author Jen Hatmaker has this to say about giving things away:

“But if I’m being truthful, this is a sickening cycle of consumerism that I perpetuate constantly. I used to pardon excess from the tension of the gospel by saying, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what you have; it’s what you do with it.” But that exemption is folding in on itself lately. Plus, let’s be honest: what does “it’s what you do with it” even mean? Are we really doing something honorable with our stuff other then consuming it? I am not sure carting it all off after we are bored with those particular items is a helpful response since we just replace it with more.”  (7, p.71)

“Donating everything through a third party removes the relational magic when one human connects with another.” (7, p. 72)

So, could we each covenant together to give 7 things away, each day, until we meet again?

For the sake of the Kingdom, for the sake of others, for our sake, so we can begin to more clearly see through the clutter and realize the heavenly treasures that God has given us – so that we can give them away too!

Discussion:

- Where do we see ourselves being pulled to have more and better stuff?

-How do you typically fall into that?

-What good treasures of His kingdom has God blessed you with?

-What often keeps you from using of capitalizing on those?

-What might begin to change in us if we gave things away?

-What might God fill those extra margins with?

-What do you think about Jen’s second quote? How could that shape our giving?

-How do we encourage one another this week as we give things away?

-How then should we pray?

an introduction - what are we doing?

This winter our congregation is taking seven weeks to explore where God might be calling us to create margins in our lives and schedules in order to live more fully in the Kingdom of God. This project is to help groups of disciples encourage one another to live more intentionally into the ways of the Kingdom by tackling one area of excess each week. Each week’s session will include some scriptural and theological reflection on the topic in question and then have group discussion/reflection questions and a challenge for putting our learning and calling into practice.

As we believe that the Holy Spirit is already at work in you and your group, please feel free to modify the discussions or challenges to best fit your group’s situation. But remember that fruitfulness is not always easy; it generally comes from living into a calling that is full of grace and invitation as well as challenge.

The primary inspiration for this project is Scripture; there God calls us first and foremost to be in relationship with Himself and to do whatever it takes to do so. The second great commandment is to love our neighbors well. It is our hope that by creating healthy space and margins in our lives we can more fully love God and love our neighbors. Other inspiring tools for this project include the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker (B&H, 2012) from which the seven areas of excess were gleaned; Abundant Simplicity: Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace, by Jan Johnson (IVP, 2011); and from Building a Discipling Culture, by Mike Breen (3DM, 2011). Any and all of these resources would make for great supplemental reading and study during or after this series.

The Primary Tools:

Community

There is a reason that we are doing this together, in groups. Some of the challenges that this project will bring us will be… well…challenging! We will need one another to keep us accountable and encouraged. We also recognize that on any journey like this God speaks and we need the community of believers around us to help discern what God is saying and how to respond to it. Through this season we pray that God would give us the grace to listen well to and encourage one another toward living more fully in His Kingdom!

The Learning Circle

We as seekers and followers of Jesus are called to be transformed by the gospel and then live as those who join Christ in transforming and reconciling the world! The key here is that first, we must be changed and transformed. Transformation happens when God’s Kingdom breaks into our reality and we respond to it – we are changed and live differently because of the encounter.

In Mark 1:15 we read: “…the Kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news.”

When the Kingdom of God “comes near” or you sense God is speaking in a certain moment or encounter, this can be referred to as a “Kairos Moment.”  Kairos, is a Greek word that is used to denote time. Not time as in hands on a clock or linear, measured time, but it is more qualitative. It is moment of in-breaking of God into our lives, or the opportune moment, or the “Aha” moment.  If we recognize them, it can be out of these moments that transformation begins to happen.

The circle below helps us process these Kairos moments as a community and begin the process of transformation. During weeks 2-7 of this project there will be a time at the beginning to share stories of where you saw glimpses of God and His Kingdom during the past week; these are the Kairos moments. After the group shares what God has done in the past week see if there is a special story or someone who might light to process their Kairos moment through the steps below.

The steps are simple and can be modified if the conversation skips or dwells a bit.

-Observe:        What happened? What was significant?

-Reflect:          Where was God in this? What was going on beneath the surface?

-Discuss:          Community thoughts? Input and observations? How are we to respond?

-Plan:               How will you/we respond, change or be transformed?

-Account:         How will we be held accountable? Who will continually encourage?

-Act:                 Go do it – be changed and change the world in the name of Jesus.            

(if the circle graphic does not appear - it is just a circle with the above words around it)  

Through this simple process we repent (see our reality in light of God’s) and believe (faith in action seeks to change our reality to be closer that of God’s).  To be a disciple of Jesus and always reforming; repenting and believing is a common rhythm of life. We learn and we are also changed.

This journey over the next 7 weeks together will have us processing in community what God might be saying to us about how we are to create space to live more fully in His kingdom. This will lead us to walk more humbly, act more justly and more lovingly to our neighbors (both locally and globally).  

Holy Spirit,

May you convict us, grant us grace and insight, and change us for your kingdom movement.

Amen.