Here in the UK it seems like the last month has been made up of many nights where we have listened to people talk about change. From televised debates to marathon election coverage, everyone’s been wondering how the future might look, asking whether we are on the verge of something truly revolutionary.
Well, last night in a small cinema just off Leicester Square, author, speaker and face of Basic (a new series of DVDs by the makers of Nooma) Francis Chan went one better. Instead of offering himself up as the pied piper for us to follow, he planted in the audience something far more precious and sustainable: the sense that with small steps but big hearts, we can be the disciples – and the Church – that Jesus intended.
If you put it down in words it all seems so simple: restoring a healthy fear of God, ditching the baggage we have rammed into our church services, breaking out of the me-first approach to life, opening up our homes, sharing our stuff and scrapping the idea that Christianity is a solo spectator sport. Simple, yes, but when you see it in action – and Francis practises precisely what he preaches – it has the potential to change lives in ways that no political plan could ever match.
This is nothing new. From the early apostles to the desert fathers, from Francis of Assisi to an underground army of Christians today, there have always been people who have made the decision to live the way Jesus told us to. All that Francis is doing is helping to turn up the lights, to show who else is travelling the road, and ask each of us whether we are ready to take the next step for ourselves.
Really enjoyed your intro and Q&As as well, Craig.
J
I’m in. Where do we start?
Thanks, Johnny. It was a privilege to get to ask him those questions.
Craig, I’m not sure that it’s a ‘we’ situation here. I think that it might be singular rather than plural… a question of individual responses rather than global strategies.
There are lots of ways that I avoid doing that which I know I must, and many ways in which I lower the bar for myself. After three decades of nominally following Christ, I’m pretty appalled at the lack of ground I’ve covered. And I’m the only one to blame and the only one to step up the pace.
‘Scuse the mixed metaphors there.