Janurary 6th I wrote

Renunciation

     We have been reading a book about finances from a Jesus-from-the-gospels perspective. It is a very god book to read by one of our literal neighbors, Virgil Vogt. In the book there is a section about renunciation – how Jesus required his disciples to renounce worldly possessions, their past life, and even their own family time to follow him. Hopefully you can find scriptures enough to back this up without me typing them here.

     In our current times, it seems you hear missionaries praised for leaving the comforts of this culture for the call of God in their life. And they should be praised. But the exciting thing I heard this time while looking at this subject is that anyone who wants to be a disciple is called to actually leave many things to make room to follow Jesus’ Way.

     I thought about a “seeker friendly” program I was familiar with while leading small groups that has an evangelistic edge, but I cannot recall the pairing of receiving Jesus with leaving the comforts of our culture in order to receive the comforts of the Kingdom.

     Especially with regard to money, we are invited to renounce our claim on what is “ours”. We are expected to actually do it – not just be willing to do it. Give it all away, or share it. Literally open our homes to folks who need a place to eat or sit or sleep.

     Looking back on the last 16 months, we have had a lot of stress on our household. Some of it is just family life: Jedi starting school, having a new baby in the house. Some of the stress has been part of us following Jesus to this place. We aren’t furthering our careers, or getting an education, we aren’t making money. We have had to learn a new (and much bigger) city, make new friends, find jobs, et cetera. I guess I am remembering that those hardships are a result of some of our renunciations and I find that thought comforting.