So here's
the thing………
I love Jen
Hatmaker even though I've never met her.
I'm old
enough to be her mother, but wish we could be next-door-neighbors and best
friends.
I heard her
husband speak last summer at the Free Methodist Church General Conference (our
husbands are both FM pastors).
I read
"Interrupted" soon after I retired, and it helped me to put into
perspective what I hope to be doing with this final third of my life.
I read
"7" at an ironic time and in an ironic place. I live in Ohio where
the state colors should be gray and grayer. My husband has embarked on career
number four at the age when most men are counting the days to retirement. We
are blessed enough to be able to withdraw to Florida for three weeks each
January where we own a timeshare in a beautiful Hilton resort. So, I lay down
in the sun, next to the pool, and began to read………..
Here is the
synopsis from Amazon, so you understand what the book is about:
American life can be excessive, to say
the least. That’s what Jen Hatmaker had to admit after taking in hurricane
victims who commented on the extravagance of her family’s upper middle class
home. She once considered herself unmotivated by the lure of prosperity, but
upon being called “rich” by an undeniably poor child, evidence to the contrary
mounted, and a social experiment turned spiritual was born.
7 is the true story of how Jen (along with her
husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified
seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the
modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.
Food. Clothes. Spending. Media.
Possessions. Waste. Stress. They would spend thirty days on each topic, boiling
it down to the number seven. Only eat seven foods, wear seven articles of
clothing, and spend money in seven places. Eliminate use of seven media types,
give away seven things each day for one month, adopt seven green habits, and
observe “seven sacred pauses.” So, what’s the payoff from living a deeply
reduced life? It’s the discovery of a greatly increased God—a call toward
Christ-like simplicity and generosity that transcends social experiment to
become a radically better existence.
So that's
the Cliff Notes version; trust me, you really, really need to read this book.
In addition
to all that, though, "7" meant much more to me. I read it while on
vacation, and each chapter stirred something in me that I'm not sure was ever
Jen's intent. I want to pull out
excerpts that went straight to my heart--new things revealed by the Holy Spirit
plus confirmation of things that have been swirling through my soul recently
(especially since my retirement and Mike's new responsibilities).
Month One "Food"
When my
husband was the pastor at Living Water, he was known to occasionally tell his
people to "stop studying their Bibles." This always shocked us (this
pastor's wife got very uncomfortable) until he explained that an over-abundance
of head knowledge without putting that knowledge into action was meaningless.
Here's what Jen had to say:
"Teaching by example, radical obedience,
justice, mercy, activism, and sacrifice wholly inspires me. I'm at that place
where "well done" trumps "well said." When I see kingdom
work in the middle of brokenness, when mission transitions from the academic
soil of the mind into the sacrificial work of someone's hands, I am utterly
affected. Obedience inspires me. Servant leaders inspire me. Humility inspires
me. Talking heads dissecting apologetics stopped inspiring me a few years ago."
…...and this
one:
"The careful study of the Word has a goal, which
is not the careful study of the Word. The objective is to discover Jesus and
allow Him to change our trajectory. Meaning, a genuine study of the Word
results in believers who feed poor people and open up their guest rooms;
they're adopting and sharing, mentoring and intervening. Show me a Bible
teacher off mission, and I'll show you someone with no concept of the gospel he
is studying."
Ouch! Pastor
McFarren would be proud!
Month Two "Clothes"
Jen and
Brandon and the Austin New Church are radical servants (they do what Jesus
calls all of us to do). Here's an insight from Jen:
"I'm 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."
Month Three "Possessions"
From Jen: "Sometimes the best way to bring good news to
the poor is to bring actual good news to the poor. It appears a good way to
bring relief to the oppressed is to bring real relief to the oppressed. It's
almost like Jesus meant what He said. When you're desperate, usually the best
news you can receive is food, water, shelter. These provisions communicate
God's presence infinitely more than a tract or Christian performance in the
local park. They convey, 'God loves you so dearly, He sent people to your rescue.'"
Month Four "Media"
I cherish my
family both biological and spiritual. I know that I am a uniquely created
individual and that, in Christ, I am even a New creation, but I am also the
product of those who have influenced me (both positively and negatively)
through the years. What you do, affects me. Jen puts it this way:
"Our stories affect one another whether we know
it or not. Sometimes obedience isn't for us at all, but for another. We don't
know how God holds the kingdom in balance or why He moves a chess piece at a
crucial time; we might never see the results of his sovereignty. But we can
trust Him when He says press on, cling to hope, stay the course. He is always
at work, even if the entire thread is hidden. I might just be one shade of one
color of one strand, but I'm part of an elaborate tapestry that goes beyond my
perception."
A long time
ago, I heard God's voice--audibly! He said something so profound that it comes
to my mind often. Get ready, here it is:
"Robin, you either trust me or you don't." I choose to trust!
Month Five "Waste"
Jen may be
one of the most honest authors I've ever read. Her genuineness and honesty are
a breath of fresh air in this politically correct society in which we live.
"My land, do we have far to go! My hypocrisies
are too numerous to count, but this month birthed something unmistakable: I'm
done separating ecology from theology, pretending they don't originate from the
same source. 'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all
who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the
waters.' (Psalm 24:1-2)"
Month Six "Spending"
I have toyed
with, played around with and basically ignored the Biblical mandate for
fasting. I've read, I've listened to sermons, I've signed on the dotted line.
Never have I been as convicted as when I read this:
"At some point, the church stopped living the
Bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing
the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly
discipleship required after consuming. The feast is supposed to sustain the
fast, but we go back for seconds and thirds and fourths, stuffed to the brim
and fat with inactivity. All this is for me. My goodness, my blessings, my
privileges, my happiness, my success. Just one more plate."
The feast is
supposed to sustain the fast…….God forgive me.
Month Seven "Stress"
I have owned
"Seven Sacred Pauses" by
Macrina Wiederkehr for several years now. I love it! I set the alarm on
my phone to call me to pause and pray (just like Jen). It got old; I quit; I
must confess. Those of you who know me
well, know that I testify to how important my prayer life is to me and how I
long to be a true Intercessor; how I long for my home to be a house of prayer.
I'm reinstituting the seven pauses. Ask me how it's going. If my alarm goes off
while we're together, pause with me.
One last
quote that I must include begins with Matthew
16:19--"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven." From Jen: "Maybe after we say, 'I'll forgive,' He
inspires repentance in the offender. Perhaps when we say, 'I'll finally trust
you,' He delivers. Is He waiting to hear 'I'll do it' before clearing the path?
If we can bind and loose things in the spiritual realm, why are we squandering
prayer words on football victories and temporary luxuries? What a waste! We
could be binding evil, injustice and hatred while releasing freedom, recovery,
and healing--partners in mercy, not just consumers of it."
Wow……
Here's
another unexpected "7" result. I have seven grandchildren. For a long
time, I pray for each one on his or her own particular day: Monday is Tyler
day, Tuesday is Nicholas Day, etc. Since reading "7", I have decided
to keep my daily prayers in seven journals. Grandma's prayers will be next
year's Christmas gifts. Please pray for my procrastination to be held in check.
What better sacrifice of time could there be?
I love
"7"! I love that Jen Hatmaker allowed the Holy Spirit to use her and
to speak through her to me in ways that she may not have asked for or imagined!
I know that it will speak to you.
