Prophetic simplicity - probably not the kind of thing you talked about in church on Sunday. Nonetheless, this impossible ideal is something that Christians need to be exposed to.
Richard Foster, in his excellent and timely book Freedom of Simplicity, writes the following:
“There is a need today for what I call prophetic simplicity. We need voices of dissent that point to another way, creative models that take exception to the givens of society. Obviously, prophetic simplicity runs the risk of excess; but the danger is no greater than the excess of the status quo.
Often these dissenting men and women speak to us in hyperbole and exaggeration. We label them hopelessly utopian and idealistic. All the same, we need their word to jar us loose. Our consciences need to be pricked by their sharp barbs. We need to understand the relevance of their impossible ideal.
Prophetic simplicity is often expressed in ways that make many of us uncomfortable: models that are certainly not obligatory upon all Christians at all times. And yet they are not in opposition to the way of Christ either. They become open windows and swinging doors onto new options, new possibilities. They are participants in the ministry of sacrifice.
Our temptation to reject prophetic simplicity out of hand must be held in abeyance. After all, John the Baptist is in the Bible. And although Jesus did not go in much for animal skins and wild honey, that does not mean we shouldn’t. At the word of God Elijah lived by a desert stream for three years, and we may be given a similar call. At the heart of prophetic simplicity is self-renunciation for the cause of Christ.”
Prophetic simplicity. Voices of dissent in the midst of a wasteland of commercialism - both secular and religious. A necessary ideal indeed - but one that will probably be received no better today than when lived out by Elijah or John the Baptist.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. (Matthew 23. 29-31 NRSV)
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