Practicing the Way of Jesus E-Book

Mark Scandrette

• Herausgeber: IVP Formatio
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 308

Beschreibung

Take a casual survey of how people practice their faith, and you might reasonably conclude that Jesus spent his life going door to door offering private lessons, complete with chalkboard and pop quizzes. We think about God in the comfort of our own minds, in isolation from one another; meanwhile the world waits for a people to practice the way of Jesus together.Mark Scandrette contends that Jesus has in mind something more lively for us: not a classroom so much as a kingdom, where our formation takes place not only in our heads but in our hearts and our bodies, and in the company of one another, in a way that blesses the world we've been entrusted with. In Practicing the Way of Jesus Scandrette draws from his experience as a spiritual director and leader of an intentional community, as well as the best contemporary thinking on kingdom spirituality, to paint a picture of life lived together, in the way of Jesus--which is another way of saying life lived to the full.

Leseprobe

Practicing the Way of Jesus

Life Together in the Kingdom of Love

Mark Scandrette

InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected]

© 2011 by Mark Scandrette

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version TM. Copyright © 2001 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.

While all stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

The vows on page 52 are reprinted courtesy of Ryan Sharp.

Portions of chapters seven and nine were edited by Dee Dee Risher and first appeared in Conspire magazine, Winter 2010 and Summer 2010.

Cover design: Cindy Kiple Interior design: Beth Hagenberg Images: ©patrimonio designs limited/iStockphoto Author photo credit: Noah Agape Scandrette

ISBN 978-0-8308-6872-8 (digital)

To all who have participated and collaborated in

our experiments and shared practices over the years.

This book is the fruit of our common story.

To the dedicated patrons of ReIMAGINE.

Contents

Part One: Perspectives

1: An Invitation to Experiment

2: Following the Way of the Rabbi

3: Creating Space for Shared Practices

4: The Vision and Physicality of Spiritual Formation

5: How Practice Changes Us

6: Initiating and Leading Group Experiments

Part Two: Practices

7: Experiments in Identity

8: Experiments in Purpose

9: Experiments in Security

10: Experiments in Community

11: Experiments in Freedom and Peace

Conclusion

Notes

Study Guide

Appendixes

Credits and Thanks

About the Author

Endorsements

Part One Perspectives

1 An Invitation to Experiment

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

Anumber of years ago I invited a group of friends into an audacious experiment in which each of us would sell or give away half of our possessions and donate the profits to global poverty relief. We were inspired by what Jesus taught about true security and abundance, deciding that an experiment would be a tangible way to explore the implications for our everyday lives. Jesus once told his disciples, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Luke 12:33). And when people asked the prophet John how to respond to the reality of God’s kingdom he said, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same” (Luke 3:11). We called our experiment Have2Give1.

To our surprise over thirty people signed up to participate, and together we plotted how to sell the things we owned to help the poorest people in the world. Friends traveled an hour or more each way just to be at our project meetings. We spent the next eight weeks systematically divesting of our stuff—each week collecting different items to sell, donate or recycle. One week it would be books and music, another, clothes and household items. Everyone had a list of objects in question (Can I keep my figurine collection? Should I auction off some of my jewelry? Do I really need three bicycles?). We were excited to see how the things we owned, much of which was collecting dust, could be sold to feed and help hungry people. While selling our cars, antiques and bicycles we discovered that many of the items we thought were so precious and valuable were actually nearly worthless. Some of us wondered why we kept buying things we didn’t need or use, like sales-rack clothes with price tags still attached after years in the closet. One Saturday we held a garage sale and put out a sign saying that all proceeds would go toward tsunami relief in Indonesia. With the leftovers we did a swap and then donated the rest to a local thrift store.

This flurry of activity led us to ask deeper questions about our heart posture toward money, possessions and consumption. One night we decided it would be a good idea to share how much money we made and where that money was spent. We did some further investigation into what Jesus taught about God’s abundance and wrestled with how his teachings offer a subversive critique of many of our commonly held beliefs and practices. We came up with a list to summarize the qualities we had explored: contentment, gratitude, simplicity, abundance, frugality, generosity and trust. We decided to make a public statement about what we were learning by having a postcard printed with the following phrase written on it:

A new way is possible

Sell your possessions and give to the poor

For where your treasure is there your heart will be also

Ask and you will receive

Seek and you will find

The secret of contentment

On the other side of the postcard was a photograph of a hand holding a coin. We glued three thousand nickels to those cards and on Black Friday morning (the day after Thanksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States), we handed them out to passersby at Union Square, a popular shopping district in San Francisco. In the midst of people scurrying to do their gift buying and among the homeless begging for change, we shouted, “Spare change, we’ve got some spare change, please have some spare change!” Busy shoppers brushed past, some refusing while others asked why we were giving away money. “Because we think there is another way to live—open-handed, trusting and generous,” we said.

Through Have2Give1, thousands of dollars were redistributed and we each discovered more heart simplicity and the benefits of less physical clutter. We were surprised at the depth of connection we felt with a diverse group of people we barely knew when the experiment started. Working on an intensive project seemed to produce an accelerated sense of intimacy. Rather than merely trafficking in ideas or rituals, we now had a common story to tell. For many of us, this and subsequent experiments set a chain of events in motion that continues to shape the ongoing direction of our lives. Some of us quit jobs or relocated to impoverished communities. Others have gotten out of debt, reconciled with their families, overcome addictions or discovered significant inner healing. Many of us have experienced a greater sense of identity, purpose, security and peace. There have been many firsts: sharing a meal with a homeless person, writing a poem, telling someone about a deep wound.

Doing a tangible experiment took us out of our heads and into our bodies, required us to be honest about the real struggles of our lives, and helped us learn something about the power of taking action in solidarity. Gradually we came to realize that this kind of transformation is to be expected when we allow Jesus to be our Rabbi. But what surprised us most was how eager our friends were to take action with us. It was as if they had just been waiting for someone to ask.

Have2Give1 proved to be the beginning of what would become a vibrant collective of people who take risks together to explore how to integrate the teachings of Jesus into everyday life. Each year we engage in a series of group experiments including one-day intensives, weekend retreats, four- to six-week experiments and large-scale projects. Several generations of new leaders and communities have been activated. Hundreds of people have been a part of experiments in the Bay Area, and groups in other cities across the globe have been inspired to create their own. This book is an effort to share what we have learned with a wider audience.

The Jesus Dojo

So many of us want to live in the way of Jesus—pursuing a life that is deeply soulful, connected to our real needs, and good news to our world. Yet too often our methods of spiritual formation are individualistic, information driven or disconnected from the details of everyday life. We simply are not experiencing the kind of transformation that is the historically expected result of the Christ phenomenon. If Jesus of Nazareth demonstrated and taught a revo­­lutionary way of love that is actually possible, alive with healing and hope, then we need a path for experiencing that revolution in the details of our daily lives. Simply put, I believe we need to recover a sense of immediacy and action in our spiritual practices. Perhaps what we need is a path for discipleship that is more like a karate studio than a college lecture hall. With this book I hope to offer a practical approach to spiritual formation that is serious about Scripture, action-focused, communal, experiential, and connected to real world challenges and opportunities.

Aside from a vision to live in God’s abundance, what motivated us to initiate Have2Give1 was our frustration with the methods of spiritual formation most familiar to us. Many of us had spent years in contexts with good teaching, or been in smaller groups where important topics were discussed and we could be honest. What we were saying, by how we gathered, is that thinking, talking and knowing will lead to transformation. I had often wondered: What if, instead of talking about prayer, we actually prayed; or what if, in addition to studying about God’s heart for justice, we took action to care for needs? Or what if, instead of just telling each other about our struggles, we committed to a path for change? It seemed like the missing ingredient was a context that would encourage honesty, invite us into community and move us from information into shared actions and practices.

During my formative years I spent time with philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard, who often and memorably told us that to experience the kingdom of God “a group of people should get together and simply try to do the things that Jesus instructed his disciples to do.” We don’t enter the kingdom of God merely by thinking about it or listening to one another talk about it. We have to experiment together with how to apply the teachings of Jesus to the details of our lives. In discussions with friends, I began to say, “It seems like what we need is a Jesus dojo—a space where we can work out the vision and teachings of Jesus together in real life.” In Japanese the word dojo means “place of the way” and is used to describe a school or practice space for martial arts or meditation. Theoretically, a dojo could be created for any skill or discipline. You could have a knitting dojo, a cooking dojo, a karate dojo—or a Jesus dojo. The important distinction is an active learning environment, where participation is invited and expected.

When I first began using the term “Jesus dojo,” a friend of mine sent me a small porcelain sculpture of Jesus in a karate uniform teaching a boy and a girl how to kick and punch. The sculpture was one in a series of kitschy Jesus sports statues sold by a religious gift company that also included depictions of Jesus teaching children how to do ballet, ski, play hockey and golf. The gift was meant to be a joke, but I kept it, despite its overly literal and culture-commodifying associations, because it reminded me that Jesus taught his disciples in an embodied way that challenges our Western notions about didactic classroom learning. You can’t learn karate just by watching, and we can’t learn to follow Jesus without practicing to do what he did and taught. Jesus didn’t just communicate information or ideas, but declared, “I am the way” and invited his disciples into a new life that was fueled and inspired by his example, teachings and sacrifice (John 14:6). As a rabbi, he taught his disciples, or talmidim, by inviting them to make dramatic changes in their lives—to risk new ways of being and doing. Through surrender and practice, Jesus expected his apprentices to become like him (Luke 6:40). In fact, the earliest disciples of Jesus consistently identified themselves as “followers of the Way” (Acts 24:14), suggesting that they viewed apprenticeship to Jesus as a way of life, the combination of right belief and right living—or what we might call orthopraxy. So a Jesus dojo is a space where a group of people wrestles with how to apply the teachings of Jesus to everyday life through shared actions and practices.

To offer a more precise description, a Jesus dojo, or community of practice, is (1) an experiment, (2) inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus, (3) in which a group of people commit time and energy to a set of practices, (4) in conversation with real needs in our society and within themselves, (5) and reflect on how these experiences can shape the ongoing rhythms of life. Most of us have had transformational encounters that reflect the essence of what I am describing here. The intent of this book is to help readers become more mindful of this process and more intentional about creating spaces with greater transformational potency.

I use the term “community of practice” here to describe the ancient and enduring historical phenomenon of whole-person apprenticeship to Jesus. It is the way that disciples to Jesus have always been made. When Jesus proclaimed the immediacy of God’s kingdom, he asked for a whole-person response: “Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). Eugene Peterson’s dynamic paraphrase highlights this text as a call to action: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” In other words, dream up your whole life again—because there is a new way to be human. Those who first heard his message began making dramatic changes in their lives based on his instructions. For example, after Jesus had taught his disciples to sell their possessions and give to the poor (Luke 12:33) we later find them doing just that: “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone [who] had need” (Acts 2:45 NIV). Together they created a shared culture—a community of practice where whole-life transformation was expected and supported.

Jesus taught with unique authority, convinced that his teachings corresponded directly to the reality of the way life actually works. He embodied and presented not a theoretical construct, but a path for becoming fully human and awake to our Creator. Like a produce vendor offering free samples at the farmer’s market, Jesus seemed to take a “try before you buy” approach. He invited those who were skeptical about the divine origins of his message to test the authenticity of his teaching through experiments in obedience—confident that the truth of what he taught could be proven by experience: “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). The way of Jesus can be verified by direct experience and must be practiced to be understood. Through shared practices of obedience we can know the truth of what Jesus taught about the reality of God’s kingdom. In the well-known parable of the wise and foolish builders, Jesus makes the point clear that putting the teachings into practice is not merely an option—it is the difference between safety and destruction (Matthew 7:24-27).

Why We Need Spaces of Practice and Experimentation

Twenty years ago, when I was in college, the most ardent Jesus seekers of my generation wanted to become pastors, teaching missionaries or evangelistic campus workers. While we asked how we could help people believe in Jesus and prepare to die, today’s college students are more likely to ask, “How can I be like Jesus and change the world?” I regularly hear the young people I meet or work with express their passion for God more holistically:

“I want to work with AIDS orphans in Africa.”

“I want to live in an intentional community.”

“I want to become a legal defense lawyer to help fight human trafficking.”

“I want to be a community organizer in the inner city.”

“I want to make films, paint pictures and write stories.”

“I want to plant a garden and live more simply.”

“I want to be aware of God’s presence in every moment.”

“I want to start an ethically responsible technology company.”

The boundaries for our understanding of what it means to seek the kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven” are radically and necessarily expanding. This shift is not isolated to younger people. People of all ages and cultural backgrounds are sensing a pull toward a spirituality that is more holistic, integrative and socially engaged. In recent years increasing numbers of people have mentally “checked out” or physically left the Christian groups they have been part of because they have felt that these contexts are not actually helping them believe, belong or live better. While it may be tempting or convenient to blame church leaders or structures for this, I believe this widespread dissatisfaction is a symptom of the larger challenges we face as a society. Advances in technology, the explosion of information and increasing mobility have created a sense of disequilibrium and social fragmentation. The church, along with every other social institution, is grappling with how to thrive in a rapidly changing, always connected mobile and global culture.

As a result of these shifts, a new consciousness is emerging—a way of seeing the world and ourselves that is more holistic, integrative and ecological. This explains, for instance, why someone might make a connection between loving God and, in light of global in­equities, adopting a simpler, local diet or lifestyle. We are becoming increasingly aware of how the body, mind and spirit are interrelated and how our individual choices contribute to the health and suffering of others, including future generations and the earth itself. In this consciousness, sin is not only an individual problem but also manifests in the brokenness we see in every dimension of life—from broken relationships to broken economies to broken water supply systems. By “ecological” I mean not only an awareness of our interdependence with the natural world, but a more basic way of seeing that appreciates and yearns for wholeness, restoration and salvation to come to every part of creation. Our increasing integrative perspective makes us groan all the more loudly for the holistic redemption that is promised (Romans 8:22). We yearn for the time when we can say, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah” (Revelation 11:15).

Changes in our society and consciousness are raising new questions about what it means to be faithful to the way of Jesus, and how to understand the unfolding story of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. We bring new questions to ancient traditions and texts. Instead of primarily asking, “How do I get to heaven when I die?” more of us wonder, “What does it look like to live conscious of God and God’s purposes in the present moment?” We are rediscovering the holistic and integrative nature of the gospel of Jesus as “the good news of the kingdom” (Luke 16:16). Jesus continually spoke of a kingdom, characterized by love, that is both present and progressing. He invited his followers to “seek the kingdom” and pray that the kingdom would become “on earth as it is in heaven.” He invites us into a way of life in the kingdom in which we are empowered to live without worry, fear or lust; to love our enemies and reconcile with one another; to live in generosity and trust and to instinctively care for those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, naked and lonely.

A shifting consciousness also raises new questions about evangelism and Christian witness. In a holistically-oriented culture, skeptical people are less convinced by purely rational arguments about why Christianity is true, and more curious to see whether Christian belief and practice actually make a positive difference in the character of a person’s life. Knowing the transformational promise of the gospel, it is fair to ask whether a person who claims to have a relationship with Jesus exhibits more peace and less stress, handles crisis with more grace, experiences less fear and anxiety, manifests more joy, is overcoming anger and their addictions or compulsions, enjoys more fulfilling relationships, exercises more compassion, lives more consciously or loves more boldly. In any culture, but especially in one that yearns for holistic integration, the most compelling argument for the validity of Christian faith is a community that practices the way of Jesus by seeking a life together in the kingdom of love (John 13:35).

And yet, a tremendous gap exists in our society between the way of radical love embodied and taught by Jesus and the reputation and experience of the average Christian. We simply aren’t experiencing the kind of whole-person transformation that we instinctively long for (and that a watching world expects to see). This suggests the need for a renewed understanding of the gospel and more effective approaches to discipleship. Though our understanding of the gospel is becoming more holistic, our most prevalent formation practices don’t fully account for this. We can be frustrated by this gap and become critics, or be inspired by a larger vision of the kingdom and get creative. I believe what is needed, particularly in this transitional era, are communities of experimentation—creative spaces where we have permission to ask questions and take risks together to practice the Way.

Renewing Our Perspective on Jesus

Shortly after we began our first series of group experiments, I participated in a large national gathering of church leaders. During a break in one of the sessions, an older gentleman introduced himself and asked, “What do you do?”

“I help people live out the teachings of Jesus,” I replied.

Puzzled, he asked, “Does your work have anything to do with Christianity?”

Taken aback, my first thought was, why would I be at a national pastor’s convention if I wasn’t a Christian? And then I wondered, what has happened to our understanding of what it means to be Christian if helping people live out the teachings of Jesus is considered suspect?

This sincere pastor and I had stumbled into a historical argument that divides Jesus into being either a wise rabbi or a messianic savior. Was Jesus a wise teacher to admire and imitate, or a savior to believe in and worship—or both?

In the academy and popular culture, these two simplified views of Jesus are often pitted against each another. In one Jesus is seen as an exceptionally wise rabbi known for his ethics and compassion, while miraculous events, his resurrection and messianic claims are either minimized or dismissed. From the opposing view, Jesus is presented as the Savior whose death and resurrection provide forgiveness and the hope of eternal life, while his role as a model and teacher are often discounted or eclipsed by the importance placed on belief in his atoning sacrifice. Our goal here isn’t to resolve a long-standing historical tension, but to ask how we can best live into a holistic understanding of Jesus that allows for the greatest transformation in our lives for the good of the world.

Our ability to practice the way of Jesus is shaped by our understanding of who he is and what his message and work mean for our lives. It is clear that Jesus intended for his disciples and later followers to actually do the things he did and taught (John 14:23-24). But as Rabbi, Jesus asks us to do what seems humanly impossible: love your enemies; turn the other cheek; forgive continually; live without lust, greed or jealousy; love as he has loved us; and “be perfect.” Anyone who tries to obey these instructions quickly discovers that putting the teachings of Jesus into practice is difficult, if not impossible, without a source of power and love greater than our own. Our efforts, and subsequent failures, bring us to the point of recognizing that we need inner transformation to see a lasting change in our world.

I’m encouraged by the many signs that we are learning to appreciate Jesus both as Rabbi and Messiah, since recognizing the significance of Jesus as a savior and teacher are equally important to practicing the Way. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus makes it possible for us to enter the kingdom of love. And through his example and instructions, he teaches us how to live in the kingdom of love, sourcing our life from God’s life. The earliest disciples of Jesus valued these dimensions equally, proclaiming the reality of the kingdom of God and teaching about Jesus as resurrected Messiah (Acts 28:31). The apostle Paul makes this connection clear where he writes, “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

For the early church, the way of Jesus was a revolutionary and countercultural force, offering an alternative to the solutions and power structures of the Roman Empire. As the way of Jesus gradually developed into the religion called Christianity, it became defined more by its ecclesial rituals, doctrines and authority structures than as a grassroots movement characterized by love. After Christianity was legalized under Constantine, prophetic/monastic groups formed that continued to present the Way as a compelling alternative to the empire. When Christianity becomes the civic or folk religion of a society, fringe movements inevitably arise to call people toward more authentic and embodied disciple­ship to Jesus. Through the actions of smaller, more radical communities (like the desert fathers and mothers, the early Franciscans, the Anabaptists, or the early Methodists and their class meetings), the church as a whole is renewed and called forward into the redemptive purposes of the Creator. We can be inspired by those who have gone before us to discover how to practice the way of Jesus in our time and place, seeking a life together in the kingdom of love.

An Invitation to Discovery

The premise of this book is quite simple: “Let’s practice the way of Jesus.” But what is simple isn’t easily applied to complicated lives. We might ask ourselves why something so obvious as learning to do the things Jesus did and taught is so rarely practiced when it is something that so many of us deeply profess to desire. What excites me most about the truths explored in this book is the potential they carry to renew our experience of Christ-empowered transformation, community life and social change. My hope is that after reading this book you feel inspired and equipped to develop your own experiments in practicing the way of Jesus.

The book is divided into two sections. Part one offers a perspective on action-based group practices and details about how to begin your own experiments. Part two provides an orientation to the major categories in the teachings of Jesus and stories and samples of specific experiments and practices. I strongly encourage the reader to explore this material and try out practices together with at least one other person. Discussion questions and sample experiments are included at the end of each chapter. A suggested six-session study guide is included for use by groups.

With this book I hope to contribute to an ongoing public conversation about how we can pursue practicing the way of Jesus in the details of our lives. I trust that the examples and approach to formation communicated in these pages will seed an amazing variety of stories of transformation that far surpass anything contained here. My dream is to see communities of practice activated in towns and cities across the globe. You can visit Jesusdojo.com to contribute stories of your own experiences and see what others are doing to make a life together in the kingdom of love.

Discussion

Practicing the Way.

As you think about your spiritual journey, what experiences have most helped you integrate the teaching of Jesus into your everyday life?

Shared practices.

When have you experienced what is being described as a community of practice? What was it like, and how have those experiences shaped you?

Shifts.

Where have you noticed a “shift in consciousness” in society or within yourself? How do you think this changing landscape is affecting your journey with God?

Stuck?

Can you relate to a sense of being frustrated or “stuck” in your spiritual practices? Where do you most long for transformation: (1) within yourself, (2) in the place where you live or (3) with issues facing our world?

Rabbi and Messiah.

Are you more comfortable or familiar with seeing Jesus as Messiah or Rabbi? How would you explain the connection between Jesus as a teacher to follow and a Savior to believe in?

Examples.

What historical figures or contemporary groups most inspire you by how they have sought to practice the way of Jesus?

Conspicuous absence.

Why do you think something so simple and obvious as learning to do the things that Jesus did and taught is so rarely practiced?

The invitation to risk and experiment.

Does the thought of a more radical, action-oriented and embodied path for discipleship to Jesus excite you or scare you? Why?

Exercise

Dream up your whole life again.

Most of us, to some degree, long for something more or different in our lives that expresses our yearning for life in the kingdom of love. Sometimes the first step to getting unstuck is learning to dream again. Have a brainstorming conversation with one or two other people about what you long for and the points of resistance that keep you from experiencing life in God’s kingdom more fully.

2 Following the Way of the Rabbi

When I first discoveredthe way of Jesus, I remember how eager I was to take steps to live into my new understanding of life in the kingdom of love. As I studied what Jesus did and taught, it wasn’t long before I wanted to live his kind of life. I did what spoke most immediately to me or seemed most obvious. I went through my closets and gave away any extra clothes I had. I went out of my way to make friends with people on the margins. Noticing that Jesus often prayed in lonely places, I began taking long walks alone. As an attempt to renew the “eye” of my mind, for a period of time I swore off music, movies and television. After reading “[if] your brother or sister has something against you . . . go and be reconciled” (Matthew 5:23-24), I quickly made a list of anyone I could think of that I had wronged, and started making phone calls. Trying to be a good Samaritan, I made a vow to stop and help anyone I saw stranded along the side of the road (which led to many interesting trips to auto-parts stores with strangers). Hearing that “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20), I started sleeping in my car whenever I could. And once, after reading, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (Matthew 5:30 NIV), I actually took out a knife and contemplated using it.

Looking back, some of my early experiments now seem childish, sentimental or naive. But at the time they helped me get momentum in discovering how to practice the Way. And perhaps being childlike and imaginative isn’t such a bad thing. Jesus once said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom” (Matthew 18:3). The pressure we feel to be respectable or sophisticated can rob us of the sense of playfulness required to experience life in the kingdom of love. It is those little steps of obedience that propel us toward greater understanding.

I credit my parents with inspiring my early attempts to practice the Way. I remember coming down the stairs early in the morning to find my dad kneeling on the living room floor at prayer, preparing for the day. He also carried a stack of note cards with Scripture verses written on them that he used to meditate during his daily commute. My mom always seemed to be on the phone listening to peoples’ problems and offering help or advice. Growing up, Tuesday night at our house was soup night for us kids (with no dessert) and fasting for our parents—so that we could share our resources with children living in places where they didn’t have enough to eat. After dinner my dad would often take out the Bible, read a portion of the Gospels to us, and begin asking questions, like “What do you imagine it would look like for us to live as Jesus did?” Or he would push us to wrestle with a particular instruction: “Let’s think of who our neighbors are. What can we do to love them?” Together we would generate a list of ideas to enact over the coming weeks: Invite neighbor Joe over for dinner. Shovel snow for the elderly couple down the block. Welcome a friend from school whose family is in crisis to spend the weekend at our house. One memorable holiday season my parents created a project to help us learn how to bless our neighbors. Over several nights we made Christmas decorations and cookies and then went door to door distributing them with an invitation to come to a holiday party. A few weeks later our home was full of neighbors, many of whom were meeting for the first time. The party really brought the neighborhood together, and I still remember the excitement of being a part of something bigger than myself.

My wife, Lisa, and I have three teenage children whom we have tried to raise with a similar sense of adventure and shared practices. They’ve grown up participating in our Jesus dojo experiments—both at home and with our tribe of friends.[*] We have eaten together with drug addicts, gone on weekend-long silent prayer retreats, written our own poems and prayers, helped prepare hospitality meals, and cared for orphans. We realize this might be different than the typical path of Christian education, but we think children are most impacted by the modeling and example of the people closest to them. We don’t want to just tell them about the significance of a homeless messiah-prophet, we want them to walk in his steps. I’m convinced that one experience of embodied intentional practice can teach more than a year’s worth of Sunday school lessons or well-prepared talks. Sometimes kids can recognize the truth of this more easily than adults. My son Noah once came with me when I spoke at a large retreat for college students. After observing several sessions where I taught, which included extended worship sets performed by an indie rock band, Noah turned to me and said, “Papa, I don’t understand. You get up there and speak about things like listening to God or caring for victims of human trafficking—and then everyone leaves the building to do things that have nothing to do with what you talked about.” Wherever possible, we need to create environments that include both good instruction and opportunities for shared action.