unchosen poverty - living like Jesus?
I know that in the CMA sometimes, missionaries are seen as being way over the edge, the big risk takers, the ones who are willing to try anything. Reality is often something quite different than you would think. Missionaries are inclined to carve out new hideaways for themselves, to protect themselves at an emotional level. I think that the majority of missionaries struggle with this at some level.
Others don’t. Some of my coworkers think we should live like the natives here, and they choose to do so, or at leas they think they do. But I would argue that there is a huge difference between chosen and unchosen poverty. Chosen poverty is when I chose to live like the natives. Unchosen poverty is when I am the native! And there is almost no way out of that kind of poverty. Compared to those caught in unchosen poverty I walk differently, hold my body differently, expect differently, think differently, drive differently, express differently, order my day differently.
For instance, my day today is like this:
6:30 rise and shine
6:30-7:00 devo’s
7:00 - 8:30 prayer and exercise
8:30-9:15 clean and brush
9:30-10:15 breakfast with my lovely
10:30-12:30 leadership training with part of our team
12:30-4:30, email, phone, music, planning, networking, publishing, translating, etc, etc
4:30 -5:30 slupper (lunch/dinner) with my lovely
5:30-6:30 music practice before worship team practice
7:00 - 9:00 Worship team practice/prayer
9:15-10:30 talk to my children-email my children, IM my children, hopefully connect with my children etc, etc
10:45 to bed
Now this is a pretty typical day for me, and looking back on this day, it felt far more intense than it looks on paper ☺ What I see about my schedule is that I have far more freedom and independence than do those who live in unchosen poverty. Someone said, “Because individualism is based on the first sin, independence (people craving to be independent from God, longing to be in control). This pursuit defines Western culture, the pervasive quest to manage our environment, control our world through technology, eliminate surprises and predict every eventuality.“
So is chosen poverty or unchosen poverty living like Jesus? I don’t really know, but I think the question is far more complicated than it looks at the surface. Someone said, that both wealth and poverty are impostors. I believe he meant that both require the same from us as individuals - pursuit of God is competing with everyday life no matter where you are on the poverty/wealth scale. But most of us chose the temptation of wealth over poverty. Me too, and I still am undecided if that is good or not.
Others don’t. Some of my coworkers think we should live like the natives here, and they choose to do so, or at leas they think they do. But I would argue that there is a huge difference between chosen and unchosen poverty. Chosen poverty is when I chose to live like the natives. Unchosen poverty is when I am the native! And there is almost no way out of that kind of poverty. Compared to those caught in unchosen poverty I walk differently, hold my body differently, expect differently, think differently, drive differently, express differently, order my day differently.
For instance, my day today is like this:
6:30 rise and shine
6:30-7:00 devo’s
7:00 - 8:30 prayer and exercise
8:30-9:15 clean and brush
9:30-10:15 breakfast with my lovely
10:30-12:30 leadership training with part of our team
12:30-4:30, email, phone, music, planning, networking, publishing, translating, etc, etc
4:30 -5:30 slupper (lunch/dinner) with my lovely
5:30-6:30 music practice before worship team practice
7:00 - 9:00 Worship team practice/prayer
9:15-10:30 talk to my children-email my children, IM my children, hopefully connect with my children etc, etc
10:45 to bed
Now this is a pretty typical day for me, and looking back on this day, it felt far more intense than it looks on paper ☺ What I see about my schedule is that I have far more freedom and independence than do those who live in unchosen poverty. Someone said, “Because individualism is based on the first sin, independence (people craving to be independent from God, longing to be in control). This pursuit defines Western culture, the pervasive quest to manage our environment, control our world through technology, eliminate surprises and predict every eventuality.“
So is chosen poverty or unchosen poverty living like Jesus? I don’t really know, but I think the question is far more complicated than it looks at the surface. Someone said, that both wealth and poverty are impostors. I believe he meant that both require the same from us as individuals - pursuit of God is competing with everyday life no matter where you are on the poverty/wealth scale. But most of us chose the temptation of wealth over poverty. Me too, and I still am undecided if that is good or not.