(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
Loading ...Economy of Love by By Relational Tithe, Video sessions with Shane Claiborne
The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently revised the GDP data for the past three years. It seems the economy was in worse shape than once thought. The threat to the sustainability of the US economy figures strongly in the perception of citizens striving for the American Dream. Each piece of bad news diminishes hope that one day that dream will be fulfilled.
Enter Darin Peterson and Shame Claiborne. Mixing Scripture, story and challenge Relational Tithe releases a new resource to challenge the notion that we do not have enough … to care for the poor, the hungry, the meek, and the merciful. Small groups as well as local Christian faith communities will be challenged to think about their perceptions of “enough.”
Economy of Love is both book and DVD. That’s right. It is not a book and an accompanying DVD. The DVD features five segments, and a bonus piece, that also represent the “rough draft” chapters in the book. They are:
Week 1: Tension – Being the hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world
Week 2: Enough – Christ’s demand to love our neighbor through redistribution
Week 3: Vulnerable – Living lives that collide with those of the marginalized
Week 4: Filled – Is the gospel we preach good news for the rich and poor alike?
Week 5: Practice – Following Jesus with our hands, our feet, and our resources
Warning: The challenge in this resource may be hazardous to your personal economy, your small group’s economy, and your local Christian faith community’s economy.
When you post your review, help the wider community by adding the hashtag: #vb-ecolove
jamiearpinricci
The Economy of Love (DVD & booklet) are an excellent resource to help communities reflect and engage with the implications their faith has on their own lives, the life of their communities and the wider world. Thoughtful, creative and concise, it provides viewers/readers with a process- a journey that leads them step by step towards understand and opportunity for change.
This is not a “feel-good” resource, but something that will challenge the core of how we live in our culture of materialism, consumerism and individualism. They graciously, but clearly lead viewers towards difficult truths that require genuine responses- often costly ones. Produced by Relational Tithe (www.relationaltithe.com), an initiative that also deserves our attention.
I highly recommend this resource.
Aug 31st, 2010
tbrown123
It was fair at best. What I liked most is that the chapters were short. What I liked least is that I felt guilty, not inspired out of love for God to do something with what I heard. This is not because we are not givers, but because I felt like a jerk for sitting on my couch in the air conditioning reading the book. Maybe I missed the point. Maybe I should sell my house and give all the money away. Not sure, but wouldn’t show this curriculum to my small group as i think it’s pretty narrow theologically when you consider the whole counsel of the Word on the topic. That said, I respect any guy like Claiborne who is actually loving the marginalized in a real and tangible way.
Aug 31st, 2010
movementandmemory
Folks over at The Ooze sent me a neat little package with “Economy of Love” scribbled in a sharpie-esque font across the cover. Inside was a book and DVD combo featuring five short talks by “spiritual companion for homeless folks,” Shane claiborne, five corresponding transcripts (with notes, and Scripture references), discussion questions, and commentary by Relational Tithe (the organization – a “global community committed to meeting the needs of others” through whom this package was designed and published) co-founder Isaac Anderson.
I’ve been tracking Shane Claiborne for a while now, and his message hasn’t really changed much. A prophet in the tradition of those of Ancient Israel, calling the people away from the prevailing economic system and towards a posture of trust, generosity, compassion for the poor, dependence and interdependence – all rooted in love for and trust in God and compassion for our neighbour. If you’ve read The Irresistible Revolution or Jesus for President, don’t expect anything new – Shane’s contribution to the project is a collection of the bits of wisdom on kingdom economics that he put together for both previous books and his speaking engagements. It is, however, a message worth repeating, because it is a message we are quick to forget, returning to the world’s old system of money-handling.
What got me hooked on the Irresistable Revolution was that these were a bunch of “theological pranksters.” The things these guys did were so imaginative, and so contrary to everything around them, they got sparks going in my head and in my heart about creative ways to turn the world on its head loving God and neighbour. Intended to be read and viewed in a group setting, it’ll get a lot of discussion going and gears turning. For a personal read, I wouldn’t recommend it – simply because that is not what it was designed to be. As a community resource, however, you ought to check it out.
Sep 16th, 2010
la.vie.imaginee
When I was little, my dad used to tell me, “Good things often come in small packages.” Granted, these words were spoken in an attempt to soothe me as I sat crying copious tears over my diminutive stature and scarecrow-like arms, or the fact that someone on the soccer field had called me “Skinny Minny.” Yet, I couldn’t help but recall these words, over and over, as I perused this tiny volume (recently put out by Relational Tithe and Shane Claiborne) entitled “Economy of Love.”
Coming in at just over 100 brightly-colored and doodle-decorated pages, some of which have no more than one sentence of text on them, “Economy of Love” definitely qualifies as small in its packaging. Yet the message it carries is certainly good – and perhaps even great.
I remember sitting on the train during my morning commute through downtown Chicago and pulling this little volume out of my purse. The world around me disappeared as I made my way, completely absorbed, through chapters one and two. That second chapter was only about eight pages long, but after reading it I pocketed the book immediately as if holstering a gun, or cloaking a dagger. Something in me knew that I was holding a dangerous thing. And as the train wound on between sky-rises and over crowded streets, and the light filtered gently through my window, I felt as though I had been punched in the stomach.
Chapter Two is entitled, “ENOUGH.” And that word, “enough,” is the unequivocal heartbeat of this book. As Shane writes:
“American consumerism thrives on a simple message – that what we have currently is not enough. Not big enough, not nice enough, not fast or hip enough. Not enough is the mantra of capitalism. [...] Not enough is my mantra, too. But I’ve been thinking about the fact that the more I’m driven by an impulse to accumulate, the less free I am to meet the needs of other people. [...] Whether I make a lot of money or a little, the more I need – or think I need – the less I’m able to love my neighbor with my wealth. [...] I’m just less free to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and live responsibly toward my fellow human beings.”
In order to develop his theology of “enough,” Shane draws heavily from Scripture. He explores the metaphor of manna in conjunction with The Lord’s Prayer, arguing that (in both examples) God teaches his people to crave only the sufficiency they need for each individual day. He describes the gleaning laws and the Day of Jubilee that God put in place under Levitical rule to ensure that everyone had access to the wealth of the land. He then draws a compelling parallel between this account and the practices of redistribution and communal ownership that marked the early church. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Shane cites the messages of Jesus and of John, quoting their injunctions to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves by taking only one coat and giving away the second. Drawing equally from the Old and New Testaments (the whole counsel of Scripture, as it were), Shane creates a convincing case for a God who cares deeply about the poor, and a redeemed People that are expected to do the same.
Throughout the remainder of the book, Shane details what sort of personal sacrifices such a theology requires of us, describes the beautiful and transcendent things that can be accomplished when we choose to live by it, and offers practical examples as to how this theology can (and should) work itself out in contemporary society and the Christian conversation.
“Economy of Love” is dangerous because it is both highly counter-cultural and extremely convicting. I’m not sure that it’s possible to encounter these ideas and come away unchanged; because of that, I would caution you against selecting this book for some light reading. If you do decide to invite this book into your life and to wrestle with the many challenges hidden in its pages, I would encourage you to do so in the context of supportive community. The book and accompanying DVD are actually designed for presentation within a small-group or Sunday-school type of structure; they include discussion questions, video transcripts, and other reference materials that will only reach their fullest and richest potential in the course of conversation with others.
Oct 14th, 2010
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