7

"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 with fat and inactivity. All this for me. My goodness, my blessings, my privileges, my happiness, my success. Just one more plate."

 

So I just finished this book. And I'm not going to give away any spoilers because I fully expect ALL of my readers to read it. It will change the way you approach your lifestyle if you let it.

I've had this nagging feeling for a while that this lifestyle I've created for myself is not how Jesus called us to live. And when it feels like I'm surrounded by "consumers" it's nice to know I'm not alone in wanting less to make more room/time for Jesus and what he has called us to do.

Brief overview:

For 7 months Jen Hatmaker chooses 7 different areas to reduce excess in her/her family's life. Clothes. Shopping. Waste. Food. Possessions. Media. Stress. If you're looking to feel inspired by that nagging feeling I suspect many of you have that the church has this whole "life on earth" thing all wrong please pour yourself into this book. Let it change you because it certainly has changed me.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"May we embrace unity over infighting, bravery over comfort, us over me, people over principles, and God's glory over our own."

"This nagging tension that things aren't right, that life is more than blessing extremely blessed people...that's all true."

"I'm done separating ecology form theology, pretending they don't originate from the same source."

"I marvel at how out of place simple, humble Jesus would be in today's American churches."

"Jesus gets a fresh platform in the empty space where indulgence resided."

Oh and P.S. she's also hilarious.