Discovering Jesus – Chapter 8: The Radical Lifestyle of Jesus
8. The Radical Lifestyle of Jesus
Increasing numbers of people in the Western world today are seeking an alternative lifestyle. Australian, the most urbanised nation in the world with over 86% of its total population living in seven cities huddled around the coast, has seen, for the first time in a century, an increase in the percentage of Australians living in rural communities. 1
Many of these people are seeking an alternate lifestyle to the world of the city. They consist of unemployed young people, counter-culturalists and highly trained professionals opting for life in some remote valley of north-east New South Wales or central Victoria.
Others are making a religious retreat from the traditions of the Christian Church into Hinduism or some other Eastern religion, believing that under the yellow saffron robes of Eastern mysticism they can find peace of heart. Still other people are making a retreat from the technological society through pop psychology or self-analysis.
Jesus: the true alternative
Around the world there is a growing interest in recapturing the essence of the radical lifestyle of Jesus as a viable alternative for contemporary society. Jesus somehow ‘had it all together’. He seemed to be at harmony with himself, with other people, with his world and with God. That’s a far cry from the alienation, division by many twentieth century people. His life was utterly transparent, open to all, and yet integrated with an overriding sense of integrity and purpose.
Many Christians have realised that they are, in fact, ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’. 2 They have felt guilty about their relative affluence when so many people in the world suffer from poverty.
While not trying to retreat from contemporary society, they have opted for a simpler lifestyle as an expression of their Christian commitment. Indeed, with eight hundred million people living in poverty in the world and thirty million children each year dying from starvation, Christians cannot continue to live a life of waste or excessive luxury, buying goods with built-in obsolescence or as a passing fad.
What is it about the radical lifestyle of Jesus that attracts our attention even from the distance of two thousand years?
(a) His simple lifestyle
The simplicity of Jesus’ lifestyle attracts us. In an industrial society which depends upon advertising to create consumer demand, we buy goods we do not need, with money we do not have, to impress people who do not care. The more material possessions we have, the less we are satisfied.
The words of Jesus strike home: ‘Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because a person’s true life is not made up of the things he owns, no matter how rich he may be.’ 3
Jesus lived a life which we would describe by our standards as a life of poverty. He was fully employed throughout his life as a carpenter, working hard to support Mary and at least five other children younger that he. 4 Yet he never owned a house, accumulated possessions, built a library, nor possessed any of the signs of wealth that others of his day had. The only possession he owned was a cloak. He identified with the poor. They knew his lifestyle and they knew he understood their situation.
From the time of his first sermon in the synagogue at Nazareth Jesus had said: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor.’ 5 Whenever the story of Jesus has been told subsequently in Third World countries or to people in the most primitive of conditions, they have always responded to the person of Jesus, for they could see one who was like themselves, who also had ‘nowhere to lay his head’. 6 On one occasion we read, ‘Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.’ 7 The roof above his head was the starry night.
Jesus taught that we had to be careful that we use our possessions rightly and not allow our possessions to use us. He indicated that our life was far more important than the things we accumulate. A choice has to be made between two masters: God or money. 8
Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. For your heart will always be where you riches are. 9
These words mock us as we make sure our houses, cars and offices are secure, as we double-check the deadlocks, our burglar alarms and security arrangements, and as we pay our high insurance premiums!
But Jesus taught more than just not making possessions our main priority in life. He taught positively that it was impossible for people majoring on wealth and possessions to grow in their spiritual life: ‘It is much harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.’ 10 While we may dismiss this saying as hyperbole or exaggeration, we have only to get on the treadmill of gaining things – of reaching for a higher status, of purchasing a second home, of seeking higher salary levels – to realise how easily these pursuits can become obsessive. The matters of the kingdom of God are always made secondary to the gaining of more possessions.
Jesus once described a successful primary producer whose land bore good crops. His horizons expanded and he began to dream of how he would spend his wise investments:
‘Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and enjoy yourself!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?’
And Jesus concluded, ‘This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God’s sight.’ 11 How we recognise that man. He lives near to us. He is always building, developing, saving, storing, collecting… and then, congratulating himself, believes he has all he needs. Ahead lies the good life. In one night, his life can be ended and the squabble to divide the estate commences.
Jesus touches us where we’re vulnerable. I have travelled behind a hearse many times. I have yet to see a hearse followed by a furniture van. You can’t take it with you!
On another occasion Jesus was approached by a young executive who wanted to serve him and discover the secret of eternal life. Jesus asked him if he had kept the commandments and he replied that he had. Then Jesus said, ‘If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.’ 12 When the young man heard this, he went away sad – he was very rich. Jesus never asked this requirement of anyone else. The reason he asked it of this young man was not because he was rich, but because his riches had become central to his life. When Jesus tested him, he was not willing to let them go in order to gain eternal life. Such is the delusion of our possessions. We hold on to them, not realising that they in fact are grasping us.
Jesus gave one further parable to challenge our attitude to physical possessions. This parable told of two people: a rich man named Dives and a poor beggar, Lazarus. When the rich man died he went to the world of dead; when the poor man died he went to heaven. The point of the parable was that those who spend all their time gaining possessions on this earth have them and that is all. Even though a person may possess little, if his heart is right with God, he may have many eternal benefits. 13
When Jesus emphasised a simple lifestyle free from distracting possessions, he also claimed that our minds and emotions should be likewise freed. He taught: ‘Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the kingdom of heaven belongs to them!’ 14 We need to be poor in spirit. That means to be humble in our attitude, not dependent upon the power of possessions. A simplicity of lifestyle extends to our attitudes, not just our material possessions. Clear, uncluttered, transparently sincere – these were the marks of the radical lifestyle of Jesus.
(b) His absolute trust
There was with Jesus obvious love, honesty, acceptance and trust. This was seen in the way he depended upon God and how he related with other people.
Jesus believed that God would provide for our needs. He urged us to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. 15 There is a vital difference between needs and wants. He urged us to pray for bread, not pavlova!
This is the risk and the adventure of being Christian. Jesus calls us to live a life of simplicity and trust, limiting our acquisitions, knowing that God will ensure that our needs will be met. By contrast, most of us fret and become anxious about our possessions, our food, our income and our housing. That causes us to worry, to become depressed, to go to a doctor, to take pills, to take a second job – to spend so much time gaining the things of life, that we have no time left to live.
Surely there is no more relevant word to our generation than that from the Sermon on the Mount:
So do not start worrying: ‘Where will my food come from? Or my drink? Or my clothes?’ (There are the things the pagans are always concerned about.) Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. Instead, be concerned above everything else with the kingdom of God and with what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings. 16
Jesus was absolutely convinced that God honoured those who trusted in him. Every generation has witnessed those who have taken him at his word and trusted God. God had provided for their need, allowing them to use their lives constructively for the work of God’s kingdom and the service of others.
It is important to note that, for most of his life, Jesus worked as an ordinary tradesman, providing for his family. However he needed other people who would be the channels through whom God would provide. Luke tells us that there was a group of wealthy women who followed the band of disciples, making sure that they had food when they required it: ‘Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod’s court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.’ 17 His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus opened their home, while John Mark’s mother provided the upper room for their meetings in Jerusalem. 18
Jesus not only trusted God to provide, but learnt to accept the gifts and support of other people. There is an important balance here. Many of us need to live simply in order that we might serve others. Others need to give sacrificially to enable more service to be completed.
(c) His sacrificial service
The reason why we are encouraged to live the radical lifestyle of Jesus is that simplicity of lifestyle and trust in God enables us better to serve God and witness to him. With many people, the accumulation of possessions prevents their service. It takes time and effort to earn money, to buy and sell, to keep and guard, to clean and secure. The possessions with which we surround ourselves can effectively block us from having the time and freedom to serve the needs of others.
Yet it was service to the needy which was the hallmark of the Christian. As the Good Samaritan was acknowledged by his service to a neighbour in need, so nations will be judged eventually by how they help the poor and deprived, the disabled and imprisoned, the unemployed and homeless. 19 Strangely enough, we judge as civilised only those nations who have such levels of service to the needy as Jesus outlined.
It is only as we learn to serve others that we find true happiness for ourselves. That is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ 20 Jesus called those who followed him to prepare themselves to serve the needs of others. There was to be no work or occupation that could not be used in a spirit of service to others:
If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people. 21
On his last night on earth, Jesus left an indelible impression on his disciples when he knelt and washed their feet. Peter of course protested, but Jesus indicated that he was giving them an example of humble service. That teaching was to change their lives and to send them out as servants. 22
Jesus was prepared to serve especially the needy in his community. He touched the untouchable, the lepers in society. He treated women with courtesy and encouraged their own sense of self-worth, treating them as persons of intellectual and spiritual capacity. He refused to judge those whom society judged as immoral. 23 He gave to a disreputable foreigner some of the choicest teaching, which in turn led her to become the first ‘evangelist’ in the history of the Church. 24
The world has never seen a finer example of service than in the life of Jesus. From him we learn that no person stands higher than when he or she stoops to serve.
In our world where self-service has become the chief characteristic of personal interaction, the radical lifestyle of Jesus calls us to forget ourselves and to serve others.
(d) His unconditional love
The world is moved by all sorts of motives – personal power, prestige, status, wealth – but Jesus chose as his primary motive that of love. He even used a word not known in the ancient world. His word for ‘love’ was the deep caring and abiding concern for another person. It was an unselfish, positive, universal and creative care for another.
It is the only answer I know for those people in every city who compose the lonely, alienated and purposeless throng that crowds our city streets.
The love that Jesus taught was the motive behind everything the Christian should do. He took two of the Old Testament Jewish laws (from the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus) and combined them into one great commandment: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ 25
That love of God, expressed in our loving action towards our neighbour, was the motive behind all that Jesus did. This included caring for others whatever their need and accepting others whatever their background or race. We are not to judge people from their outward appearance. 26 In the same way as God accepts us, so we are to accept other people.
True, caring love also forgives other people. Jesus strongly emphasised that a forgiving attitude towards others would be part of our loving concern for them.
Peter found this hard to understand at first. He once asked Jesus, rather proudly, how often he should forgive another person. Was it up to seven times? Jesus replied, ‘No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.’ 27
Others might teach revenge, but Jesus taught forgiveness, even to those who are enemies. In one of the most remarkable insights recorded by any teacher, he said:
You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it two miles. When someone ask you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.
You have heard that it was said: ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you. 28
Jesus demonstrated this forgiveness supremely to his death. We stand in wonder as we see a man, innocent of any crime yet painfully crucified, saying, ‘Forgive them, Father! They do not know what they are doing.’ 29
In St Peter’s Square, Rome, during May 1981, Pope John Paul II was struck down by bullet from an assassin’s gun. He survived the assassination attempt and Mehmet Ali Agca was convicted of his attempted assassination.
The Pope recovered and, just after New Year’s Day 1984, went to the Roman prison where Agca was held in maximum security. The Pope asked to meet him in order that he might forgive him. The two men sat on moulded plastic chairs in the corner of the cell – one a Turkish Moslem prisoner, the other a Polish Catholic Pope. John Paul took Agca’s hands in his and they spoke for some time quietly. Afterwards, Pope John Paul said: ‘What we have talked about will remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have forgiven, and who has my complete trust.’ 30
In that remarkable act of Christian forgiveness, the Pope gave to the world an example of the alternative to revenge and violence. In a world where terrorists, aggression and hatred are the marks of everyday life, Jesus alone offers a radical lifestyle which enables people to find and express true forgiveness. He offers a way of life marked by simplicity, trust, service and love. We need that simple lifestyle today.
Endnotes:
1. 1981 Australian Federal Census
2. Ron Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Hodder & Stoughton, 1977
3. Luke 12:15
4. Mark 6:3
5. Luke 4:18
6. Matthew 8:20 RSV
7. John 8:1
8. Matthew 6:24
9. Matthew 6:19-21
10. Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25
11. Luke 12:19-21
12. Matthew 19:21
13. Luke 16:19-31
14. Matthew 5:3
15. Matthew 6:11
16. Matthew 6:31-34
17. Luke 8:3
18. Luke 10:38; Acts 12:12
19. Matthew 25:31-46
20. Acts 20:35
21. Mark 10:43-45
22. John 13:1-17
23. John 8:1-11
24. John 4:5-42
25. Luke 10:27; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18
26. Luke 6:37-38
27. Matthew 18:22
28. Matthew 5:38-42
29. Luke 23:34
30. Time Magazine, 9 January 1984
For personal reading
Theme: The Joy of Simplicity
Monday : Not for the fainthearted (John 6:52-71)
Tuesday : Achieving right relationships (Matthew 5:38-6:4)
Wednesday : Praying effectively (Matthew 6:5-23)
Thursday : Clear priorities (Matthew 6:24-34)
Friday : A friendship honoured and a friendship betrayed (Mark 14:3-20)
Saturday : The Servant Lord (John 13:1-17)
Sunday : Small can be beautiful (Luke 19:1-10)
For group reading
Topic: The Radical Lifestyle of Jesus
1. ‘The city or the bush?’ is the choice made by many people who opt for a different lifestyle. Is where we live the main aspect of having a truly Christian lifestyle?
2. We need to love people and use things. Why do so many people love things and use things. Why do so many people love things and use people?
3. What does the author mean when he states that a hearse in never followed by a furniture van?
4. Why can the acquiring and use of possessions become a distraction to purposeful living?
5. What was the unique nature of the love Jesus spoke about?