Subversive Spirituality

Evan is a boy in my church who celebrated his 9th birthday a couple of weeks ago. Even though his family is far from wealthy, he decided he didn't really need any birthday presents, so he instead he asked his friends to bring money to buy supplies for a school in Nicaragua. Our congregation has been developing a relationship with the Moravian Church in Bluefields, Nicaragua. We had a pastor from there visit with us for two weeks in October.

He expected to collect $150 or so, but word got out to family and he made a little speech at church and within two weeks he had over $1100.

I spend a lot of time and energy fretting because I don't think anybody around here is listening. Obviously, Evan had been listening. And what he heard sank deeply enough into his mind and heart that he did something quite extraordinary for a 9 year old -- forego birthday presents to help others.

I have just been re-reading "The Contemplative Pastor" by Eugene Peterson, and he talks about the "subversive" role of Christian leadership. Peterson describes effective pastoral ministry with these words: "I am undermining the kingdom of the self and establishing the kingdom of God. I am being subversive." This is all done with methods which, in a consumer culture, are widely regarded as pretty ineffective -- listening, talking, pointing to Jesus, worshiping and above all praying. I have often prayed for spiritual renewal in this church, and been disappointed because it didn't sweep through the congregation like wildfire. I was not prepared for that prayer to be answered in the form of a 9 year old boy.

There was a time when Evan's mother was an "affiliate" -- baptized and confirmed, on the membership role, but angry with God and absent from worship for a time. Married in the church, she found her way back. And the fruit of her rediscovery of faith -- well, it has been born in many ways -- but certainly has been born in the commitments of her little boy who simply declined to use his birthday as an occasion to live out a socially conditioned role as a consumer.

In a number of different ways, God has been showing me of late that the most powerful tool in our hands is faithful prayer and a subversive spirit.