How to Liberate Your Soul from a Consumerist Identity.

Released in the HJC Bulletin on 2.7.10.

So, how does Jesus’ rule, power, and authority liberate us from our mighty enemies, set our souls free to worship Him wholeheartedly? The first necessary thing is to acknowledge by our lives, as author Brian McLaren states, that “the Kingdom of God …is a revolutionary, countercultural movement— proclaiming a ceaseless rebellion against the tyrannical trinity of money, sex, and power.” As citizens of this Kingdom, we “resist the occupation of this invisible Caesar through three categories of spiritual practice.” These are disciplines borne out of desire. Uno, we “practice a liberating generosity toward the poor” and impoverished, those whom welfare was originally intended to serve: the broken of body, the scarred of soul, the aged, infirmed, and handicapped among us. And we start doing it now: “to dethrone greed and topple the regime of money.” Dos, we “practice a kind of prayer {the Disciple’s Prayer} that is a defiant act of resistance” to “the prideful pursuit of power, pursuing forgiveness and reconciliation, not retaliation and revenge.” Tres, we “practice fasting {yes, I said ‘fasting’} to revolt against the dominating impulses of physical gratification— so that the sex drive and other physical appetites will not become our slave drivers.”

There are many forms of fasting; fasting from food and drink is just one of them. It’s the form which has been practiced by apprentices of Jesus for 2000 years, but there are others. How about fasting from talking about yourself for 24 hours? Go an entire day without using terms like ‘I, me, my and mine.’ I’d like to see the pastors and Bible teachers who make fun of fasting as a spiritual discipline pull that one off! In fact, I dare them to pull it off, to go 24 hours without promoting themselves or their ministry. Any takers?  I didn’t think so.  If there are any intrepid souls out there, let me know how it went for you. 

You can fast from television for a week, fast from entertainment— it may be time to emerge from the ocean of entertainment and take a deep breath of the pure air of intimacy with Abba. You can fast from alcohol, if you happen to like it, and fast from just water if you’re a modern-day Pharisee.  Have that glass of wine with dinner; your husband or wife will love it. Fast from sweets, or chocolate, for a week. Fast from buying yourself new clothes for six months. What!? That’s insane. Is it? Fast from buying anything other than necessities for one month. Food, shelter, soap, etc. No new clothes, no new cars, no I-Pod, I-Phone, no new technology, no software, no shoes. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. You are more than what you buy. Liberate your soul from a consumerist identity!