The God of humanity

Chief Seattle (Si'ahl) said, "One thing we know, which the White Man may one day discover - our God is the same God.  You may think that you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot.  He is the God of humanity, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white.  The earth is precious to Him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.  Even the white man cannot be exempt from the common destiny.  We may be brothers after all.  We shall see."

-as translated by Dr. Henry A Smith, 1854

How much have we fallen to the idolatry of creating God in our own image when we cannot imagine God's love and justice being relevant to the minority, un-empowered, alien among us?  We the franchised "faithful", in hopes of protecting our "entitled" interests, appeal to God as if we were a fortune 500 corporation lobbying government.  With scriptures full of appeals for the people of God/followers of Jesus to give deference to the stranger, the poor and the outcast, is it anything less than sinful idolatry to be so self-convinced of our life and conduct?  Let the privileged comfortable not assume that our values systems, norms and cultural expressions be the acceptable norm, while "others" remain on the fringes of God's family.

The evils of American Manifest Destiny will continue to be promoted by evangelical Christians as long as they believe themselves more justified in their membership in the National Rifle Association than advocating for a compassionate immigration policy.

Thank you, Lord, that you do not claim to be God over just some people.  You are, in fact, the creator and redeemer of all creatures.  Help us spread the good news that no one can claim ownership of you, because each of us belongs to you.  Amen.

-prayer adapted from Common Prayer: a Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, (Grand Rapids:Zondervan, 2010), p.117

Radical Anabaptist Spirituality

John Driver is a former South American pastor, teacher and the author of many books which were written as gifts to the churches of the Anabaptist movement throughout Latin America.  John and his wife, Bonny, have become an integral and passionate witness in the congregation where I am a pastor, the East Goshen Mennonite Church.

In the Fall of 2008, I had the privilege of accompanying John on trip in Colombia, South America, where for ten days he taught in groups of Colombian Anabaptist pastors and servant leaders.  His teaching with these inspiring people was on the subject of the Radical Spirituality of the Early Anabaptist movement and has been published in a little Spanish language book entitled, "Convivencia Radical: Espiritualidad para el siglo veintiuno".

On our flight back to into the U.S. I plied John with excitement for this subject and the need for his book in the North American congregations who desire to be connected with Anabaptism, yet are inundated with evangelical fundamentalist voices of Christian spirituality.  A few weeks later John sent me an English translation of Convivencia Radical in number of documents.

Here is an edited pdf of Radical Spirituality for the 21st Century by John Driver (in English):

Radical Spirituality for the 21st Century