WHERE ARE WE?
The world is changing. Globalization, massive shifts in technology, trade and communications are giving birth to a new consciousness about what it means to be human. Some refer to this as a transition from a modern to a post-modern paradigm for life. Others suggest that what is emerging is a more ecological view of the world-- in the sense that we are learning to pay more attention to how all aspects of our lives are related, connected and interdependent.
This shift in how we organized ourselves and how we percieve our lives has brought up new questions about the role of religion in the emerging culture. Many have concluded that traditional notions of God have little relevance to our lives in contemporary society. And yet at the same time, there is a tremendous hunger for a spiritually integrated way of life that acknowledges the sacred and empowers us to love.
ReIMAGINE began as a series of conversations and experiments among friends about how to connect our spiritual heritage with the realities of life in a progressive world city. Many of us were leaders in the evangelical "seeker church" movement of the 1990's and came to live in San Francisco with a desire to help create new communities of faith in the emerging culture. We had a lot to learn about what it might look like to inhabit the message of Jesus. And we quickly discovered that among our neighbors and friends there was a great deal of misunderstanding and pain about organized religion and Christianity in particular.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A COMMUNITY OF FAITH?
We noticed that people in the Bay Area seemed to have little interest in church or other forms of organized religion -- but also a deep longing to experience greater wholeness and community. We asked, "is the typical way people gather in American churches the best or only way to be a community of faith?" In the New Testament, people who experienced spiritual awakening met in public places and from house to house. They integrated their spirituality with family, neighbors, friends and coworkers. Together our group began to experiment with what we called "faith communities"-- clusters of friends and families who shared a meal once a week and talked together about how to live out our faith in tangible ways.
WHAT IS THE ESSENTIAL MESSAGE OF JESUS?
As we connect with neighbors and friends, one thing we are often asked about but find difficult to explain is the disparity between the life and message of of Jesus and the reputation of "Christians" in our society. Mahatma Ghandi once said, "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians--because your Christians are so unlike your Christ." We wonder if the gospel most people have heard is actually the message that Jesus proclaimed. Jesus came announcing, "The time has come. The kingdom of God is at hand!" and "The Kingdom of God is within you." He spoke of the reality of God's caring presence and the invitation for us to collaborate in seeking the good dreams of our Maker "on earth as it is in heaven." Gradually we realized that the message of Jesus is more immediate and tangible that most of us had realized. If the kingdom of God is at hand and we are invited to seek greater wholeness in our world, then everything matters-- (how we care for our bodies, the earth and each other, what we do to seek justice and compassion in our world and how we create beauty with our lives).
We began experimenting with new practices to explore the present reality of God's kingdom, seeking to be more intentional about every aspect of our lives. We launched initiatives to integrate our discipleship to Jesus with compassion and justice, creativity and the arts, community and neighborhood. We developed friendships with our homeless neighbors, ate meals with at-risk youth, sponsored community mural projects and gallery shows. And we learned to deepen our connection to the Creator through classic Christian disciplines like contemplative prayer, fasting, silence and solitude.
People began to recognize the importance of the things we were learning about the practice of Christian faith in the emerging culture. We hosted many groups for learning and serving experiences and were often invited to speak about our journey together. Some of us also began writing articles and books, hosting conferences and teaching in academic programs. Gradually we realized that we had a unique voice and experiences that could be helpful to the church and society. Our journey has been chronicled in various periodical and books including: Conspiracy of Kindness, The Shaping of Things to Come, Emerging Churches, The Relevant Church, and Joining God's Conspiracy: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time.
HOW CAN WE BEGIN TO FOLLOW JESUS AS A WAY OF LIFE?
Dallas Willard, USC philosophy professor and author of The Divine Conspiracy was a key influence in the development of ReIMAGINE and made several trips to San Francisco to consult us in our work. He suggests that to live into the greater wholeness of the kingdom of God we need to be systematic about learning and doing what Jesus taught. "A group of people should read the words of Jesus and try to follow his instructions," Willard said. For many of us there has been a monumental transition from seeing Jesus solely as a savior to also adopting him as our teacher for life. Jesus invited people to be his apprentices or disciples-- to learn how to live his kind of life. We studied the gospels together and it was hard to ignore statements like: "love your enemies" "sell your possessions and give to the poor" "the greatest among you will be your servant" and "love your neighbor as yourself." We began experimenting with how to apply these teachings to our lives, realizing that we needed a more risk-taking and experimental in our approach. We began a new initiative we called The Jesus Dojo. In Japanese, a dojo is literally, "a place where you learn the way." We think the setting where we learn to follow Jesus is more like a karate studio than a college lecture hall. We began forming project based groups that meet weekly for 2-3 months to incorporate a specific facet of the teachings of Jesus into their lives. Our first project was called HAVE2GIVE1. A group of twenty-five of us explored what Jesus taught about money and possessions by divesting of half of what we owned to give our money to global poverty. Other projects have included silent prayer retreats, a neighborhood advocacy project and reconciliation initiatives.
HOW DO WE FOLLOW "THE WAY" AS A COMMUNITY?
We quickly realized that in order to keep momentum in following the message and teachings of Jesus we needed a common way of life in community. We began taking a monthly retreat together to explore communal practices, rhythms and committments that might help sustain us. Each month we experimented with a new daily or weekly practice, (like daily scripture reading & prayer, hospitality, etc). We wanted to be a community of people living into a new way of life together. Eventually many of us relocated to be in closer proximity to one another. Over the course of a year we identified seven streams in the life and message of Jesus: obedience, service, community, simplicity, prayer, creativity and love. After studying and experimenting with each of these streams we developed some common commitments (or vows) that we pursue on a yearly basis. Our rhythms and practices help us be intentional about living into the way of the kingdom.
