In this section of the book I pay tribute to heroic friends who continue to demonstrate why Reimagining Possibilities is a posture to choose not a destination to reach…
The reimagining of possibilities is not a stand-alone event. Like Paul, we actually have to go through many deaths and resurrections, throughout the course of our lives. Reimagining is an on-going process, a state of mind, a value. It’s not a one off experience in which we reimagined, once, long ago.
Most people crave stability and settled-ness in life. We adopted an expression in our family to describe relaxed times together, often in the winter, safely behind closed doors, snuggled warmly under blankets, watching a film. This was a comfortable and cosy evening, or, as we liked to call it, a ‘comf and cose’ one. It’s a very appealing idea. To be ‘comf and cose’ is a great way to spend an evening. But it’s no way to spend a life. Yet many of us do. Or we end up having reimagined possibilities once but then said, “enough, no more”, and settled for comfort.
In humility I think this is also perhaps where the church in the widest sense has got stuck over the years, as it has adopted a settler mentality. A definition of foolishness is ‘doing the same things over and again, whilst expecting different results’. The consequences of such repetition are blatantly obvious in the church, with attendance in the west at an all-time low, and its impact in society consistently weakening. I have also sadly seen this mind-set in leaders too. Those who were once caught up in a powerful move of the Spirit, revival even, can become those most resistant to the newest outpouring of the Spirit. Often because the new reimagining does not look like that of yester-year.
God calls us to so much more! For our own sake, and the sake of the world. As this book unfolds you will see that I am neither an extrovert nor an adventurer; I am pretty much a risk averse introvert. But even with that personality type and routine favoured life, I have tried to adopt a reimagining of possibilities mind-set. Do I always do that in a saintly, compliant way? No, of course not. Can I be very begrudging about this? For sure. So much of the time it has meant me choosing to push beyond an easier ‘comf and cose’ life.
‘The priority of reimagining comes very much before the fact that I happen to wear a clergy collar sometimes. It seems to me that adopting this as a value, is a basic expectation for all who follow Jesus, it is the default of a disciple’.
I’ll return to this theme in Section Three but it is also important to say this from the outset: consistently choosing to reimagine is not something I do because I am now a paid Christian minister. I don’t live as I do, and make the choices I make, because I am a ‘vicar’. The priority of reimagining comes very much before the fact that I happen to wear a clergy collar sometimes. It seems to me that adopting this as a value, is a basic expectation for all who follow Jesus, it is the default of a disciple.
If there is anything of reimagining in me it is because I have seen it in others, and it has been so attractive that I’ve wanted it for myself. Many had a reimagining possibilities mind-set when we first met, have it now, and like many ancients in the faith, will have it until their final breath. It just continues to be the attitude of their hearts, and the bias of their lives. Some are ordained or are church workers yes, but many are just ‘normal’ Christians committed to a discipled life.
Here is a roll call of some of those friends. To you they will be just names but I want to honour them for their inspiration of me and many others: Eddie and Anne, Dug and Deb, Peter and Ineke, Gay and Richard, Leon and Sue, Malcolm and Chris, Diane, Debbie and those that form the Parson Cross Missonal Community, to name a few.
Some I have only met recently but this heart is already evident in them – a lifetime of reimagining awaits. Some I have known for three decades, first meeting them when they were in their 30s. Rather than taking a path to settled-ness, retirement and safety, they continue to reimagine what life following Jesus is all about now, in their 50s and 60s and beyond. One of these couples, who serve the Lord abroad, have let go of all their possessions three times as they have followed God’s calling. They are about to do it again as they retire early from being a clergy couple in order to become voluntary missionaries in one of the Asian countries they have grown to love, or wherever God calls them. Two of these couples gave up successful careers around the age of 50, to serve in Africa and Cambodia respectively. These are not lifelong missionaries who have got used to sacrifice over many years. These are just people who have chosen to adapt to the cost of living thousands of miles from newly born grandchildren, and aging parents, very quickly. After losing their eight year old son to leukaemia, another of these couples became parents and family to groups of students from their local college. Others here have sacrificed different choices in order to dedicate their lives to living and serving on the margins. Another couple have not had an income for years, even whilst raising four children, but have lived completely by faith, trusting God to provide all they need.
Some months ago a Pause for Thought presenter on Radio 2 described the way that by the age of 45, most of us have reached the zenith of what we are going to do in life, or have at least discovered what our lives and careers are about. My reaction, in genuine shock, was, “No way, my goodness, I am already beyond 45 but I am only just getting going!” These friends are not conforming to this pattern of the world, but can be defined as, ‘serial innovators’. They keep asking, “what is God calling us to next?”, and, “what does reimagining mean for us now?” And as a result, the wind of the Spirit has led, and is leading them to all sorts of adventures. They are regular people who happen to be breaking the mould of what it means to follow Jesus, for life. I long to see a time when such a reimagining of possibilities is the ‘rule’, not the exception. This is part of the reason I am so inspired by those who form the missional community of which I am currently a part. They are rising to this challenge, demonstrating that such a way is possible, ‘normal’ in fact – they give me hope for the future. To all these ordinary radicals, thank you. I pray that others will stand on my shoulders, just as I stand on yours.
Pete Greig’s wonderful book, Dirty Glory, contains a whole chapter on this theme, called ‘Blue Camp 20’. It impacted me greatly. I found it overwhelmingly inspiring and deeply challenging. He captures what I’m trying to say much more profoundly:
Most people pioneer at least once in their lives, when they’re young and idealistic and gung-ho to make their mark on the surface of the earth […]. But gradually ‘the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth’ constrain the blood-rush of youth. We tame the wild and call it wise. And if we’re not careful, before we know it, we find ourselves looking back on a particular year or programme or conferences as the spiritual highlight of our lives. We shake our heads in amusement at the youthful naivety of it all, we tell the stories again and again and reminisce about the unbridled passions and ambitions that once fired our pristine souls[1].
Pete Greig
[1] Greig, 2016:142