The Compact

Religious January 18th, 2007

Imagine…. Imagine taking a vow to NOT buy anything for a year. (With the exception of food, toiletries and underwear.) Imagine…. Imagine cutting the strings between yourself and the rampant consumerism of our society….

Can’t imagine it? It’s hard, but possible. There’s a group of people that did just that. They call it The Compact. You can read an article about them at the San Francisco Chronicle or check out their blog at: http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/.

Of course, the idea is ENTIRELY consistent with the priorities of God’s kingdom, although I sense that this is NOT a religious commitment. A fact which I find ironic. This SHOULD be a religious commitment. You know what I mean?

This SHOULD be the kind of thing that Christians are doing. After all, it reflects the priorities the scriptures teach, doesn’t it?!

Check it out.

And, hey….Lent is just around the corner.

Grace and Peace,
`tim

3 Responses to “The Compact”

  1. James Brumm Says:
    January 18th, 2007 at 11:33 pm

    Intriguing . . . I’m thinking about a Lenten challenge for my congregation based on this, but it needs more time to percolate.

  2. teejtc Says:
    January 18th, 2007 at 11:42 pm

    James…

    I had wondered about a similar sort of idea… it would be interesting to see who’d bite.

    The problem? For me, the problem is that the week after Easter I’m hoping to get a dozen or so people involved in my D.Min. project — I don’t want to wear people out on “trying things.”

    Any insight?

    Grace and Peace,
    `tim

  3. James Brumm Says:
    January 23rd, 2007 at 10:16 pm

    Three thoughts:

    1. You know your people best, and you’ll have to gage whether or not you need to wait. That which hasn’t gotten done in 2,000 years can often wait a few months longer.

    2. I will probably lay something out for folks as a Lenten discipline, and offer them the chance to try it, but I’m not necessarily going to push very hard on them. I’m not sure its helpful to guilt folks into Lenten discipline.

    3. If you know the DMin project is coming, you might clue some of your dozen or so folks in early, and also let them know about the Lenten project. Be honest with them about your concerns about “project fatigue,” and give them the chance to opt out of the Lenten thing or, at least, to go in knowing what’s coming. People often like rising to the occasion.

    Peace,
    James

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