Here's a funny story about me and Jen Hatmaker:
Some of you may know Missy and I are quite good friends. There are some areas where our opinions diverge, but yeah, when it comes down to it, we are heart sisters. (Hope I'm not overstepping here, Miss.)
After I read and taught Jen Hatmaker's study Interrupted, I emailed Missy because I knew she knew Jen. I told her about how much I loved it and how Jen seemed like just the coolest person and basically I just want to be her when I grow up (even though she is just about one year older than me). Missy wrote back, "You should friend her on Facebook - she'll friend anyone."
So I did. I looked up her profile with her pretty head shot and friend requested her and sent along a little message about how I was teaching the Interrupted study and I just had been so moved and changed by her message and I just thought she was the world's greatest and oh, hey! you went to Oklahoma Baptist University and so did my sister-in-law and we have a mutual friend in Missy and on and on. I nervously hit "Send Message." I had never friend requested a total stranger before, let alone a well-known author and speaker.
And I waited.
And I waited.
NOTHING.
And then I started to feel like a real idiot.
Weeks went by and after being a little miffed at Missy for the "she'll friend anyone" encouragement, I kind of forgot about it. Until one day, I got a notification that Jen had accepted by friend request on Facebook. I read her wall and went from huffy to sheepish in about two seconds.
As it turned out, she was on a long Facebook break when I had friend requested her. She wasn't being snobby, she wasn't being un-approachable. She was doing something pretty noble - an experiment for her next book: 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
When I sent her the Facebook friend request last year, she was in the middle of an incredible experiment to give up the TOO MUCH of our culture. I'm delighted to have gotten the change to review this release because I know (!!!) you are going to connect with her message.
In the opening, she writes about the genesis for this experiment, how she realized that even though she and her husband Brandon had left the large church they were serving at in Austin to start Austin New Church with the simple mantra: "Love your neighbor, serve your city," she began to realize that she had never intentionally surrendered the comforts of her life.
When she considered the amounts of excess in her life, she identified some areas we have too much of in our culture: food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending, stress. Then she decided to see what would happen if she intentionally fasted from the excess:
Seven months, seven areas, reduced to seven simple choices. I'm embarking on a journey of less. It's time to purge the junk and pare down to what is necessary. Seven will be an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for the Kingdom of God to break through.
What follows is an INCREDIBLE read, my friends. Really, truly incredible.
I treasure Jen's writing because she is 1) seriously hilarious and 2) unflinchingly honest. Although the topic practically begs for it, there is not one trace of self-righteousness to be found. That's the truth. She records how the experiment unfolds, confessing the times she breaks the rules and sharing how irritable her family got at various points as they were dragged along in her crazy.
My heart welled up as she wrote about things I've long been passionate about: real food, spending less (or nothing!) on clothing, creation care, consumerism, Sabbath rest ... just about anything I've ever written about, she covers here and ohsomuch more.
Near the end of the book, she shares some reflections that are so, so important that I am straining to share it with you in the entirety. It would be an egregious violation of copyright law, so I'll try to sum up ... She talks about how most of us, we cry over the orphan crisis and we feel sick over child trafficking. We cringe at how much we spend on birthday parties, knowing there are children starving everywhere. We read Shane Claiborne and feel depressed for days. We know we are living the MORE MORE MORE life our culture offers, and we feel so much tension about what to do about it.
Jen writes:
Hear this: I don't think God wants you to be at war with yourself.
He sent the Prince of Peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-deprecation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died to make us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus' medium.
....
We're so conditioned to being the problem that we've forgotten that we are actually the answer. God is not angry at you; how could he possibly be? You're his daughter, his son, you're on the team. Don't imagine he is sitting us all down for a lecture. Rather, he's staging a rally, gathering the troops. The church is rising like a phoenix right now, collecting speed and strength and power.
THIS is the life-giving, hope-bringing, love-empowering message of Seven. It is NOT a lecture. You will not walk away from it feeling like crap. You will be inspired. If nothing else, you'll be entertained.
How did the whole experiment play out? Did she go back to Facebook and eating out and watching TV?
You'll have to read the book to find out.
And I'm giving one of you the chance to get your own copy of 7
, straight from my little house on the plains to yours. All you have to do is leave a comment! In the spirit of simple, we'll keep it simple. No bonus entries, no thought-provoking questions that require a short essay in the comments. Just one comment. I'll draw a winner next Sunday.
In the meantime, here's to allowing ourselves to be OPEN to the crazy that comes when you are surrendered to the Kingdom of God!