Radical Domesticity

It has been a few weeks since I have written something for this blog, and my aim has been to make two posts per week. But quite frankly, with a newborn baby in the house, it isn’t easy to find the time and mental space to check out what is going on in the world, think about it and write something mildly coherent on it. Babies take time and energy!!! (a huge news flash I know)…

Megan and I were talking a few weeks ago (as I said, it has been busy) about how difficult it is to feel like a radical disciple of Jesus when you are in the role of mother, father, husband and/or wife. Some friends of ours have started a spiritually themed art competition called “Mark My Words”. The idea is that participants in the competition create art pieces based on their reading of the gospel of Mark. Inspired by this competition, Megan decided to read Mark and had only got a few chapters into it when she voiced her question, “how am I supposed to live this amazing, adventurous, radical life of following Jesus, when I’ve hardly got enough energy to get through the night and the day?”

I thought it was a good question (hardly having any energy myself for anything beyond family and work life of late). When we read the gospels, we read of Jesus and his disciples travelling around the countryside, creating a stir just about everywhere they went with their preaching, robust discussions, healings and exorcisms. Then for most of the rest of the New Testament, we read of Paul and his missionary friends travelling around the countryside, creating a stir just about everywhere they went as well. The picture is one of high adventure on the open road; living on the edge to advance the Kingdom of God in this world. Well, bully for them…

I feel about as radical as wet tea towel in the kitchen sink these days, and the book of Mark doesn’t help me feel any better about that one bit. Where are the house wives and soccer mums in Mark? Where are the books in the Bible dedicated to how ‘Muriel of Bethlehem’ lived out her faith in her home and daily life? I know that there are a few references to how to be a good husband, wife, father and mother in the Bible, but not the vast amount of literary real estate allocated to the high flying, “on the edge” missionaries. Surely these are the kinds of people who made up the majority the churches these heroes were setting up on their travels, and who make up most of the people in the church today. Where are our stories?

Well, Megan and I are about to redress this terrible wrong in the Bible… We are setting out to write a book called “Radical Domesticity” – celebrating the stories of the husbands, wives, mothers and fathers who are seeking to follow Jesus in radical ways in their domestic circumstances. We’ll also have a crack at articulating some key ideas on how to live a radical life in a domestic role. That is about as far as we’ve got so far.

We’re looking for submissions for the book. And stories – any ideas – will be welcome…

Shalom…