I’ve been reading Tom Sine’s new book, The New Conspirators and it has been a great companion these last two weeks. He does a great job of deconstructing with solid data and statistics how our way of life just does not work for 95% of the world. Sure, it works great for the rich and the really rich, but it doesn’t work too well for the vulnerable middle class and the poor. He also presents in scary fashion how much we in the West buy into the world’s view of “the good life.” He argues that we need a new (Kingdom) way forward and he does a great job of pulling the wool off our eyes to show the real world that we life in.On page 201 he writes,“The only way poverty will become history is for those of us whom God has entrusted with God’s generous resources to critically evaluate our own lives and priorities. It is estimated that today over 200 million Christians live in dire poverty. Isn’t there something terribly wrong, in the international body of Christ, when some of us live palatially and other Christians can’t keep their kids fed? Isn’t it past time to recognize that we live in an interconnected global village in which there is no longer such a thing as a ‘private’ lifestyle choice?”
He also writes on page 227:
“Bruce Bradshaw in his book Change Across Cultures suggests that the Scripture calls us to a much greater conversion - much more than the forgiveness of sins and receiving God into our lives. It also involves the very radical step of inviting the Spirit of God to “transform the narratives that govern our lives,” so that we are empowered to “live a very different story.”
Preach it Tom. You can check out Tom’s ministry at The Mustard Seed Associates.