I had the chance to go hear Shane Claiborne tonight. I happened to have my homeschool filter on at the time and so what I heard I heard most loudly as a mother and a home educator. My other roles were vying for attention as well, but I kind of needed to make peace with the filter tonight. I don't think he expected to address a homeschooling mother's dilemmas, but he did because I chose to listen in that way and it's pretty cool what came out of it for me.
Here are some thoughts that everyone there heard tonight:
- Jesus doesn't command anyone to worship but he invites them to follow and as they begin to follow they begin to worship.
- Christianity is not spread by force, but by fascination.
- Jesus didn't come to make bad people good but to bring dead people to life.
- As a peculiar people we have the opportunity to live with creativity.
- We do this (not to become somebody or create something) but so that people can taste and see that the Lord is good.
- The person who is in love with their vision for community will destroy it. But the person who is in love with the people around them will create community wherever they go. -- Boenhoeffer
Regardless of how others will take these ideas and run with them, I'm personally praying that these thoughts will revolutionize my homeschooling and my parenting as I continue to dwell on them. More invitations, less commands; more fascination, less force; more life, less behavior modification; more tasting; more loving; less destroying.
Hard things for a mom to hear. Good things for a mom to do. And a better teacher/inviter I'll be.
That was a really great night, I was really pleasantly surprised by the depth and constant focus on bringing Jesus, not just solutions, to people. The fascination not force aspect has also been on my heart with raising my kids. It's hard to know what that looks like and how to live that out appropriately.
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