Stephen E. Burris

“…others can stay home and decidedly adopt a missionary support level as their standard of living and their basis of lifestyle, regardless of income.”

Many will recognize that this quote is part of Ralph Winter’s larger call to a wartime lifestyle and, therefore, will find Winter’s overly militaristic language offensive, he does draw attention to an important factor in urban mission today. But does Winter go far enough? What he does is challenge all Christians to think seriously about the lifestyle they choose to live. The fact is most Christians will not relocate to the slums and live incarnationally among the growing numbers of urban poor. The reasons are as many as the individuals making this important decision. All can, however, live a much simpler lifestyle in order to support those who can and do relocate to the difficult places on earth. Imagine what might happen if we all lived on the same level as those who are part of organizations that send servant-leaders out to serve?

It is well past time that we look seriously at all of our purchases and the lifestyles we live. Jonathan Bonk, who wrote the book Mission and Money sounds the warning of how our standard of living impacts our witness. It is difficult to argue with Bonk’s logic or theology. This goes beyond those obvious solutions such as fair-trade purchases, not doing business with corporations that exploit and oppress for profit, not incurring debt, not doing business with corporations that pollute and destroy the environment, and intentionally not purchasing items just because we can afford to do so. Those decisions are what responsible, globally aware, Christians should be doing every day. But is that enough? The fact remains that all Christians are called to live in the same way and by the same principles regardless of geographical location, profession, or income.