Two Weeks
Featured, Social Justice — By Brian Orme on January 29, 2010 at 12:00 am
I bought this T-shirt and it’s been kind of an albatross to me. I love the shirt but it’s the attention it attracts that frustrates me. It’s a red T that says “2 Weeks” on the front in bold white letters. Every time I wear it someone, or many someones, ask me, “Hey, Brian, what’s in two weeks?” For the longest time I didn’t know. I would just make things up like, two weeks till the circus comes to town or two weeks since I actually put this shirt on, or, my favorite, it’s a special biodegradable T-shirt that lasts for two weeks and then disintegrates off of my body, I got it from a special test lab at the Air Force base.
One day when I was taking this special T-shirt off I noticed there was an inscription in the hem. It read: This (Product) Red T-Shirt = 2 Weeks of AIDS Medicine in Africa. I had discovered it. My special T-shirt was part of the Red Campaign that mixed social justice with fashion to create expensive clothing products, of which a portion of the embarrassingly high cost would go to special needs in Africa. Mystery solved. Two Weeks means something great, something I should have been proud of—except for the fact that I bought it for $2.97 off the clearance rack in the back of the store. This makes things much more complicated. Because, now, when someone asks me, “What’s in two weeks?” I have to go through the whole diatribe and right when I get to the point where I tell them about AIDS medicine for Africa and they smile like they’re about to say—“Brian, that’s so cool of you!”—I have to tell them that I bought it for just under three-bucks, which pretty much kills the whole story. And, also means that probably about $.75 worth of medicine goes to Africa out of the price I paid for the shirt, which really only pays for one dose, if that, so my T-shirt should read 2 hours, at best – not very good on the Christian karma meter, if you ask me.
I have to say that I’ve not really been confronted with social justice issues until the last few years of my life. I think I always felt that there was something missing from my brand of spirituality—namely, caring for and loving my neighbor—which, in retrospect is, yeah, a pretty big deal.
For years I lived out a very “me” centered Christianity. One that was all-consumed with making me happy which, in the end, didn’t make me happy at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had glimpses of loving my neighbor but nothing very stable. Once, in college someone came and spoke about supporting a child in a third-world country and I signed up through their organization. I think I kind of felt guilty for having so much so I decided to ease my conscience a bit. Although, I think I just made things worse. I was given the picture of a little boy from Haiti and a handful of slips to help remind me of the monthly payments I needed to send in. I started out with a great track record for the first two months. Dead on. I even wrote my child a few letters—very similar to Warren Schmidt’s letters to Ndugu in the film, “About Schmidt,” with Jack Nicholson—they were very awkward letters, I didn’t know quite what to say, so I talked about me, as you would expect.
It wasn’t until the third month that I started to miss payments. After the second missed payment I received a cordial letter from the organization, a healthy reminder, that I had made a commitment and that I needed to follow through, someone was counting on me. I felt like crap. I went delinquent for the next three months and every meal and every purchase was a fight—I needed to pay my child support—but these jeans are so cool, Brian, look at yourself—stylin’. That’s how I became a dead-beat dad, or donor, or however you want to say it. I finally sent my back payments in one lump sum. The guilt was lifted…for the moment. Until the next month’s deadline came again and went. I didn’t make another payment. I waited it out. I still fear that someday I will face this child—all grown up—in a supermarket or maybe the bookstore, and they will sneak up behind me with a prison-yard shank and stick me in the back. As I fall to my knees, arms akimbo, they will whisper the words, “Remember me…your son?” And I will reply, “What, who?” which will make the emotional pain greater and force them to twist the shank as I wince once more and finally recognize the all-grown-up version of the child I had forsaken. At least, that’s how it goes in my head.
My problem back then was not that I wasn’t doing enough to love my neighbor; the problem was that my heart wasn’t in it. I was a Christian, but more of a self-consumed-do-anything-that-makes-me-happy kind of Christian. Which, compared to the biblical standard is more unchristian than Christian. I was living out a very popular style of Christianity but I wasn’t really doing the work of a Christ-follower at the time. In essence, I needed to be saved from my own selfishness.
It’s fascinating to me that when Jesus was asked about the most important, or the greatest commandment, he quoted some words from the Old Testament that basically said, love God and love your neighbor. He didn’t say anything about chasing happiness, making ones self comfortable or even finding a church that sings the style of music you like. Instead, Jesus boils the heart of God down to two people, of which, neither were me.
It didn’t really happen overnight but I had to come to terms with my self-centered version of Christianity. I think that God has used many people in my life to help point me to a more authentic version of the gospel—one that truly loves and serves others because one loves God so much.
I do some work on the side as a religious journalist and I get to talk to some great people who are doing wonderful things for Christianity. In one conversation I had with Shane Claiborne, pastor of the Simple Way Church in Philadelphia, and author of “Jesus for President,” and “The Irresistible Revolution,” he said this:
“Jesus had a political manifesto in the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes and the poor were at the very center of it. So if our political agenda is not good news to the poor, then it’s not the gospel of Jesus.”
He went on to talk about the fact that many young people are realizing that this economy and this culture—this American dream—looks very different from the dream of God. And I had to agree, at least from my own shortcomings.
19 Comments
“Christian Karma Meter”?
Dude, come on James. You read the entire article and that’s the one part you hone in on? I like you man, but lighten up a little, he’s not trying to imply there’s Karma in Christianity, it’s obviously a tounge-in-cheek remark. Sarcasm. Don’t always look for the negative
I’m with Emily here: I know “karma” has a specific definition within Hinduism and Buddhism, but in Western society it just generally means “do something good, something good happens to you”.
Karma is a Sanskrit word used to describe the natural law of cause and effect. It is a concept that is present in every religion that I have come across, though admittedly with a variety of flavors. In Christianity it is described as “as you sow, so shall you reap,” without any elaboration regarding reincarnation as it is commonly understood in Vedic and Buddhist traditions. Though the argument could be made that references to resurrection and being “born again” rhetorically point to the same phenomenon that has simply been understood and interpreted differently by different cultures.
Sheesh. Maybe you guys need to lighten up.
Emily wrote:
“You read the entire article and that’s the one part you hone in on?”
I read the whole article and that was the only part I happened to comment on at the time because a certain 5-year-old who looks a lot like me came in and needed my attention. I hit the submit button without really thinking much of it.
“I like you man”
Aw, shucks! (kicks the dirt with his right foot while staring at the ground)
“lighten up a little, he’s not trying to imply there’s Karma in Christianity, it’s obviously a tounge-in-cheek remark. Sarcasm. Don’t always look for the negative
”
I don’t always look for the negative. I simply made a quick comment, somewhat tongue-in-cheek myself, because I thought the inclusion of the two words karma and christian didn’t really go together, but it made me chuckle, nothing more. And like I said, I got pulled away from the PC and didn’t think about it again the rest of the day. Trust me: there is no lightening up needed here.
Good!
To be honest, when I saw the words Karma and Christian, side by side, I was reminded of the time I saw an item in the paper about the marriage of Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett. As a big Lovett fan, I was very familiar with him. I was, of course, very familiar with Julia Roberts. But my brain had a hard time putting them together. My reaction to the christian karma phrase was sorta like that.
Great article. I hated the whole “product red” thing, not even for the reasons you mentioned, that these insanely expensive items were donating infintesmal amounts to charity, but because it twisted the whole idea of charity and giving itself. You don’t give as an afterthought, or because you get something out of it, you give out of generosity and selflessness.
And don’t beat yourself up, we all suck at being good people, Jesus was fully aware of it, that’s why He’s so awesome for still loving us.
Wonderful article, and funny too Brian.
Love the last portion of this statement, “I think that God has used many people in my life to help point me to a more authentic version of the gospel—one that truly loves and serves others because one loves God so much.”
For God so loved the world that He GAVE his only begotten Son.
Greater love has no man than this but that He lay down his life for his friends.
I also like to ask myself why am I don’t something. Is it about the love of God or is it about self? We were never created to fulfill ourselves but to find our home in Jesus, the One we were created for. We can see all the problems that come from self-serving instead of the love of God that is self-sacrificing. As it goes…there were two trees in the garden.
I also find that we can try to change ourselves but only God can do that at the deepest level, even as we can use the tools He has given us to allow Him to water his life in us. So as a simple child I pray about having his Heart and He may do it supernaturally more instantly or as I go about life He connects me that way with others and their circumstances.
That’s another thing I discovered, the wonderful, simple life of a child. I had a friend that when we would get together we were so excited and bubbling over to share what the Lord was doing in our lives. We would scream and jump like little children. It was cute and I’m sure our Heavenly Daddy thought so too. That is the special bond believer’s share, sharing his life in that respect. Thus, even as I love unbelievers and look to share his life by allowing Him to make me an extension of Him to them, I cherish my relationship with other believers for their is a special bond that comes from sharing and celebrating in his life together.
Anyway, we can see much, if not all, of what went wrong with humanity back in the garden of Eden. I find it very insightful.
Again, wonderful article and enjoyed the coloring too.
Thank you.
Love in Him,
Jo
Hmmm… Sounds like you could use a little “Desiring God” by John Piper. I know that Emerging Christians generally dislike Piper; still, your article made me think of his book. To quote the thesis:
“The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”
Just a thought.
that’s a paraphrase of the Westminster Confession.
Well written!
I love Piper, and that is not his thesis. His thesis is that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.
Fair at best…could have left out the “Karma” thing. My concern is the emergent social gospel undertones. They always leave you empty and somehow feeling cheated. Certainly “Pastor” it’s important to follow through and honor your commitments–regardless of how you feel afterward.
Keep writing!
Thanks for that poignant advice, Tim! It’s good to know there are established writers and thinkers like you, teaching us every step of the way. From now on, we will aspire to more than mediocrity.
Who is the “you” that the emergent social gospel undertones always leave feeling empty? It isn’t me. I often find the emergent social gospel message inspiring or at least refreshing. It doesn’t appear to be Brian either. From the article he seems to find the social gospel satisfying. The dishonest use of pronouns always leaves me feeling a bit manipulated.