The Christian Consumer: Living Faithfully in a Fragile World
Book Review
“Of making many books there is no end. . . “Ecclesiastes 12:12 NRSV
The Christian Consumer: Living Faithfully in a Fragile World
By Laura M. Hartman.
New York: Oxford University Press 2011.
Reviewed by Ray Higgins
As a Christian you may wonder at times “How should I engage with the things of this world—money food clothes cars homes technology art sports vacation trips? What kind of food should I eat? What kind of furniture should I buy to decorate my home? What kind of home should I live in? Would it be right for me to own a second home?” And as Tony Campolo asked in one of his books “Would Jesus drive a BMW?”
These are the kinds of questions that Laura Hartman has in mind as she writes her book The Christian Consumer which began as her doctoral dissertation at the University of Virginia. Hartman is an assistant professor of religion at Augustana College in Rock Island Illinois.
Her goal is to describe and analyze a Christian ethic of consumption which she refers to as “conscientious consumption.”
The form and content of the book are dissertation-like. In it the author
presents the thinking of historic and contemporary theologians writers and activists from the breadth of Christianity—Catholic Orthodox and Protestant. But she designs the book to include a lay audience and makes it useful for individuals groups and congregations as a practical guide for answering the question what does “conscientious consumption” look like for Christians and churches?
In order to arrive at one’s answer to this question Hartman explains four biblically-based and theologically-developed considerations that inform one’s understanding and use of worldly things: 1) to avoid sin; 2) to embrace creation; 3) to love neighbor; and 4) to envision the future.
Regarding the theme of avoiding sin Hartman discusses the consumption practices of Francis John Woolman and Ron Sider. She develops the themes of asceticism poverty and simplicity and explains the thinking behind ways to avoid or diminish the sins that often accompany our consumption practices.
Regarding the theme of embracing creation Hartman develops these topics: the goodness and blessings of creation; the fact that human hungers are not sinful; the nature of consuming with gratitude savoring and sharing; and the truth that wealth may be virtuous.
Regarding the theme of loving neighbor Hartman explains an understanding of love – love of self love of persons close to you love of others distant from you (in the marketplace through hospitality and solidarity through care for the community) love of place love of faraway others and love of God. She concludes with a description of envisioning a better life for all neighbors.
In dealing with the theme of envisioning the future Hartman gives careful attention to two themes: Sabbath keeping and Eucharist. How does the practice of Sabbath keeping transform us as people our consumption and the world? What does it mean for our consumption when we take the Eucharist? Her work here is rich with inspiring applications.
Readers who are familiar with Christian theology and ethics will appreciate the variety of the Christian thinkers whose ideas Hartman includes and evaluates with regard to each theme. Readers who would rather go straight to designing their own approach to the material things of life will be able to draw on these writers’ insights through Hartman’s presentation of them.
This reviewer recommends that this book be used as the primary resource for a congregation-wide study and conversation about what “conscientious consumption” by Christians and churches should look like in our world of extravagant wealth and extreme poverty and the world in between.
The fact that in the Gospels the moral issue that Jesus speaks most about is economic ethics (wealth/ materialism/affluence/poverty) makes this book one of the most relevant books for Christians to read and live out a personal practice of conscientious consumption
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Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World
By Alexia Salvatierra and Peter Heltzel;
Downers Grove (IL): InterVarsity Press, 2014.
Reviewed by Justin Phillips
While very few denominations debate whether or not Christians can be involved in social and political issues, many questions remain for precisely how Christians can engage their communities and, for this reason, Faith-Rooted Organizing is a true gift to churches. Alexia Salvatierra, a pastor and executive director of the Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), along with Peter Heltzel, a theologian and director of New York Theological Seminary’s Micah Institute, bring a wealth of experience in ministry and activism. The 20th century was dominated by Saul Alinsky’s philosophy of organizing, in which constituents are motivated to act by self-interest and ginning up anger “to amass power for power’s sake.” In contrast, faith-rooted organizing is based upon a question: “What kind of community, society and world are we trying to create?” (33). Subsequent chapters detail how faith-rooted organizing is a process marked by listening to the poor and oppressed; discerning (rather than simply deciding) the issues in which to be involved; practicing spiritual disciplines to sustain one through the grueling work of organizing; and lastly, making sure substantive roles are found for all willing participants.
The use of power constitutes a central emphasis for the authors, particularly their original exposition of what they term “serpent power” and “dove power” (taken from Matthew 10.16). They debunk the false choice within organizing of either being faithful to biblical principles or succumbing to lesser means in order to be politically effective. They define serpent power as “people overcoming institutional power…by exercising the power they have as members of a community (the power of organized people)” (183). For Christians who want to organize communities, utilizing serpent power is permissible in God’s as yet unfulfilled kingdom. It cannot, however, take the place of dove power, which means taking “seriously the best in people, the reality of the image of God in each of us and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit” (74).
Simply put, this means faith-rooted organizers do not consider politics a zero-sum game with definitive losers; rather, they acknowledge the humanity of powerful people within whom there might be a deep moral struggle over a particular issue. Organizers, then, must seek genuine friendships with power-brokers so as to also be allies “of the Spirit in its work on the soul of the person in power” (78).
While the authors note there is a thin line between strategic conversation and manipulation, they contend that organizers can combat this real temptation by honoring the concerns of everyone invested in the process.
Two final points reveal the authors’ heart for their work: First, they claim faith-rooted organizers should minister to everyone, even those in positions of power. “When a leader is a believer, this is a form of discipleship. When a leader is not a believer, it is a form of evangelism” (83). Forming genuine friendships with power-brokers often leads them to show courage, to take political risks, and to make sacrifices to yield effective public policies for all people. Second, Salvatierra conclud
s each chapter with a letter to her daughter and a young minister, offering encouragement in the Word and practical advice for sustained service through
the grueling work of organizing. Salvatierra’s intimate words remind us that faith-rooted organizing is not about political wins or social causes; it’s about transforming lives through transformed communities.
Dr. Justin Phillips is an adjunct professor at Belmont University (Nashville, TN) and the organizer for Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He earned his doctorate in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA).
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The Peace of Christ
By Patrick Anderson editor
In his collection of essays was the brainchild of Laura Rector and Carolyn Dipboye both students of the late Glen H. Stassen. The content of the essays comes from the minds hearts and experiences of the authors who were also friends of Stassen. The message of the essays is that just peacemaking a singular teaching of Jesus Christ can be applied in diverse and seemingly irreconcilable complex situations.
Each of the authors attests to the significant influence Glen Stassen had on their lives. I am struck by the deep reverence these authors feel for Glen as a mentor friend and teacher. The content of the teaching based on Stassen’s interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is important to be sure. When read through the enlightened eyes of these authors the Sermon takes on a new vitality which gives direction and encouragement for practical peace work.
But the content of Glen’s teaching is not the only significant aspect of his influence. Rather as I see it in these essays and in the correspondence I have had with the authors it is Glen’s tireless pursuit of living out the words of the incarnate Prince of Peace which lights a fire in them. That pursuit of peace was coupled with a deep first-name relationship each author enjoyed with Glen. Some lived with the Stassen family while studying at Fuller Theological Seminary. Most hosted Glen in their own home environments for extended periods of time in which they struggled together to apply the lessons of just peacemaking to significant practical problems.
Often students are attracted to theological studies in large part to learn how the teachings of the Bible and the Gospel can provide a path to solving the large problems they face. This is particularly true for students who come to America from other countries. The scholars who wrote the essays included in this volume were drawn to Glen Stassen largely because he offered a concrete applicable understanding of the words and life of Jesus.
The problems these authors face seem huge and insurmountable to us — distant and exotic. In America the church is divided on issues related to gender and sexuality. In other places in the world religious division is experienced in the context of bullets and bombs lingering animosities deep hatred. These essays give us on-the-ground reflection and analysis of how fellow Christians seek the peace of Christ in the midst of the Ukraine-Russia conflict Boko Haram and Muslim-Christian enmity in Africa hate rhetoric in Latvia unjust employment practices in China religious violence in Indonesia oppression in the Middle East and more.
These authors are worthy of our attention as they inform and inspire us. We should be encouraged to learn of their existence and faithfulness in the hard places. Their work for the peace of Christ seems more important than some of the issues which challenge the church in America. But they show us that if Jesus is to be Lord of life then the words and examples He provides us are relevant for all of our struggles large and small.
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Glen Stassen: Friend Scholar Activist
By Laura Rector co-editor
In many ways this project started in Glen Stassen’s hospital room. When I visited Glen in mid-April 2014 he was still very much trying to do the things that he seemed to love best. Even as his body was weakened by cancer and fever his mind was still on his teaching and peacemaking. That afternoon he wanted to talk about all the things we would normally have talked about in his office or home: my dissertation the classes he arranged for me to be teaching at Fuller Theological Seminary and future job placements. In the course of that conversation we talked about several of the students he mentored over the years including Carolyn Dipboye one of the board members of Christian Ethics Today and Emily Choge one of the scholars who contributed to this project. Glen even as he was ill was connecting his friends. After Glen’s death on April 26 2014 some of his international friends pondered a collection of essays in his honor and I approached Carolyn on their behalf. Carolyn connected the scholars with Pat Anderson yet another friend of Glen’s and the result is this special issue of Christian Ethics Today that focuses on many of the global aspects of Glen’s career.
Glen was a scholar activist and teacher. All of those things were important to him. Perhaps though the term that sums up his role in the life of so many is the word “friend.” In Latin a Festschrift is a liber ami-corum or “book of friends ” and Glen had two such collections published to honor him during his life.1 That is also an apt description for this memorial collection with a global emphasis on Glen Stassen’s work.
Glen once told me that society had lost the idea of covenant in friendships. Glen himself never lost that idea in the way he related to others. He was constantly helping and con
necting people and he was deeply enthusiastic about his friends’ projects. He had friends all around the globe so much so that when cancer treatments suppressed his immune system and he became ill with an infection it was difficult to diagnose the cause of his fever because he had travelled so many places.
Several of those friends were his former students and those students are his legacy to the global church as they pass on his ideas to their own students. In a career spanning 51 years he taught at Duke University Kentucky Southern College
Berea College Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary. During his time at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Glen mentored 15 PhD students three of whom were international students from South Korea
2 At Fuller Theological Seminary he had 14 PhD graduates (and several others like me who had to be transferred to other mentors at the end of his life). Eight of those graduates were international students several of whom took up leadership at seminaries around the globe.3 Glen also had close relationships with International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague (relocated to Amsterdam) and Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon.
At Glen’s retirement celebration in March 2014 Joel Green dean of Fuller’s School of Theology said “Many of us think that Fuller Seminary has a vocation to serve the global church. Many of us recognize the need for indigenous theological leadership in the Majority World. And many of us are aware of the particular obstacles facing students from the Majority World who want to do graduate work at Fuller Seminary.”4
Green continued “But it was Glen Stassen who raised money for the Esther and Harold Stassen Jubilee
Scholarship and then instigated a restructuring of the way we award international scholarship monies in CATS so as to make it possible to put the resources we have to work in the service of international PhD students from the Majority World.”
That incident was very typical of Glen’s teaching career. According to Green he generated over $1.5 million in gifts for Fuller as he sought to help his seminary students. This stemmed out of the love he had for students—it was but one more aspect of caring for them. Glen constantly invited students into his home connected them with his many other friends and encouraged a spirit of collaboration rather than competition.
Of course his students were not his only friends nor even his only global legacy. He formed lasting relationships with other colleagues around the world—as signified when the Baptist World Alliance recognized his decades of human rights work by honoring him with the Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award. His book Kingdom Ethics co-written with David Gushee has been translated into nine languages and sold approximately 30 000 copies around the world.5 He served on the boards of Sojourners the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and Creation Care magazine. He also took on leadership roles in the American Academy of Religion Society of Christian Ethics and National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion. Each project was formed through deep connections and friendships and with each project he formed even more relationships. Glen greatly enjoyed collaborating with others.
Perhaps the best example of that is when he joined colleagues and friends in developing just peacemaking theory. Over the years he
published numerous books on the subject formed the Just Peacemaking Initiative at Fuller Theological Seminary and was working on a just peacemaking conference in his last days.6
Glen did all that he did out of a deep enthusiastic love for Jesus and his people. The global scholars in this collection share Glen’s love for Jesus— and they also have a deep enthusiastic love for Glen. When these essays were taking shape Glen’s friends began connecting one another in a way that would very much please him. In particular Parush Parushev Emily Choge Kerama Pat Anderson and I recruited some of Glen’s many friends to write essays with a global focus. Pat Anderson then skillfully edited the essays for publication.
Glen Harold Stassen was a friend amongst friends even as he was a scholar amongst scholars. His work will continue to influence others as his many friends connect others with his ideas even as we wish we could connect with him in person. Thanks be to God for Glen his life and the ongoing legacy he leaves.
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